NZ Police: Safety or $$$ (A little fuel to the fire)

[jimbo600]

... I believe there is some allowance (100m) before they are allowed to zap you or something... I couldn't find it on the LTSA web site when I checked last.

Police GIs mate. Folk should ne be ticketed within 200m of a speed change when going from fast to slow, unless its by a school or roadworks. Used it myself.

[Macstar]

Hi All,

IMHO

You can quote all the stats or figures you like.
You can argue about whether or not there is a quota.
You can talk about whether cops should be doing other things.
You can blame the government.
You can blame cage drivers.
You may or may not agree with the tolerance.

You can say it's a tax..

I saw the top road cop on TV not so long ago. The question of the tax was put to him. he said something that I reckon is dead right:

If it is a tax, it is the easiest to evade in the country. Don't speed!!

I have paid quite a few tickets over the years. Do I blame the cops for any of them? NO!

The law is the law. We all know it. if we break it, then we pay the consequences. Isn't it that simple???

Its hard to demand discretion when some dickhead YouTubes it being given and a nationawide manhunt is on for the cop responsible!

Well argued, and at least 3/10 NZ drivers are able to keep to the law (unlike you and I by our own confessions of past tickets). Of course not all of the 1.6 mill annual infringements are for speeding...

As other KBs have rightly said, "it's all been said". But I'd like to make one other comment from some repeated Police behaviour I observed this afternoon i.e. (I've seen them do the same thing in the past).

I live near Balmoral Rd in Akl. It's a very long straight road with quite a steep hill at one end. Approx 500m beyond the base of the hill is a public park and pedestrian crossing (intersection of Balmoral and Dominion Rds). Often cops will stand hidden in the bus station some 100m beyond the base of the hill on Balmoral Rd. The hill is steep and unless you apply your brakes or stay in second gear, the average vehicle will naturally drift over 50kph. It's a gold mine for the boys in blue and they harvest this area. Unsuspecting motorists come down the hill get picked up on the laser doing whatever speed 55kph? 60kph? 65kph? and then get ushered into a nearby side street to be ticketed. This is after the cop J walks into the middle of a 4 lane road to signal the offending driver into the side street, a ticketable offense for Joe Public.

Now my bone of contention here is that IF the cops engaging in this particular spot were genuinely concerned about speeding motorists and the safety of pedestrians, they would relocate 300m further down the road outside the public park and pedestrian crossing, instead of focusing their lasers on traffic coming down the hill.

This my friends is the sort of behaviour I am talking about. Yes, the motorists caught speeding are breaking the law - for about 200m they may have let their motorvehicle exceed the 50kph level as a result of rolling down a steep hill - nothing intentional or sinister in the motorists actions... But what was their average speed for the length of the road? More than 55kph? What was their speed when they went past the park with children in it? - doesn't matter, cause the cops have found a spot with good returns, as longs as they hang out there, they'll be able to fill quotas.

Sorry, I may be sinister here - but MAN, I can't help it.

[Macstar]

The money to run the Police comes from the government and of course all money from tickets go to the government. However to say that "NZ Police’s total necessary operating budget come from traffic infringements" is rubbish. The government would have to pay the same amount of money to run the Police regardless of tickets.

Secondly, if you really are against the government getting your hard earned cash for their coffers there is an easy way to avoid them getting their hands on it. Slow down.

Just for the record: I didn't actually say the coppers get the cash, or that their total budget comes from it. Don't disagree with you that 1 bill is required to run the total dept, though by your own admission the govt does receive traffic infringement revenue. Therefore, the govt has to come up with less funding for the police thanks to the revenue from such fines.

And yeah, "slow down" - not arguing with you there either.

[scumdog]

An interesting enough thread but while we all have lots of opinions on the subject not much is new. It may however be therapeutic

So at the risk of repetition I offer the following:

Some years ago I asked a Police Inspector in charge of Traffic in Taranaki if he was familiar with the "Green wave". He had never heard of it.

Hmm, not down here - tons have heard about it.
In Dunedin if you do about 52kmh max after hitting the first green light you will invariably get the rest of the lights green as you head through the one-way system north and south.

If the first light is red then so will the next one be BUT if you modify your speed to suit you can get to the second set of lights just in time to get a green and then on you're home and hosed.

It's a shame that at times the others on front of you/behind you frustrate your efforts to do this.

[scumdog]

Police GIs mate. Folk should ne be ticketed within 200m of a speed change when going from fast to slow, unless its by a school or roadworks. Used it myself.

True.

But not set in law so never count on it.

[jimbo600]

True.

But not set in law so never count on it.

True that, more of an advisory I hear.

I'm sure that there was another GI somewhere that said motorcyclists should always be encouraged to pull wheelies away from traffic lights. Might be wrong though.

