candy store

[incisor]

some was is a little miffed..

An open letter to the Premier | Downshift (http://www.downshiftaus.com/2013/an-open-letter-to-the-premier/)

[ramblingboy42]

...yeah but he is 100% right..............

[Gerokent]

and cops wonder why the level of respect shown to them is diminishing.
I reckon they should get back to what they aught to be doing
"KEEPING THE PEACE"

[Mick_Marsh]

People wonder why I have an aversion to travelling to Queensland.
When this sort of unreasonable harassment (re: "a representative from the Motorama Holden car dealership brought along a brand new vehicle from the lot to display it, and was held up for 30 minutes while officers went over it with a fine tooth comb in an effort to find something wrong with it. When he protested, he was told that they would keep going until they found something") occurs and there is no recourse, why bother?

We have it so good here in Vic. There are lots of motoring enthusiast groups. There is usually some sort of event/display each weekend. There was a Holden display last Saturday. They want me to join with my VR Commodore. I'll be able to put it on club plates in six years.

[mudmouse]

Yep, turning back public relations (decades) for the worst...

Taking that letter at face value - nice one :mad:

Matt.

[Bigbjorn]

I am sending this to everyone on my e-mail address book and requesting they forward it on to everybody on theirs. Can all Aulrovians reading this do the same.

I am heartily sick of police and transport officer harassment just because I like to own and drive cars that are different to the norm.

[mudmouse]

Of note is the premise of 'looking for something until (they find it)'.

There is no provision to be stopped for the purpose of searching for defects. Heavy vehicles are stopped for mass loading and log book inspection, but light motor vehicles are not covered by those laws.

The process is supposed to be observing a defect, or apparent defect, relating to the safe operation of a motor vehicle and stopping, inspecting, and if necessary referring the MV to an inspection station by way of defect notice for inspection/repair. It's supposed to Safety related, not dick-pulling related.

This fishing expedition is utter crap and sadly too common.

Matt.

[Blknight.aus]

thats why I drive fozzy, sorry officer, you cant yellow ticket this vehicle for that, its not required to comply to the ADRs that you're trying to apply.

and my favorite with big red was a 30 minute argument about it being lifted or not that wound up with the site super being bought over (at my insistance) to finally accept that if the roof is at the height stated in the book and on the sunvisor then its most likely not lifted and not illegal.

[Bigbjorn]

Done. Sent to everyone on my three e-mail lists requesting them to on-forward to all on theirs.

[UncleHo]

Shades of the "Joh" era,and his spotless police force!

[101RRS]

This type of police behaviour is not restricted the Qld.

I used my 101 to take some young adults to their Year 12 formal which was being held at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. The dropoff point was a the Museum end of the carpark - 150 m from the drop off point - still in the carpark and on the only exit the police had set up a vehicle checking station stopping all the modded and classic vehicles as they left in full view of the of the arriving guests.

The cops were too busy checking a magnificently painted Honda sports car so I was not stopped.

I no longer attend these type of functions and the cops wonder why they do not have a lot of public support when all their good work is undermined by actions such as this.

Garry

[Ralph1Malph]

Ok, I am offering to be the dissenting voice here. So flame away.:twisted:
IF the enthusiasts cars (as we may well call our LR's) were 'registered for street use' then is it not reasonable that they be 'street legal'?
I see that it's like saying - 'it's a 57 chev - I should be allowed to have darker tint than a hyundai'!
On the subject of fishing, it's poor PR to be sure BUT if there were a long list of defects (I don't know if there were) then I get the premise of the sting...the crooks have all gathered together! I say crooks in a tongue in cheek fashion as the law has been broken regardless of the cars vintage.

That being said, would I have done it? No. What I would have done was set up a police checking station at the event and advised drivers as a courtesy that all defects would be reported to the governing club body with a please explain and until next meet to rectify. More a service than enforcement.

Now, before you flame me mercilessly, I am not without fault. I do break the law at times. Sometimes often. I choose to play percentages with the john hops.

