Thread: I've been "civically incompliant"

Those who are talking about how dangerous the roads are are ignoring the evidence. The rate (per 100,00km, per vehicle or even the actual numbers!) of road deaths has been dropping ever since statistics started being collected, give or take short term fluctuations, and for a number of years now the risk on the roads has been lower than, for example, the suicide risk, but also probably than many other activities that have less complete statistics. The figures show noticeable drops after the introduction of seat belts and random breath tests, but there is no evidence that I am aware of that shows that speed cameras, mobile phones, or vehicle safety features have significant effects on accident rates. What the figures do show is that the biggest single factor in fatal accidents is alcohol, probably following road conditions although it is harder to find data on this.

My guess is that the the continuing drop in the road toll is largely as a result of better roads and improving driver attitude. It is worth remembering that the majority of accidents are the fault of a very small number of drivers, so a bigger improvement can be made by reducing this number rather than trying to change the behaviour of the vast majority, which is what most government actions try to do. For example, reduced speed limits for P plate drivers in response to major accidents involving a P plate driver - when that accident involved a driver doing well over the posted speed limit anyway.

Another point worth mentioning is that with driving essential for many Australians due to the lack of public transport, they have no alternative but to continue driving after being disqualified. However, the only figures I have seen show no significant difference in the accident rate between licenced and unlicenced drivers, so maybe it is not that big a problem!

As far as speed goes, my experience in a recent trip involving three states plus ACT, showed me that in most cases drivers travel anywhere from 5-10kph above the limit, with 30-70 common in roadwork speed limit areas (but speeds in known speed camera locations drop to right on the limit or even slower - e.g Melbourne freeways, Barton Highway, Hume highway, but only right at the camera location). This suggests that only a very small proportion of those speeding are ever caught.
John

Have you had a look at the photo yet?
I recieved a fine a while back and knew I wasn't there at the time, so I went in to view the photo, mine was a white D130, the photo was a camo 110 ragtop with my plates on it
After doing a stat.dec. they let me off, it was a real hassle and they treated me like a criminal, but I got off. mine was even registered as white in colour!
Next time I'll not pay, tell them the story, and let it go to court, cost the B@#$%$##s some money!
Left a sour taste in my mouth, can you tell?

F

Yes, but I seem to remember a recent thread where it was pointed out that the points are deducted straight away, regardless of how long you take to pay the fine.

Originally Posted by solmanic

Yes, but I seem to remember a recent thread where it was pointed out that the points are deducted straight away, regardless of how long you take to pay the fine.

The points are credited(?) once you have been found guilty, be that by the payment of the fine or by a court. They are then backdated to the time of the offence.

Went and had a look at the photos and realised my mistake. It's a familiar intersection near my house with green turn arrows. According to him I rolled through the intersection turning left 0.3 seconds before the green arrow came on.

Silly me. Familiarity breeds complacency, but I feel very proud to be stimulating our economy another $230 in these hideously tough times.

Get the photo and put it in an album.

Used to cost $7.80 per photo in Vic. Pretty good value. All my good ex cars are in an album, but I only have one photo of my RRC. I bought it to 'lope across the countryside' and that is what I have pretty much done. Gone from being on 12 points to having all 12 points.

cheers, DL

Joel, just to rub salt into the wounds i received a letter yesterday from vic police and had my speeding fine quashed .

Does anyone know if at the time a speed camera records your speed, if you happen to be within the limit, but are suddenly accelerating whether the acceleration can give a falsely elevated speed. Why I ask: got caught twice within a week from same camera. Was travelling with cruise control set on 90km/hr, saw sign for 80 a took cruise control off, decelerated to 80(ish) maybe c83, speed camera sign->decided to set cruise control to 80but hit flap for 'return' to previous speed-> sudden acceleration of disco->flash, at which point i saw that speedometer was reading about 84kph.. .... Ticket came in a 92kph in 80zone. I have tested my speedo against a GPS and speedo is reading spoton. There is now way I was doing 90kph when caught...... Thus, is it possible the camera somehow is reading an acceleration of vehicle? Not the actual speed?? (I know nothing about physics and speed etc).