Police getting tougher on speed tolerance

[Ntoxcated]

Ain't it funny that people almost always see the signs that allow them to go faster, but often fail to see the ones that require them to go slower.

And then there is the tendency to prioritise the higher speed. You maintain the higher speed right up to the lower speed sign and then start slowing down. Conversely, as soon as you can see the higher speed limit sign, you start accelerating so as to be up to speed when you get there

[MarkH]

Ain't it funny that people almost always see the signs that allow them to go faster, but often fail to see the ones that require them to go slower.

I got a ticket because of that. I was on a trip and completely missed a sign on the open road that dropped the speed limit from 100 to 80. It didn't help that the part that was 80 was wider, straighter and it better condition than the part that was 100. Now I get an audio reminder when approaching a drop in speed limit as well as a reminder of what the speed limit is when being told about the detection of K or Ka band radar. I'll hear something like "Ka front, limit 80" and I'll know that there is a cop ahead and that the current speed limit is 80kph, so I'll check my speed and of course it is always within the speed limit because I'm a freakin' angel that would never violate any of our countries laws!

[MarkH]

Now I get an audio reminder when approaching a drop in speed limit as well as a reminder of what the speed limit is when being told about the detection of K or Ka band radar. I'll hear something like "Ka front, limit 80" and I'll know that there is a cop ahead and that the current speed limit is 80kph

For those interested:
This isn't a cheap setup, it is a combination of the Valentine One Generation 2 radar detector (I had to use my Shipito address to buy one in the US and send it to a US address and then forward it on to NZ from there) and the JBV1 app (only available on Android) created by johnboy00 on the radar detector forums. It is the JBV1 app that tells me about the upcoming drop in speed limit as well as monitoring the V1G2 radar detector through BT and letting me know about threats. The JBV1 app is also able to do some clever stuff, like I have it set to push out some settings changes to the V1G2 so that under 60kph it puts the detector into advanced logic mode and above 60kph it puts the detector into 'all bogeys' mode. The V1G2 detector doesn't have built in GPS, so the JBV1 app adds in GPS features by using the phone GPS to give location aware lock-outs so you don't hear alerts when you get the same signal in the same place every time. The radar detector doesn't know what the speed limit is, so it is the JBV1 app that has the speed limits map and GPS location that lets it tell me what the speed limit is when the radar detectors picks up police radar.

For radar detectors, there are only about 3 radar detectors available today that have directional arrows and very high performance - Uniden R7, Valentine One Gen 2 and the impressive but expensive Escort Redline 360c. Of these the Valentine One G2 when combined with the JBV1 is the best you can get, without the JBV1 app the other 2 are arguably better, especially since they each have a built in GPS to provide features that the V1G2 can't give you without pairing it with the JBV1 app. The R7 with custom firmware created by a guy in Wellington is a great stand alone detector. The Escort Redline 360C with dual front detector horns and single rear horn can advise you about the cop up ahead over the hill and over a kilometre away, without the hill it can let you know about the cop that is 4km away. I sold my 360C though and kept my V1G2, because with the app it beats everything else.

And yes, I have done a bit of research into radar detectors.

[Reckless]

For those interested:

And yes, I have done a bit of research into radar detectors.

Thanks Buddy That research would have some time input into it
Awesome info much appreciated

[rastuscat]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sponsored...AMB77AG63H36M/

[Jazzed]

.... is how with the road to 0 they keep lowering speed limits for pedestrian safety yet fail to address the amount of utes with aftermarket steel bumpers/nudgebars.

The anniversary jeep wrangler couldn't be imported into NZ as it had steel bumpers. Same for all these utes, they were imported with plastic bumpers - yet they can get warrants after they swap the plastic for steel???
It also seems like at least half the utes around here have ARB bars on that lift the front to make it easier to go over obstacles, yet it also helps for going over small children that they dont see.

Then finally is the trendy look of your tyres sticking out wider than your fenders which these guys think make their utes look like tonka toys... you cant get a warrant like that so why dont they get pulled over??

None of the above points have been addressed for pedestrian safety and the road to 0.

[Navy Boy]

Interesting how in the conclusions it states that NZ road safety is poor compared to many other countries - Then very little more is made of this. Talk about a throwaway line...

Also when somone says that speed is factor is 70% of accidents then I start to become a little suspicious. Statistics don't make a convincing argument and reliance on them often indicates a flawed argument - In other words one has use them to prop up and otherwise unconvincing case. I could be doing 20Km/hr when I hit a stationary object - Speed will still then be considered a factor.

