Look out for all the coppers on the road

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Originally Posted by Sprint

dont get me wrong, i accept that i was speeding, i'm just disputing the orificers claims about the seriousness considering what happens on a minute by minute basis in town

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It's not the coppers, they're just doing their job. It's the dimwit politicians that we elect that get free publicity by being seen to be hard on speeding etc that annoy me.
The other day I heard someone from the AFP complaining how they had caught 73 people DUI in Canberra over the last few weeks. At face value that would seem to be shocking except that I've been living around the area for 10 years and have only been pulled up in the ACT twice for a random breath test. In NSW I probably get pulled up at least once every two months. It seems that the ACT have started to get a bit serious about RBT and are actually catching people. The media shouldn't be asking why so many people are being booked, they should ask why RBT hasn't been effective for the last 10 years. I have worked with young blokes in Canberra that have the same attitude that my mates had in NSW before RBT was introduced ie: if you make it home you couldn't have been too drunk to drive.
The other one I'm waiting for is the media bleat about "The record Christmas road toll". The only problem is that due to low petrol prices "record numbers of people are heading off on a road trip for the Christmas holidays". Link
That and the fact that they started measuring the Christmas road toll 5 days before Christmas and won't stop until the 5th of Jan should give the pollies some excuses to introduce some more taxes in the name of saving lives.
:soapbox:

Regards,
Tote

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Originally Posted by Sprint

still cant believe i got booked for 14km/h over on the highway last week....... got a lecture about my "life endangering offence" less than 10 minutes before i got into town and had to contend with people doing well in excess of 80 in a 60 zone, illegal overtaking and morons in prado's failing to give way

life endangering? gawd, the only life in danger was mine from nearly busting my guts laughing

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so it was a 'safe' 14 k's over the limit and you knew you could do an emergency stop just as well the same as if you were doing the speed limit and your reaction time is that good that the extra speed you were doing would not make any difference for you.
And the laws of the land don;t apply to you ,

Gee i am glad there are capable drivers like you around.



je

To repeat what I have said before. If you look at any of the reports of random breath test campaigns (such as the ACT one mentioned above), you will find that in almost all cases the proportion of over the limit compared to number of tests is almost always less than 1%, usually way less. Then consider that around 30% of dead drivers are over the limit, and just think for a moment what this says about the major cause of road deaths; it is not speeding (although speeding is often involved, as is not wearing a seat belt and unlicenced/driving an uninsured, unregistered car). It is not speeding that is the major cause of road deaths.

The problem with speed is that in many cases the speed limit is unrealistic - I could give any number of examples - but this is no excuse, nor is the fact that everybody else is speeding; you know the law and if you get booked you almost always have yourself to blame (the exceptions would be poor or non-existent signs).

A few other facts to consider:-

1. Contrary to implications by the authorities, road deaths over holiday periods are rarely higher than over any similar non-holiday period, and the fatality rate is invariably lower than a normal period when considered on a car-kilometre basis. Double demerits have not been shown to have any effect on statistics!

2. Current road death rates are (give or take noise on statistics) the lowest ever on Australian roads on a car-kilometre basis, which is the only sensible way of looking at it. The reasons for this are not hard to find - better roads, seat belts and random breath tests, and to a small extent, better driving attitudes.

3. While phone use may contribute to a few accidents, the fact that a massive increase in mobile phone use over the last fifteen years from rare to almost universal has made no discernible impact on road statistics (which continued to drop) despite the fact that many people use them while driving, shows that they cannot be a major cause of accidents. The reason for this is probably that the people who allow them to interfere with driving are probably going to allow other things to do so as well, thus having their accident while changing stations, doing their hair, shaving, eating lunch etc.

John

Yes, I agree with you John, the speed limits in a lot of cases are totally unrealistic. I had to drive to Bondi & back yesterday & was constantly looking at the speedo to keep within the speed limit - in a lot of cases the most ridiculous speed limits for the circumstances. Where we live it's very rural, & driving through some of the towns the speed limit's are 50, and some of the roads are 80 when in my opinion they should be set at 100. As for using mobile phones - I find it more distracting trying to constantly read the speedo on the SIII to keep within the speed limit!

I don't personally know the statistics regarding accidents relating to speeding, etc. But I was told by a doctor that his opinion was that the accidents were just as bad as ever, despite all the policing, RBT's, speed cameras, etc.

