I'm a grave menace to society

[puddytat]

unless they can scramble a heli damn fast, they've got about as much chance of catching me as I have getting off this ticket.


Money's one thing, its the points that fuck me off....Ive had 3 tickets in the last 5 years & theyve also cost me an extra 500 on my excess, sure you can say its my fault but a previous 25 yrs of accident & ticket free riding obviously counts for nothing...so Im buying a radar detector & if traffic & road conditions allow it'll be the last time those guys gonna pull me up cause Im goind to nail !!!

[riffer]

The thing is: You show Joe Snerd he was doing 128kph on the radar and he moans but accepts it.

You summons them for 'careless use' and you can hear the screams of denial from where you are.

Got just such a case - he spun-out, hit a bank, bounce of the bank, spun around twice more and came to rest sideways at the side of the road.

And he wants to go not guilty for careless driving.....WTF?'''/ j

Fair enough. Still not convinced though. What's the likelihood he'll get away with it? It sounds like a clear case of careless driving.

Are you trying to say its just too hard? Please please please don't tell me you're going to give up and concede defeat on the ones you can't prove with a radar gun?

And on the other subject, I'm yet to hear of a vehicle that can outrun a 2-way radio. Running's a waste of time.

[Max Preload]

When we get freeways with two lanes each way and a large median strip...

You mean like the entire Auckland motorway network including the north-western which sparked this thread...

[Max Preload]

And on the other subject, I'm yet to hear of a vehicle that can outrun a 2-way radio. Running's a waste of time.

A radio is only as good as the users ability to see what it is he's trying to advise his comrades of.

[Sanx]

A radio is only as good as the users ability to see what it is he's trying to advise his comrades of.

"Sierra Oscar 24 to Sierra Oscar. Chasing a black bike last seen heading west on State Highway 16. Registration unknown."

And of course, they're no exits to use and nice surburban back streets to pootle through at 49kph all the way home. Hmmm - I wonder if the standard UK big city method of evading Police choppers works in Auckland too; head to the airport.

In the UK, at least, there's a snowball's chance in hell that air traffic control would let a Police chopper fly into Heathrow or Manchester airport controlled airspace unless the person they were chasing had done something particularly nasty. Air traffic control have been known to ask Police chopper crews what the accused is meant to have done, and then allow or deny them based upon that. When you've got a passenger plane taking off or landing every thirty seconds, closing the airport approach for ten minutes to allow a police chopper access can prove rather costly.

And if air traffic control ever find out the Police chopper pilot's lied; that's his pilot's licence.

[Mekk]

The point is that my actions did not pose the slightest bit of harm to anyone. It might have been faster than the ridiculously low legal limit, but it was not too fast for the conditions.

Think of practicality though. Because we share this fine country with a whole lot of morons that would have contributed to the need to have a speed limit in the first place, the discretion used would have assumed you're another one of those morons.

I personally believe you when you say you're driving at a speed safe for the conditions, but there are other factors to consider. The fact that the speed limit has been placed on the roads isn't to stop safe drivers from getting to where they want to quicker, it's to ping fuckwits that abuse all rules anyway and are bad drivers.

Assuming you're a good driver, have good reflexes, 20/20 vision, common sense and experience, the speed you were going is fine and suitable for the conditions. If someone else is doing that same speed, has slower reactions, not the best driver, far less experience and so forth, is that driver still driving at a safe speed for the conditions? Conditions include that of the driver, not just the environment.

I would say the limit is set because unfortunately (statistically), there are a lot of bad drivers/fools on the road. There always has been. I mean hey, perfect world, no speed limit, no morons on the road, everyone has fun, society progresses wonderfully.

Because it's not a perfect world, the best, or as near to the best solution is required to maintain feasibility. Maybe far in the future there'll be a comprehensive chip installed into you to determine how suited you are to be driving at a given speed, but until then we have to put up with the flawed system...or kill more idiot drivers.

[swbarnett]

Okay, I've read through 8 pages of this now. A few pages back Scumdog asked for a sensible solution to the problem.

I'd like to offer one. And it's radical.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This is in essence what I've been proposing all along. Let the circumstances dictate the action.

Sorry, there would be a shitload more 'not guilty' calls as it's way more easier to prove speed than it is to prove careless and dangerous driving.

So the police would have to put more effort into documenting the circumstances to prove the danger. Surely this would only bring road policing into line with other areas of policing ?

unfortunately money is the root of all evil..

Often mis-quoted. "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil" (If you believe in such things).

112 with an indicated 105, so if ya were going 100 then that'd be under 110, fix ya speedo

No speedo in a private vehicle can ever be expected to have less than a 5% error. I seem to remember reading that NZ law actually allows for this in the WOF laws or the like. In Europe you have 5km/h knocked off your speed before the alleged speed is stated to account for exactly this.

[Jantar]

Actually the speed limit has been set to collect revenue for the government coffers. It is rated as the greatest enforceable risk, ie the one that is easily able to collect revenue from. Statistics now show that very few crashes are caused by exceeding the speed limit. Even the catchcry "too fast for the conditions" is often used to cover crashes caused by fatigue, and if you look at the data provided by Akilla, it shows that fatigue is by far the biggest cause of accidents.

Insurance assesor reports now show that over 90% of accidents happen at speeds below the speed limit, yet the number of speeding tickets issued shows that most drivers/riders do exceed the speed limit regularly.

[swbarnett]

Think of practicality though.

So what you're saying is that because Joe Bloggs is unstable and likely to murder someone I should be rounded up to because we both have the same hair colour?

[Max Preload]

While the traffic tends to move a lot faster than is permitted in New Zealand there's a notable lack of aggression in everything they do.

Of course there is - people can get to where they're going!

[Jantar]

Further evidence that speeding offences are intended for revenue gathering can be found here: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...t=48226&page=3

Note that over half of all driving tickets are for speeding (740,000 in 2006).

[Mekk]

So what you're saying is that because Joe Bloggs is unstable and likely to murder someone I should be rounded up to because we both have the same hair colour?

If your hair colour can affect your driving and/or others safety, then sure!

But dude, those have gotta be some serious locks.

I'm not proposing a solution (except for the microchipping, that'd be sweet) I'm providing an explanation based on what I think the reason it's in place is.

[justsomeguy]

Just curious do you have a "friend" who's ever done a runner?

A "friend" told me they aren't that easy to do.

[Max Preload]

Just curious do you have a "friend" who's ever done a runner?

A "friend" told me they aren't that easy to do.

I have a "friend" who's done a few... but this "friend" advised me that he only fights the battles he can win - little or no traffic, dry roads etc. The "friend" also advised that that's fairly easy to do as a responsible rider, since the only time this "friend" has needed to has been when it's blatantly obvious what he was going to be pulled for was revenue gathering and nothing more.

[swbarnett]

If your hair colour can affect your driving and/or others safety, then sure!

Perhaps that wasn't the best example. Try this for size: Let's say that two people have the gene for having a flaky heart. One actually has a flaky heart and the other doesn't. Under the reasoning applied to speed limits neither will ever be allowed to become airline pilots even though one of them is perfectly healthy. Ever seen Gattaca?

But dude, those have gotta be some serious locks.

Actually sport a number 1 clip these days (were some serious locks till they receded )

I'm not proposing a solution (except for the microchipping, that'd be sweet) I'm providing an explanation based on what I think the reason it's in place is.

I'm sure you're right. The powers that be need to get a clue.