We all get that around schools and other areas where you have a dispropotionatly high number of vulnerable road users then your speed, and general driving/riding, needs to take account of this. However saying that the whole 'Speed kills' campaign is working when the road toll suggests otherwise seems to be more than a little patronising to me.

Do I slow down and keep my eyes even more peeled than normal when riding past a school during school knock-off times? Absolutlely. However please don't patronise me, especially when this is a sponsored article whose interests are trying to tell the world how well their initiative is working.

You're better than this Rastus - Please stick to non-biased argument and yes, I did do science at school so please don't start the 'Physics don't lie piece'

[roogazza]

Thanks Buddy That research would have some time input into it
Awesome info much appreciated

Agree Reckless, great info. I passed Rep to MarkH.......

[FJRider]

Interesting how in the conclusions it states that NZ road safety is poor compared to many other countries - Then very little more is made of this. Talk about a throwaway line...

Also when somone says that speed is factor is 70% of accidents then I start to become a little suspicious. Statistics don't make a convincing argument and reliance on them often indicates a flawed argument - In other words one has use them to prop up and otherwise unconvincing case. I could be doing 20Km/hr when I hit a stationary object - Speed will still then be considered a factor.

We all get that around schools and other areas where you have a dispropotionatly high number of vulnerable road users then your speed, and general driving/riding, needs to take account of this. However saying that the whole 'Speed kills' campaign is working when the road toll suggests otherwise seems to be more than a little patronising to me.

Do I slow down and keep my eyes even more peeled than normal when riding past a school during school knock-off times? Absolutlely. However please don't patronise me, especially when this is a sponsored article whose interests are trying to tell the world how well their initiative is working.

You're better than this Rastus - Please stick to non-biased argument and yes, I did do science at school so please don't start the 'Physics don't lie piece'

The attitude of far too many regarding speed ... is the real issue. Speed in itself is not the issue ... but circumstance is. 100 km/hr on a good road with light and/or well spaced vehicles is seldom an issue. But when vehicle spacing decreases and/or or rain starts the risk issue increases. Even in the 40 km/hr zones (which are becoming more and more common nowadays) in light traffic and good weather ... only the idiots (and there are plenty of them) risk an accident. But ... add times of high traffic numbers and a cycle lane (with minimal separation to road traffic) next to the road ... even 40 km/hr may be too fast if somebody makes a simple error in judgement. If and/or when incidents do occur ... the old "I was only doing the speed limit" gets heard. Funnily enough ... they probably WERE at the speed limit. Even if that is the case ... does that then absolve themselves from prosecution for another (dangerous driving/following too closely charge) ... ???? I hope not. Maybe ... but probably just too hard to win the case in Court though.

Perhaps ... if in such circumstances ... more people should be charged with other than just a speed related offense notice ... more people might get the idea in their head that speed in itself in not the only thing that will result in an infringement notice.

As far as Traffic Enforcement goes though ... Speed is easy to enforce. The easiest tool to use in traffic enforcement to gain a conviction. They don't even need to stop your vehicle. Just arguing with the Judge or paying the fine ... are your only options.

Traffic police seem to ignore bumper to bumper 100 km/hr traffic in heavy rain ... but one single vehicle on a deserted highway (in good weather) caught at 110 km/hr gets their attention. Is that really road safety policing .. ??

[FJRider]

Further grist to the mill

The American version to promote Road safety.

Is this totally UNRELATED to NZ Road Traffic issues ... or just a different point of view .. ??

https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/speeding

Please note the heading is Risky driving and speeding ... as opposed to just DANGEROUS driving.

Studies (apparently) indicate that no less than one third of fatal crashes are linked to excessive speed. For more than two decades ... speeding has been involved in approximately one third of all motor vehicle fatalities. I know speed also affects safety even when driving at the speed limit ... like too fast for road conditions (such times as during bad weather or when a road is under repair ... and/or even in an area at night that isn't well lit) which actually IS a Road Traffic Offense.

If only ONE THIRD of fatal crashes (in the US) can be linked to excessive speed ... how does/would it differ with NZ statistics in comparison ... ?? And why is speed being pushed here as the main issue in road safety. A large number of speed related deaths are single vehicle accidents ... with the end result of the driver (or passengers) death(s). What would be the issues with the OTHER two thirds of fatal motor vehicle accidents in this article .. ??

And do the issues in that other two thirds ... feature in NZ statistics .. ??

Could not those "other" two thirds of issues being enforced more (here in NZ)... save lives here in NZ too ... ??