[Toaster]

Police GIs mate. Folk should ne be ticketed within 200m of a speed change when going from fast to slow, unless its by a school or roadworks. Used it myself.

250 metres when I was in the job last year.

Passed the red camera van parked just inside the 70km/h zone in Waitoki (west of Orewa) aiming at catching us all coming in at 100km/h. Lucky I was doing 70!! Waitoki School is just around the corner.

[Toaster]

As I have said before, the credibility of the NZ Police has been sacrificed on the altar of revenue generation.

And the occassional inappropriate use of a baton some years back.

[Hitcher]

And the occassional inappropriate use of a baton some years back.

Pah! Boys will be boys...

[*caution*]

Hopefully someone can clarrify this...

I thought all the money from speed cameras and other fines goes to the government? Ie the more money the cops pull in does not actually mean the cops have more to play with unless the government decide to increase their budget.....??

Theres really no excuse for a ticket though, you break the law you get the ticket, if you don't like the law to bad.

But if the cops only have have so many men to deploy, put them where people are dying, not where its easy to catch speeders....

Also i remember an item on 60 minutes where experts said the original study conducted between auckland and hamilton that suposedly "proved" hidden speed cameras reduced peoples speed were actually "inconclusive", personally I think people are more likely to take a second look at their speed when they see a camera or patrol car rather than knowing there might be a hidden camera......

[Jantar]

;...I thought all the money from speed cameras and other fines goes to the government? Ie the more money the cops pull in does not actually mean the cops have more to play with unless the government decide to increase their budget......

You are correct, but there is a circular argument that goes like this.

The police are tasked with issuing speeding tickets as the speed is the Greatest Enforceable Risk. In order to measure the police compliance with this task, treasury budgets for a particular income from traffic fines. Police management look at Treasury's budget and say "to meet this target we need xxx officer hours on traffic duty. This will cost $yyyyy".

The actual income from fines is above Treasury forecast, so the following year the budget figure is increased, as is the police figure.....

So, the money from fines does not flow directly back to the police, but it is used in determining police funding.

[90s]

think some people are missing the point of this thread.....

Oh yes. But then again I might one of them?

Hmmmm

A bit of this though
I am a "safe speeder" officer, you should ticket the unsafe ones!
I am a fantastic driver, what about all those other morons out there?
When I speed, it is perfectly safe - what about all those other people?
I should be able to travel at whatever speed I like - what about all those other offences that you should be working on.....?
Or the best: "I'm a motorcyclist, then only one who will be hurt is me....!"
Hmmm...

Well, or is Dougie one? I know your post was tongue-in-cheek and very amusing, and sure obey the law; however most people on this thread are saying they pay up and say 'OK cop' when caught. What many are talking about is sensible changes the law to achieve the outcomes they are meant for. I see no problem with this - if people couldn't ask for changes in the law then women wouldn't have the vote, NZ would have the 80kph speed limit and it would still be legal to burn catholics in England.
When enough people see something the same way and are a voting group their voice might be heard, so lets keep talking I say.

P.S. While on this topic, does anybody else feel that licence testing in nz is biased against young males??

Of course! and we all know why.

Just be thankful you have about the easiest - and most pointless - driver's testing in the developed world.

[Ewan Oozarmy]

Just be thankful you have about the easiest - and most pointless - driver's testing in the developed world.

And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that this is the root reason there are so many useless drivers on the NZ roads......

....that and the fact foreigners (like me) can swap their international licenses for an NZ one with no trouble at all.

[DougieNZ]

Hi All,

With all the talk about stats - How do you measure the amount of people that get given a speeding or other ticket, take stock of their driving and DON'T get killed on the road...

There can be no doubt ion my opinion that speeding CAN increase you chance of an accident/incident.

Simple maths, it increases the distance travelled before a reaction to the problem takes place.

I saw an absolute idiot on a motorcycle today travelling about 5mtrs behind a truck and trailer on a motorway. What an absolute moron. now if he had have been seen by a cop and ticketed, then maybe he would modify his behaviour next time and not get killed when the truck has to slam on it's brakes for some reason. This would be a classic case where a ticket could save a life. There are many more.

I'm not a perfect driver/rider either. I have had quite a few tickets - almost all for what most would consider to be "minor" speeding. When I do get caught there is only one person to blame... ME!

[peasea]

Obviously if 6-7/10 road users are getting speeding tickets then the bar is obviously set really really low!!

Correct; and it's set really, really low for a reason; to cash in.

The figures are probably out there somewhere but (guessing) I'm willing to wager that most speeding tickets would be issued for speeds between 110 and 120. Right where everyone, and their vehicle, is in 'the goove' on a good slice of road.

Moving on..........