Cheers
Ralph

[Mick_Marsh]

Ok, I am offering to be the dissenting voice here. So flame away.:twisted:
IF the enthusiasts cars (as we may well call our LR's) were 'registered for street use' then is it not reasonable that they be 'street legal'?
I see that it's like saying - 'it's a 57 chev - I should be allowed to have darker tint than a hyundai'!
On the subject of fishing, it's poor PR to be sure BUT if there were a long list of defects (I don't know if there were) then I get the premise of the sting...the crooks have all gathered together! I say crooks in a tongue in cheek fashion as the law has been broken regardless of the cars vintage.

That being said, would I have done it? No. What I would have done was set up a police checking station at the event and advised drivers as a courtesy that all defects would be reported to the governing club body with a please explain and until next meet to rectify. More a service than enforcement.

Now, before you flame me mercilessly, I am not without fault. I do break the law at times. Sometimes often. I choose to play percentages with the john hops.

Cheers
Ralph
Too right, if they are not "street legal", sure, put a defect notice on them.
The example given was way out of line. "We will keep going until we find something" on a new dealer supplied vehicle.smacks of being a fit up. This sort of thing happened to a friend one night. They were looking for drugs because he had a syringe in his glove box. "Arrest me or I'm driving home" he said. Called their bluff. Spent the next day reassembling his car. The local coppers obviously had never heard of diabetes. But I digress.
They were "profiling" to set up at the event. They're not allowed to racially profile. Yes, it's not the same but I'm sure you understand what I am getting at.
At the end of the day, it was a very bad PR exercise for the state. Who would possibly want to spend a tourist dollar in that state if they risk being profiled and victimised.
Not I.
The next event should be held in friendly Victoria. We love taking your tourist dollar.

[olbod]

Better get used to it, Australia is rapidly becoming a police state.

[weeds]

keep in mind it's all hear say, we only have one side of the story

i think the premiers respose was spot on

if anybody thought there wouldn't be extra police resources alloacated to such a big event must be living under a mushroom.....

its no different to police setting up outside a 4wd park.....if your car is legal than all is good

[Mick_Marsh]

keep in mind it's all hear say, we only have one side of the story

i think the premiers respose was spot on

if anybody thought there wouldn't be extra police resources alloacated to such a big event must be living under a mushroom.....

its no different to police setting up outside a 4wd park.....if your car is legal than all is good
I agree with what you type Weeds, however, did you read the example given? It was clear to me, even if all was legal, all was not good.
I think what was at issued here was the targeted unfairness. The discrimination.
The attitude was not "we will look to find any faults" but "we will look to find a fault, and if we find none, we will keep looking until we do".
That is what I got from the article after reading it.

[Stuck]

Ralph is pretty much right in what he says in that if it's registered it must be roadworthy. The bit that stirs me is that car enthusiasts have for too long been seen by the authorities as easy prey and I'll only stop believing that what's happening is victimisation when these types of operations are played out across the board i.e. shopping centre carparks, sporting events, service centres on highways during holiday times etc.. Go ask any mechanic or tyre fitter and they'll reassure you that shiny paint, mag wheels and a loud stereo are not prerequisites for a defective vehicle. I might add that in NSW our finest need only to suspect that the vehicle is defective to issue a defect notice. In the event that the defect was incorrectly issued, you've got more hope of selling a pork sandwich in a Jewish mosque than you have of getting any compensation for time and / or expenses incurred getting "the defect" cleared.

[Gary S11]

It's all well and good saying they should be roadworthy, but what land rover owner wouldn't get pinged for oil leaks if the cop wanted too! My disco can sit in the garage all week and not drip but if you run your hand along the steering pipes or the bell housing you'll get oil...some cops are great and others are... just .....not nice.....Gary

[isuzurover]

Ralph is pretty much right in what he says in that if it's registered it must be roadworthy. ...

When I took my 110 over "the pits" to change over to WA rego I was told the FACTORY ORIGINAL exhaust outlet position was illegal. After being forced to replace the tip with a downward facing one, I saw several WA-delivered 110s with the identical exhaust.