[jellywrestler]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sponsored...AMB77AG63H36M/

the true road to zero plan?

[Berries]

the true road to zero plan?

Unfortunately that is the only tool in a very bare looking tool box. As long as alcohol and males exist you can forget about Road to Zero.

I suspect the millions they were going to spend on median barrier on a tiny proportion of the network to stop drunks smearing themselves across the front of a Freightliner is about to be diverted for cyclone recovery which is a much better idea.

[rastuscat]

You're better than this Rastus

I refute that statement.

[rastuscat]

Unfortunately that is the only tool in a very bare looking tool box. As long as alcohol and males exist you can forget about Road to Zero.

I suspect the millions they were going to spend on median barrier on a tiny proportion of the network to stop drunks smearing themselves across the front of a Freightliner is about to be diverted for cyclone recovery which is a much better idea.

The engineering solution is gold plated, long term and ultra expensive. We might get there one day, but that day is a very long way off.

Most deaths are caused by human error, or extreme behaviour. It's hard to educate, engineer or enforce for those things, as nobody ever thinks they are the problem, so nobody ever thinks they need to change.

[MarkH]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sponsored...AMB77AG63H36M/

There is definitely some truth to that. But those 30kph speed limits are still applicable at times when there is no one else around, so no pedestrians or cyclists to protect. The speed limit is a blunt instrument to use for solving the problem. I have less problem with a 30kph limit in Auckland than an 80kph limit on major roads though.

I remember reading about the Taupo to Napier highway with some people that needed to drive along it daily very unhappy about the plans to lower the speed limit to 80kph.
The Taupo to Napier Highway is long and there is a very noticeable amount of extra time to travel along it if you follow the 80kph speed limit instead of 100kph. If along that length there is 100km worth that can be driven at the speed limit then at 100kph it would take an hour for that part and at 80kph it would take 1 hour & 15 minutes. Waka Kotahi claimed that because the average speed on a journey along that road was 83kph (I'm going purely on memory here, I think I'm getting the numbers right) then lowering the speed limit to 80kph would only make about 4 or 5 minutes difference to the travel time. This means that the speed limit is being decided by people that are bad at maths, this is not good! If you lower the speed limit from 100kph to 80kph it will NOT lower the average speed for a journey from 83kph to 80kph, clearly there are slow corners that will bring the average down lower than the maximum speed. There were courier drivers that had to drive that long highway there and back twice per day - if they lost 15 minutes each way then their day would be 1 hour longer. If you ONLY look at deaths then you could make all roads in NZ 10kph and have damn near zero deaths, but you really need to consider other factors when setting speed limits - the economics and practicality are important too.

Similarly there are people very unhappy about the Blenheim to Nelson road being completely blanketed with an 80kph limit. Again a blunt instrument that will badly affect the regular commuters. Is the entire length of that road really truly dangerous to drive at 100kph, more so than other roads in NZ? I highly doubt it!

So, what happens on those city roads that are reduced to a 30kph limit? Are police saying the limit is 30kph and at busy times they will be there enforcing the law and giving out tickets? Or are police going to be giving out tickets at any time, including when there isn't a single pedestrian or cyclist to be seen? In my experience the police give out tickets to anyone that exceeds the limit that has been set, regardless of whether the driving is safe or unsafe - then the ads tell me that it is about safety! I don't believe it is about safety, because if it was the police would not be overly bothered about strictly enforcing the limits at times of the day when the risk factors that were used to decide the lower speed limit are not present. I'm informed that the police are not supposed to use discretion, anyone travelling over 10kph above the limit is supposed to be ticketed according to police policy. Then there is this BS about being OK to ticket motorists for ANY speed above the limit, as if there is any safety difference between 50kph and 51kph - I can't see niggling over 1 or 2 kph making any difference to safety. The ads show some situations where speed is a problem and say it is about safety, I've never been ticketed for situations depicted in the ads. The ads don't show someone safely driving along a straight road and getting ticketed because their speed exceeded the posted limit, they don't give an honest look at what the police are doing.

Enforcing the limits more strictly when there are greater risk factors (like school children getting out of school) is fine by me, that actually makes sense. But I have been ticketed for exceeding the limit and nothing else, no pedestrians out on the paths or road, no cyclists, no cars near me, only the cop further ahead - I don't believe the BS about it all being to do with safety when I'm ticketed for riding safely but over the limit. It isn't about safety, it is about enforcing the limit that Waka Kotahi have decided to set.