Vic traffic police told to target low-level speeding offenders

[The Monty]

Originally Posted by tweeked

I really hope that you are not in charge of enforcing these laws.

Here is the difference - the RBT has a reasonable allowance for full license holders before prosecution - .05

1-2 kms is not reasonable. It is moronic.

Actually, to use your own theory you have just proposed, if it is 1-2km/h over, then you have the whole of the speed limit as a "reasonable allowance. Using your example,

.05 is the LIMIT, therefore drivers have anything up to 0.05 as "reasonable allowance"
Therefore
60km/h is the LIMIT, therefore drivers have anything UP TO 60km/h as "reasonable allowance"

Or if you are putting emphasis on the second part of your argument,
0.05 is the limit, therefore 0.51, and 0.52 are ok, as .01, or .02 is not reasonable.

Soooo, which one is it?

[noflac52]

Mate I think this is a bit of pedantic nit picking.

Just read Sgt Wild's letter for the truth about what's reasonable!

[GASWAGON]

Why can't we protest against these overwhelming laws.? The yanks do it and get things changed when thye really need to???

[Paull]

Wow, must be quite a few unhappy coppers. Great to see that there are some 'humans' willing to speak out.

What I think is interesting as that just in case it goes pear shaped and Govco completely ignores him, he has pretty much told the general public what to do "Fight it in court!"

[Silver Ghia]

And here is what one dishonest police commissioner said today:

But today, Victoria’s top traffic cop says no motorist has or will be fined for doing 1km/h over the speed limit.

Road policing command Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said claims by Sgt Wild that drivers would be booked at speeds as low as 2km/h over the limit were “nonsense”.

“I’ve never said publicly, I’ve never said within our organisation that we should start intercepting and booking motorists for doing 1 or 2km/h over the speed limit,” he said. “That’s just nonsense.

He previously said police officers had discretion about when to apply the law but again denied they had been instructed to fine drivers going 1 or 2km/h over the limit.

“A commonsense approach has always been encouraged,” he said.

“We need to adopt a commonsense approach. We’ve always adopted and understood that sometimes people can creep over the speed limit.

“The posted speed limit is the maximum speed limit that we can travel at safely. It is the maximum speed limit that you can travel at, according to the law.

“I just encourage everyone to travel within that speed limit.”

Mr Hill would not say how many kilometres over the speed limit a driver could go before being booked.

“I’m not going to share with the broader community that our members will be looking at ‘X’ kilometres over the speed limit,” he said. “If I do that, that will be shared across the community and then we’ll have a defacto speed limit that everyone will start travelling at.”

Mr Hill said he was “disappointed” Sgt Wild had taken the matter to the media.

“There’s a clear breach of policy here,” he said. “Sergeant Wild, I’m sure, will be subject to an internal inquiry of some sorts.”

From what he said last January, there was certainly an implication that drivers travelling at 2 kph above the speed limit could be fined. Here is part of his original statement as posted in the OP:

VICTORIA'S top traffic cop has told police to start fining more motorists for low-level speeding offences.

Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said it was time to make travelling only a couple of kilometres above the speed limit as socially unacceptable as drink driving.

He said more traffic operations were planned for this year than last year and speed was the main focus.

"I expect there to be an increase number of low-level speeding infringements issued by our members in the future until the attitude is changed on our roads," Mr Hill told the Herald Sun.

"What we have said to our members is to focus on speed enforcement. The speed limits that are set at the maximum speed you can travel at, having regard to the road conditions.

[Itsme]

^^^^^^^^^Politicians & Police command go hand in hand, two face liars. :p

[simon varley]

“The posted speed limit is the maximum speed limit that we can travel at safely. It is the maximum speed limit that you can travel at, according to the law."

These two things are not the same. Sometimes the maximum safe speed is below the posted limit. The posted limit is never the maximum safe speed - it is a totally arbitrary number made up by some civil servant somewhere.

[XWGT]

I did a road trip for the long weekend past.

Fixed cameras on the Princess and Ring Road.
On the Hume there were 3 point to point cameras and 2 mobile cameras in a 300klm stretch.
Then on secondary roads there were 2 radars (once incredibly hidden)
On the Princess on the way back it was out of control. A radar sitting in the end of each of the only 4 overtaking lanes between Bairnsdale and Sale waiting for the people trying to get past the 50 caravans and boats, two mobile speed cameras between Traralgon and Berwick, and fixed cameras on the Monash, Burnley Tunnel and Westgate.

Vic is now officially a basket case.....

[ebxr8240]

Soon any motion in a vehicle will
Be cassetted as speeding !!

[lucas2]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

Soon any motion in a vehicle will
Be cassetted as speeding !!

What does the term "speeding" even mean? Is there an actual definition? To me it seems like they government use the term to scare the public, however without "speed" we would not get anywhere.