[bob10]

It's easy to get worked up over one side of the story. Hopefully it will go to the CMC, and get sorted. At this moment, I will give the Police the benefit of the doubt. Bob

[Sprint]

Ralph is pretty much right in what he says in that if it's registered it must be roadworthy. The bit that stirs me is that car enthusiasts have for too long been seen by the authorities as easy prey and I'll only stop believing that what's happening is victimisation when these types of operations are played out across the board i.e. shopping centre carparks, sporting events, service centres on highways during holiday times etc.. Go ask any mechanic or tyre fitter and they'll reassure you that shiny paint, mag wheels and a loud stereo are not prerequisites for a defective vehicle. I might add that in NSW our finest need only to suspect that the vehicle is defective to issue a defect notice. In the event that the defect was incorrectly issued, you've got more hope of selling a pork sandwich in a Jewish mosque than you have of getting any compensation for time and / or expenses incurred getting "the defect" cleared.

A few months ago the local authorities had a sting on the local "lap" night..... The call that went out over the police radio to the general duties units was "pull over anything that looks interesting and send it straight to the pits"

funny how its only ever happened like that on the local lap night..... ignore all the rest of the ****boxes out there....

[FeatherWeightDriver]

Police Target Downshift - YouTube

[Stuck]

A few months ago the local authorities had a sting on the local "lap" night..... The call that went out over the police radio to the general duties units was "pull over anything that looks interesting and send it straight to the pits"

funny how its only ever happened like that on the local lap night..... ignore all the rest of the ****boxes out there....
Sometimes that works out good though. Back in the day I had my old Series 3 (and it was rough) parked up at Nobby's Beach, which was the local haunt for car buffs back then, one Friday night. That night the Police, RTA (now RMS) and EPA conducted one of these types of operations during which they were targeting modified cars. At one point an EPA (from memory) bloke was using my front guard and bonnet as a desk to process the paper work for the defective vehicles :D.

[V8Ian]

some was is a little miffed..

An open letter to the Premier | Downshift (http://www.downshiftaus.com/2013/an-open-letter-to-the-premier/)
An extract from the open letter:-


The icing on top of the cake was when two officers attended from another branch closer to the city, and requested to gain access to the grounds to find a child who had been missing for over 2 hours. We assisted them to locate said child, who has been reunited with his family (and had a great time at the event). The community has rightly questioned why the 30+ officers who were manning the defect stations were unable to lower their fine books to look for a missing person for a few minutes, and the more cynical have suggested that it may be that locating a child doesn’t pay as well as fining people for truly trivial things such as slightly too dark window tinting (which I may add was done using un-calibrated equipment).

Just after being elected, Newman stated that he would be increasing revenue from speeding (assuming, more accurately he meant traffic and transport offences), from $31 million to $81 million; you're not going to do that wasting time searching for lost kids.

[worane]

Not one of those cop cars would be in standard form.
What is good for the goose should be good for the gander

[mudmouse]

Not one of those cop cars would be in standard form.
What is good for the goose should be good for the gander

No, they're not standard - as far as computers, lights, sirens and other internal fittings - but they do go through an engineering certification, so whilst modified they are complaint. The brakes (on XR-6T) are Brembo aftermarket sets but also certified. Engines are no longer modified. The cars are leased and the contract does not allow performance upgrades/changes. Years ago, when the cars were owned by the department, orders could be placed for enhancements, and some 'in the field' mods were done be the departments mechanical branch, but as with most things, when you start enjoying yourself, some insect has to come along and spoil it :(

Case in point.

Matt.

[V8Ian]

No, they're not standard - as far as computers, lights, sirens and other internal fittings - but they do go through an engineering certification, so whilst modified they are complaint. The brakes (on XR-6T) are Brembo aftermarket sets but also certified. Engines are no longer modified. The cars are leased and the contract does not allow performance upgrades/changes. Years ago, when the cars were owned by the department, orders could be placed for enhancements, and some 'in the field' mods were done be the departments mechanical branch, but as with most things, when you start enjoying yourself, some insect has to come along and spoil it :(

Case in point.

