Speeding tickets. Why the angst?

[Edbear]

Do you think if you added things like traffic accident scene videos, and visits from people who have suffered immensely from dangerous driving/drivers to the courses, that could be a deterrent to that sort of behaviour.

A Defensive Driving Course should be mandatory! I did one back in '76 and it's stayed with me all my life.

Sadly some people have NO idea about when it is saf/unsafe to go fast, as such the ptb decided that should they crash it better they do so at a lower speed to minimize the damage..

So the rest of us pay for their incompetence by having a speed limit to adhere to (mostly).

Make the drivers licence test a real test - and make people pay for training to be able to pass the test which will not have a 'scratchie' component, fail the test and you go 'down the snake' to start training again.

Then raise the speed limit a little in appropriate areas i.e. 125 on motorways etc.

And make it so the fines for speeding are minimal but up the demerits just a tad.

Then have it that if you exceed the 100 demerits within a year you have to start at scratch and redo your licence from the start again - training and everything.

And the Govt gets the take from training rather than tickets.

My little sort-of-almost-a-rant.

Will you please stop being so sensible? It's bad for the rep of KB...

But when it does it can be Really Bad(tm).

And people rarely choose to have it happen to them.

Or welcome it.

So 'do you feel lucky punk, do you?'

Trust me, I know it! And it happened to me as a careful and experienced driver doing everything right at low speed. So if you're doing even one thing wrong, it can so easily happen to you as well!

[swbarnett]

Sadly some people have NO idea about when it is saf/unsafe to go fast, as such the ptb decided that should they crash it better they do so at a lower speed to minimize the damage..

I though I left this sort of nonsence at school. It's no better than "Johnny's been bad so the whole class get's detention."

I think you'll find that in all areas of life you will generally get what you expect. Treat drivers like they can't drive and you'll be proven right. It is also true that if you treat drivers as if they can drive you will still be proven right.

[scumdog]

I though I left this sort of nonsence at school. It's no better than "Johnny's been bad so the whole class get's detention."

In case you hadn't noticed:
That's what life is like.

Because some people are badly affected by alcohol with a breath reading of 400+ then I am not allowed to drive with similar lvels - even if I'm not as affected.

Because David Gray went mad with a AK47 clone and killed people with it I can't go into a gun-shop and buy one.

Because a few people are incompetent when it comes to keeping an eye on their toddlers when near a swimming pool all swimming pools have to be fenced

Because.....yadda-yadda-yadda


Nice troll.!

[FJRider]

... It is also true that if you treat drivers as if they can drive you will still be proven right.

They treat drivers as if they are idiots ... and too many times ... they are proven right. !!!

Most of the Highway patrol officers I've spoken to ... say tickets given for speed are by far outnumbered by tickets for stupid stuff that one officer said "SOME ...you would have to see to believe ..."

Even average driver skill levels would need to be SEEN to inprove considerably ... before any speed limits be raised ...

[DEATH_INC.]

Nope. Team Leader, Road Policing Group. 9% of my teams tickets are speed. 91% are for the other stupid things people do in vehicles.

I'll ask again, do you have access to the national figures?
I'm genuinely interested.

[oneofsix]

They treat drivers as if they are idiots ... and too many times ... they are proven right. !!!

Most of the Highway patrol officers I've spoken to ... say tickets given for speed are by far outnumbered by tickets for stupid stuff that one officer said "SOME ...you would have to see to believe ..."

Even average driver skill levels would need to be SEEN to inprove considerably ... before any speed limits be raised ...

But your last sentence alludes to the issue there, and this thread also. The publicity and therefore public perception is that it is all down to speed. 'Speed Kills' etc etc. When, as you say, it is bad driving and excessive speed is just an aspect of the bad driving. Get rid of the speed cameras, which are only affective in places and situations were speed is less likely to be dangerous as the cameras require a clear line of sight with no other vehicles in the field, replace them with a sought of specialized trained group of traffic offence recorders (people that is), perhaps armed with video cameras.

[Maha]

I'll ask again, do you have access to the national figures?
I'm genuinely interested.

..they probably need to be updated

[oneofsix]

They treat drivers as if they are idiots ... .

really? spot the cop treating the drivers like idiots in the following;

Motorists have for years been driving the wrong way onto the Waikato Expressway off-ramp where two women were killed, say local residents.

And Waikato's top roading police officer says the smash is a reminder to motorists to be vigilant as scores of overseas tourists take to Kiwi roads ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

In case you missed it, the people that got the turn wrong were locals, not RWC visitors. Other locals report that people have been getting the turn wrong for years, you think there might be a roading issue here and not a policing one? I suspect being octogenarians once they had got the turn wrong they were confused and didn't react as a younger or more confident person might but that is conjecture.

[FJRider]

..... The publicity and therefore public perception is that it is all down to speed. 'Speed Kills' etc etc. When, as you say, it is bad driving and excessive speed is just an aspect of the bad driving.

If speed AND stupidity kills ... lets just lock up the STUPID people ... mmmm might work ...

... replace them with a sought of specialized trained group of traffic offence recorders (people that is), perhaps armed with video cameras.

Video cameras in the patrol cars ... ???

[rastuscat]

.......... replace them with a sought (sic) of specialized trained group of traffic offence recorders (people that is), perhaps armed with video cameras.

You rang, M'Lud?

[Berries]

replace them with a sought of specialized trained group of traffic offence recorders (people that is.

And we could call them the Highway Patrol.

[Berg]

3 words. Lowest Common Denominator.
We need to have a limit that encompasses all levels of driving ability. I'm always depressed when they remove my favorite corners from roads like the Rimatakas etc but I also understand that they are catering to drivers who do not enjoy courners as much as I do.
Then you have the people who if there was a 150kph speed limit, would still argue "revenue collecting" etc if they got plucked at 160kph.
My "speed ticket" count is only 6% but my "insecure load" (you know, all that shit that fall off trucks and trailers in front of motorcycles) is almost 10%. Go figure.

[Eyegasm]

It's all about perspective.

If I add up all the kms I have done over the speed limit then divide the bill by that number, it aint that expensive.

I speed alot more than any other member of my family. Yet, in the last year

Mother: $200+
Father: $100+
Brother: $400+
Me: $0

Why? cos I do not speed in places that I would expect to see the popo! Like motorways!

[oneofsix]

3 words. Lowest Common Denominator.
We need to have a limit that encompasses all levels of driving ability. I'm always depressed when they remove my favorite corners from roads like the Rimatakas etc but I also understand that they are catering to drivers who do not enjoy courners as much as I do.
Then you have the people who if there was a 150kph speed limit, would still argue "revenue collecting" etc if they got plucked at 160kph.
My "speed ticket" count is only 6% but my "insecure load" (you know, all that shit that fall off trucks and trailers in front of motorcycles) is almost 10%. Go figure.

BS the limit is the maximum permitted speed for that section of road, not a target as they say, (another BS slogan) if corner, weather, ability or other circumstances mean you are not able to due the limit you don't have t0o but don't hold up others. It is not a lowest common denominator thing or we will all have to drive at learner driver or 90 year old speeds and style.

[jellywrestler]

Wondered when this would arise so I've prepared a response.

NEVER LET THE FACTS GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD WHINGE

9% of the tickets my section issued last year were for speed.

So there.

Very interesting, any chance of a breakdown on the other 91%.

I ask this with real interest as I beleive it is an easy offence to ticket and follow through with a conviction given the machine used to do it and that is hard to fight with. This alone would mean it so tempting for it to be leaned on to do the bulk of the work...