[Silver Ghia]

I have a suspicion that the current emphasis on speed and nothing else is actually increasing the road toll.

The road toll this year so far is 57, 14 higher than this time last year, which is a 32% increase.

Police are being used to detect speed, and ignoring other offences that cause deaths, such as inattentive driving, ignoring stop and give way signs etc. When was the last time you saw a police car on the road ensuring drivers obey basic road rules rather than just speed?

And having radar at the end of overtaking lanes is pure revenue raising, no wonder drivers get frustrated and take their chances overtaking on two way roads, with the result of head on collisions.

The police and government should have a rethink and look at the big picture, rather than just concentrating on fining drivers travelling marginally over the speed limit. But then that wont help the state budget.


.

[MAD]

A couple of things I can think of that would have much more dramatic results, and get more dangerous cars off the road with less personnel required.

1. Ban rock hard 3rd world tyres from sale.
2. Have a couple of officers hand out defects for bald tyres at <insert shopping centre name here> carpark.

Two very simple, cheap, and effective options with great outcomes.


Just recently I parked next to a relatively new Fiesta with two rear tyres well below the markers, and a baby capsule is the back seat.
I was ready to whip out a pocket knife and slash tyres, and add some custom flames on the paint with the same utensil.

[noflac52]

I can just imagine how many coppers hate going to work now in Vic!

[Bearman]

Originally Posted by MAD

A couple of things I can think of that would have much more dramatic results, and get more dangerous cars off the road with less personnel required.

1. Ban rock hard 3rd world tyres from sale.
2. Have a couple of officers hand out defects for bald tyres at <insert shopping centre name here> carpark.

Two very simple, cheap, and effective options with great outcomes.


Just recently I parked next to a relatively new Fiesta with two rear tyres well below the markers, and a baby capsule is the back seat.
I was ready to whip out a pocket knife and slash tyres, and add some custom flames on the paint with the same utensil.

Hell YES!!!

There are tyres on the market at the moment you wouldn't put on a wheelbarrow!!

And the number of times I see cars with bald or worse tyres on the road and I'm the one who is *** raped for 62 in a 60 zone!!

At my local Bunnings one day I saw a really neat and clean EL Falcon parked, obviously been cared for probably by Ma and Pa Kettle since new. I saw the front tyres were scrubbed out and steel belts showing through the inside shoulders. I then saw a lady go to the car to drive off. I stopped her and told her to lok at her tyres and that they were in extremely dangerous condition. I implored her to go straight to her nearest tyre place. The woman was totally oblivious and decided to give me a serve for interrupting her day to which I retorted "welcome to the road toll".

She probably replaced them with cheap n' nasty unknown branded ching chong things which wouldn't be much better anyway!!

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by Bearman

Hell YES!!!

There are tyres on the market at the moment you wouldn't put on a wheelbarrow!!

And the number of times I see cars with bald or worse tyres on the road and I'm the one who is *** raped for 62 in a 60 zone!!

At my local Bunnings one day I saw a really neat and clean EL Falcon parked, obviously been cared for probably by Ma and Pa Kettle since new. I saw the front tyres were scrubbed out and steel belts showing through the inside shoulders. I then saw a lady go to the car to drive off. I stopped her and told her to lok at her tyres and that they were in extremely dangerous condition. I implored her to go straight to her nearest tyre place. The woman was totally oblivious and decided to give me a serve for interrupting her day to which I retorted "welcome to the road toll".

She probably replaced them with cheap n' nasty unknown branded ching chong things which wouldn't be much better anyway!!

She probably got embarrassed by you pointing out that she is an ignorant numpty in public and retaliated with such a comment instead of thanking you for the information. I hate it when people don't realize you are helping them and others rather than taking offense and getting shitted off for it.

[GASWAGON]

As times get tougher and they are, people will have less money to spend on tyres and maintenance so ther will be more problems on the roads apart from speeding.

[joolz]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

And having radar at the end of overtaking lanes is pure revenue raising, no wonder drivers get frustrated and take their chances overtaking on two way roads, with the result of head on collisions.

The police and government should have a rethink and look at the big picture, rather than just concentrating on fining drivers travelling marginally over the speed limit. But then that wont help the state budget.


.

You are spot on here. Several times on the Western Hwy between Stawell and Ballarat TOG patrol the safe places to overtake (overtaking lanes) Simply patrolling these safe places forces drivers to take chances elseware.

When will Governments get it?? Or do they really think we are that stupid. Speed is only a small part if any of most fatalities. With all these new gadgets in cars these days the road toll is only going to get worse and not due to speed.

Who recalls when restrictions on high powered vehicles for P platers? Yet even the smallest 4 cylinders can now do well over 150km/h..