Matt.
I wish they were allowed to adjust the headlights to compensate for all the crap they carry in the boot. :mad:

[Bigbjorn]

I wish they were allowed to adjust the headlights to compensate for all the crap they carry in the boot. :mad:

Unity Spotlights are the solution

[Sprint]

Last night i was pulled over for an RBT at a roadblock type setup, while they were doing the rego/licence checks, etc I asked the officer standing beside my ute what he thought about the commodore in front of me

"what about it?"
2 dead brakelights and one dead taillight?
"yes..... what about it"
just saying.....

[TheTree]

You gotta love the "deep north" ... Newman is doing a great job of channeling Joh :p

Steve

[Chucaro]

You gotta love the "deep north" ... Newman is doing a great job of channeling Joh :p

Steve

I lived for near 10 years in the Wide Bay area and I can telling you that Joh was god for the majority of them. For sure they voted for Can-Do as well.

[V8Ian]

Unity Spotlights are the solution
The Bull lights didn't impress them. :nazilock:

[Bigbjorn]

The Bull lights didn't impress them. :nazilock:

I thought you were referring to high beam lights behind you. Unity spotlights are steerable and can be pointed right into the eyes of the offending driver.

I bought a pair whilst in the USA this year to go on the County

[UncleHo]

They I have got to see!! I will be down your way next month too.

[Bigbjorn]

They I have got to see!! I will be down your way next month too.

Have a look at Welcome to Unity Manufacturing Company (http://www.unityusa.com). Extensive range. The HID ones are hideously expensive. Mine are 100w QH. These gadgets are virtually standard fitment on USA police cars.

By the way, the Ho House has been sold again as has the one next door on the corner of Hall Avenue.

[UncleHo]

Aah! Fred Smith's old place,bet it will be for a 6pack unit block good hard ground that,would take multi story no problems, they would make good removals both hardwood,ours 1948 built and Fred's about 51,they had 6 girls he gave up trying for a boy.

[iClick]

“if you want lollies, go to a candy store”.

It's not that different to the cops attending a dance party with sniffer dogs.

[davidsonsm]

It's the pettiness that annoys more than anything. The jobsworth attitude. The lack of empathy. The lack of consultation. Fascists.

[vnx205]

If it were not for the fact that this happened in Qld, I would suggest that there might be another side to this story.

Years ago, when RBT was fairly new, I heard someone ask a policeman in Yass why they set up the RBT check on the Hume Highway when they could catch a lot more drivers over the limit if they set up on the low level crossing that was the back way home from the RSL Club to North Yass.

His answer was that the object of the exercise was not to catch a handful of locals. The reason they set up on the highway was that there they would be seen by hundreds of drivers rather than a dozen or so.

They were more interested in being seen so that drivers would refrain from drinking in the belief that they would be likely to be caught because RBTs seemed to be everywhere. It becomes a form of crime prevention.

Preventing thousands of drivers from drink driving was seen as a higher priority than catching half a dozen drivers who had done the wrong thing.

The same principle might have applied here. It might be that the object of the exercise was not to book a few drivers for defects but to get the message to a huge number of people in a short time, that cars are checked for defects. In that situation, it might be that the only drivers actually given a ticket are the ones with blatant defects or the drivers who don't understand that the police don't make the laws, but they are required to enforce them to contribute to safety on our roads. I can understand that the police might be less inclined to be lenient towards drivers with attitude.

The original letter obviously presents things from one perspective. There might be another side to the story. However, given that this incident happened in Qld, maybe not. :)

[NavyDiver]

two perspectives or sides to the yarn I wonder, Vic police watching the Moto GP on Phillip Island each year are great. They nab a few over enthusiastic two wheel types traveling on one wheel and for the most part are very cool helping control the traffic overload for a fun day.

Did the QLD police find any issues? Where the police polite to the people they inspected. Given the letter mentions he confronted - or questioned the right of the poor constable pods to follow the instructions they have been given would have made have been conducted in a way that would work- his back was already up clearly.

A firearms check op occurs every year here. 99% are fun and fine, the few who get agro with the police claim harassment and usually have broken some rules :wasntme:

Not a plod