Check your licence

[jim.cox]

a freind of mine just got pulled over for 110kmh - only $80 so no big issue

But her licence had expired in the middle of December - and that is $400

Now the speeding MIGHT have been dangerous - but four hundred dollars for out of date paperwork is just plain ridiculous

Something needs to be done about the bureaucracy in this country - its gone way beyond a joke.

With heavy handed regulation like this its little wonder the Constubulary are finding a lack of support in the general population...

[jrandom]

Using a motor vehicle on the roads is a privilege, not a right.

A requirement to keep the necessary paperwork up to date and a fine for being lazy about it that's equivalent to the fine for breaching a condition of a restricted licence seem reasonable enough to me.

[cold comfort]

a freind of mine just got pulled over for 110kmh - only $80 so no big issue

But her licence had expired in the middle of December - and that is $400

Now the speeding MIGHT have been dangerous - but four hundred dollars for out of date paperwork is just plain ridiculous

Thanks for the warning. All this talk of lifetime licences (which my PPL is)lulls you into a false sense of security

[sunhuntin]

i had an older woman come in just shy of xmas... totally unprovoked, she sidled up to me and said that her license has been expired since the xmas BEFORE and she hadnt got around to renewing it. why she told me, a lowly gas jockey, ill never bloody know. strange person...

[The Pastor]

Using a motor vehicle on the roads is a privilege, not a right.

A requirement to keep the necessary paperwork up to date and a fine for being lazy about it that's equivalent to the fine for breaching a condition of a restricted licence seem reasonable enough to me.

actually jrandom its more of a right than a privilege.

Once you pass your test (i.e., demostrated you can operate the machine safely) it is your right to drive it on the road.

If it were a true privilege then the goverment/cops/person in power could susspend your licence for no reason at all.

For you to have your licence susspended (in NZ) you must first break the law. Which indicates that driving on the road is not a privilege but more of a right, although i'd go futher to say it is neither a right or a privilege.

[jrandom]

actually jrandom its more of a right than a privilege.

We, the taxpayers, grant individual members of our society who pass appropriate tests permission to use vehicles on the publicly-funded road network.

We pay civil servants and cops to administer a licencing system and to take folks' licences off them when they show themselves to be unworthy.

In other words, permission to use a vehicle on the road is something that NZ, as a whole, is only prepared to give to people who display a particular level of competence and good judgement.

Unlike, for instance, the welfare system - we won't stop paying people benefits just because they squander the money and/or fuck up their lives. (Whether or not that's a good idea is a matter for another thread!)

Or, for that matter, the right to an open trial, the right to freedom of speech... current law grants those as rights, which will not be removed as a result of a person's behaviour, no matter how execrable it may be.

And that is the difference between a right and a privilege.

[bobsmith]

Gotta agree with RM on this jrandom. The roads are built and maintained with the tax WE pay. To say that we can not freely use what we've paid for is utter socialistic arrogance. Sure we have legislations to ensure that everyone is kept relatively safe on the road but at the end of the day the use of our road is our right that must be protected.

Like cold comfort pointed out the fact that our aviations licences are lifetime but our driver's licence having to be renewed every 10 years or so... That sucks. Especially since most people that are disadvantaged for this are experienced drivers who's been driving without losing their licence for 10 years. (Hey I suppose at least those who keep losing their licence and reapplying don't have to worry about this problem... )

[99TLS]

a freind of mine just got pulled over for 110kmh - only $80 so no big issue
But her licence had expired in the middle of December - and that is $400
..

no sympathy from me really tis her own fault for being a DUMBASS !!!

[Fatjim]

Dispite all the fuckwits below/above, thank you for this timely reminder.

[jrandom]

Sure we have legislations to ensure that everyone is kept relatively safe on the road but at the end of the day the use of our road is our right that must be protected.

Right, privilege, I suppose it's just a matter of semantics. Driver licences are what they are.

The real question here appears to be whether there should be a mandatory renewal process.

To be honest, I can't get enthusiastic about either side of that argument. Popping by the AA once every ten years to fill out a form and pay $30 (or whatever) just isn't enough of an annoyance to bother me.

[Quasievil]

Well I think the cop was being a bit of a prick, he could have offered diversion on presentation of a valid license within 7 days, hey that just aint the Kiwi way is it....................common

[jrandom]

Well I think the cop was being a bit of a prick, he could have offered diversion on presentation of a valid license within 7 days...

We don't know for sure that he didn't. Wouldn't surprise me if that little detail got lost in all the Chinese whispers going "waa, I got a ticket", "waa, he got a ticket", etc.

[jim.cox]

Well I think the cop was being a bit of a prick, he could have offered diversion on presentation of a valid license within 7 days, hey that just aint the Kiwi way is it....................common

Yeah, thats what I think too

And yet they whinge when they dont get the "community support" they think they deserve.

Go figure

[McDuck]

It is not a right. Everybody has the right to apply for a licence but aceptance is not garenteyed.

[Ixion]

It is not a right. Everybody has the right to apply for a licence but aceptance is not garenteyed.

It is a right. And acceptance is guaranteed. Provided you pass the various tests, no-one can deny you your licence. If it were a privilege, then even passing the tests you might not get a licence.

Most rights have some sort of franchise or qualification which must be met. In the case of the right to vote, you must first register, and meet certain criteria.

Immigration, on the other hand is a privilege , not a right (I think- I am no expert) . Someone who wishes to immigrate to NZ must meet certain criteria. But, even if they meet all the requirements, they may still be , quite arbitrarily, turned down.

Right, privilege, I suppose it's just a matter of semantics

Likewise, the difference between murder and self defence is just a matter of semantics. But if you should find yourself charged with the former, and your defence resting on the latter, you will probably think those 'semantics' of no small importance.