Speed limits are arbitrary, set by bureaucrats, politicians and police and bear no relationship to prevailing circumstances. Despite the exponential improvement in vehicles and roads since 1960, the time of the last update to Queensland speed limits other than conversion to metric, there has been virtually no change in the arbitrary limits. I am not suggesting that the limits in built up and heavily trafficked areas should be changed although I do object to the 50 km/h limit imposed about 8 years ago. Most of our major highways could be safely changed to 120 km/h or even 140 km/h in more remote areas, or even like the NT used to be, no limit. NSW used to have unrestricted open roads up until about 1970 where the speed travelled at was left to the drivers discretion and the police could take action if they consider the driver was operating dangerously.

Drunk driving has been drastically reduced by wide spread random testing, stiff fines, and long suspensions, also prolonged widespread publicity brought about a complete change in community attitude towards drinking and driving. Long gone are the days when a Sergeant of Police could say in public that "you have to be pretty pi55ed before you can't drive a motor car" as I heard once.

One of my customers( model engineer) is a senior Inspector of Police, 38 years service. He tells me that nowadays it is rare to find a driver with a very high reading on a breath test. Over .15 is now rare and noteworthy, he says, whereas when he was a young copper readings over .2 were commonplace and rarely commented upon to colleagues unless up around .28 and greater. He says it is obvious that most drivers are aware of the limits and do try to keep under .05 as most charges these days are for readings around .06 - .09

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Originally Posted by JohnE

so it was a 'safe' 14 k's over the limit and you knew you could do an emergency stop just as well the same as if you were doing the speed limit and your reaction time is that good that the extra speed you were doing would not make any difference for you.
And the laws of the land don;t apply to you ,

Gee i am glad there are capable drivers like you around.



je

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tell me......

1: whats worse, 14km/h over the limit where all you can see of the next car is a blob in the distance, or where you can read the writing on the bumper stickers on the cars that pass you down the main street in town?

2: not buying into the whole bull**** argument about de-restricting the highways in the NT, but whats so different to me doing 114km/h in qld and doing the same speed further west, across the border in the NT where its perfectly legal? it was a clear day, visibility for a good couple of K's, and the road was in good condition, so i fail to see any issue with what he did

3: i drive to the conditions of the road, if its foul weather, roadworks, high traffic, etc etc etc of course im going to behave myself, and just the same, when i do choose to play up, i do so where conditions permit, and where the only person likely to get hurt is myself

as i said, i admit i was speeding, i'll pay the fine and wear the demerit points, i just object to the officers claims about how "life endangering" it was

if he was so serious about saving lives, he'd be able to save a lot of fuel by standing out front of where i work, booking people who cut through the forecourt of the servo across the road (not looking for, and consequently nearly hitting a few pedestrians), perform illegal U-turns at the busiest intersection in town, play up and slide around the corner in thier XR6/8 falcons and SS commodores (and even dual cab hiluxes in the wet), the idiots who fail to give way, etc etc etc

but nah, none of that could ever possibly be as dangerous as 14km/h over the speed limit on the highway with nobody around could it

monday morning i'll pull over and take a photo of where he pulled me up if you dont believe me when i say the highways are quiet up here

btw, also found out the same cop also booked an ambulance driver for doing 120....... with a patient in the back!

i prefer the term police women or police man.........much nicer than copper:mad:

The media reports that all police leave (in NSW) is cancelled over Christmas is govt. spin (why am I not surprised). They have an embargo on HWP and General Duties police taking leave (which is a lot different to cancelling leave) but a police woman I was speaking to earlier this week said her squad has been directed to take leave - leaving a bare minimum available.

They are accruing too much leave and they have to take it. It is, apparently, worse for GD as they work 12 hour shifts so they have longer breaks in the fortnight. Hence, they tend not to take annual leave.

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Originally Posted by weeds

i prefer the term police women or police man.........much nicer than copper:mad:

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How about pi#gies? :D

I think it is easier to say coppers (which is not an insult) than 'policemen or police women'.

It depends on the intention and attitude of the person not the words.:angel:

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Originally Posted by weeds

i prefer the term police women or police man.........much nicer than copper:mad:

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Well unfortunately those terms are incorrect as they are sexist, with an implication that Police Officers who happen to be female are somehow different or less capable to Police Officers who happen to be male.

So the term "coppers" being non-sexist is possibly preferable to use when describing the wollopers. ;) :wasntme: