I'm with Sanx on this one. I'm from the UK and have ridden/driven in many countries with higher speed limits and far fewer road deaths per capita. Quite frankly the standard from driving in this country (which I otherwise love) is appalling.
Yes, I agree that speeding near schools, residential areas, etc, is a no no but on a large non-residential road, motorway, etc, late at night there should be some discretian shown.
I've been in NZ 8 months and already picked up a speeding ticket (58 in a 50 for f*cks sake late at night, empty non-resedential road - in my language that equates to 5mph over the limit!!) whereas never had one in over 20 years in the UK depsite being stopped on a number of occasions and merely recieving a "slapped wrist" due to police discretion.
I don't know about the laws here but in the UK you can ask to see that the laser/radar was callibrated recently (I think they need to be at least one a month or your ticket is revoked).
I'm sure the cops are just following orders but I'm also sure the whole "you were speeding - you get a ticket" thing is a revenue generator.
Yes, the speed limit is 50 or 100, but there must be room for police discretion.
The device needs to be calibrated once per year. You can ask to see the calibration certificate. You can also demand to see the certificate stating the officer has been trained in the equipment's use. The device also needs to be checked at the start of each shift, usually by doing a drive through against a car with a calibrated speedo; which also needs to be checked at the start of each shift, by travelling a measured mile and timing the trip against a stopwatch. Which needs to be calibrated once per year.
If any one of those actions are not performed, or the Police cannot prove to the magistrate's satisfaction that they have not been performed, then goodbye ticket.
The exception to these rules is VASCAR, but this also needs to be calibrated / checked at the start of each shift though (as I never got caught by VASCAR) I'm not sure of the exact process.
Although relatively difficult to find out, the rules and processes the cops must follow are strictly laid out. A reasonably large proportion of the tickets stick simply because the driver does not know the Police rules and magistrates have a long history in completely ignoring them unles specifically brought to their attention.
In NZ though, it's hard to find out what the exact rules are; i suspect because there are precious few of them and therefore precious few opportunities for us drivers to exercise a loophole in the law to get off a ticket.
i heard HC was flicking the bead of the lady who did the survey. actually it's not a rumour I'm POSITVE.![]()
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