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by joolz

Who recalls when restrictions on high powered vehicles for P platers? Yet even the smallest 4 cylinders can now do well over 150km/h..

When you drive in Europe you realise cars in Australia are hardly more than idling. All the time on the motorways you're getting passed by little buzzboxes doing 160. Hell, our Octavia could do 200! I won't even mention the Audi/BMW/Merc brigade. The only scary sight I saw was a Landcruiser doing about 150!

Funnily enough no carnage and mayhem everywhere.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by joolz

You are spot on here. Several times on the Western Hwy between Stawell and Ballarat TOG patrol the safe places to overtake (overtaking lanes) Simply patrolling these safe places forces drivers to take chances elseware.

When will Governments get it?? Or do they really think we are that stupid. Speed is only a small part if any of most fatalities. With all these new gadgets in cars these days the road toll is only going to get worse and not due to speed.

Who recalls when restrictions on high powered vehicles for P platers? Yet even the smallest 4 cylinders can now do well over 150km/h..

Not stupid, but not smart enough to take action and revolt. We are however, friggin kings of complaining about it, but silly enough to accept it begrudgingly without doing anything and go about our lives until something else ticks us off that we can complain about.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Not stupid, but not smart enough to take action and revolt. We are however, friggin kings of complaining about it, but silly enough to accept it begrudgingly without doing anything and go about our lives until something else ticks us off that we can complain about.

Trouble is, is that the politicians looking after their cash flow, and the police chiefs and the so called 'road safety experts' (effectively being paid by the govt) are so stubborn and thick headed (I wonder how much they drive themselves, especially country driving) to realise how it really is in the real world, and the implications of what they are advocating.

I remember a few years ago when the present Vic government was in opposition, and how they were criticising the speed cameras, revenue etc. back then. Now they have turned the complete opposite. You can't win when it comes time to vote.

[johnydep]

Originally Posted by blueoval

The only attitude adjustment that's required here is the vic government.

They are playing people for fools with this cockameme bull crap.

This is moving ever so closer to a 'new world order' arrangement.

SA government is no better. My sister in-law was fined for 63 in a 60 zone.

Just another form of tax/revenue for governments.

[zilo]

Just got back from Tasmania.

What a breath of fresh air to travel in a state that does not rely on raping motorists to balance the state budget.

Police actually engage in law enforcement.

We were overtaking a truck on a straight stretch and failed to pay attention to the speedo.

We were warned of the dangers of speeding and that there was a hidden entrance that trucks sometimes pulled out of.

Here is the result....128km/h in a 110 zone.

We then drove below the speed limit for the rest of the journey.

I felt sick getting off the ferry over the Westgate back to Geelong with the barrage of revenue raising cameras everywhere and undercover tax collectors.

[EgoFG]

I wonder when the last caution was done in NSW,

Was in 1983 when the Osifer fined me and said try and slow down on the rest of your trip.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by zilo

Here is the result....128km/h in a 110 zone.

image

Under the vehicle details it looks like they've written "4WD moron"

Perhaps they considered the insult sufficient punishment. (OK, I know, Tas police can't spell!)

Originally Posted by EgoFG

I wonder when the last caution was done in NSW,

To me, about 3 months ago

[BHDOGS]

And yet as always the stupid masses jump up and down and blame the police and curse and swear and treat them like **** the bogans froth at the mouth with there anger towards them. Who would bother being a policeman when you got retarded ****head citizens to deal with and out of touch higher ups

[johnydep]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

And yet as always the stupid masses jump up and down and blame the police and curse and swear and treat them like **** the bogans froth at the mouth with there anger towards them. Who would bother being a policeman when you got retarded ****head citizens to deal with and out of touch higher ups

Yes, lets blindly follow and question nothing.

[XWGT]

And I guess its no coincidence that Vic has been flooding the airwaves with the "Truth about speed cameras" ad campaign. I guess they know many people are going to receive fines in the mail two weeks after their alleged death defying infringements over the long weekend.

[lucas2]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

And yet as always the stupid masses jump up and down and blame the police and curse and swear and treat them like **** the bogans froth at the mouth with there anger towards them. Who would bother being a policeman when you got retarded ****head citizens to deal with and out of touch higher ups

Sounds like any other business that has to deal with customer relations. The visible presence (the police) will take the brunt of complaints and anger for decisions they probably had very little say in (laws and legislation), although the police have the option of discretion.

[noflac52]

Its interesting to note that there has been no media airtime of Sgt Wild's statements in NSW that I am aware of. ABC may have aired it but I've seen absolutely nothing on commercial channels.

It seems to me that its another classic case of public opinion is what we the media want you to think rather than allowing the population of the country to make up their own minds via balanced reporting of events.

[steve.zissou]

media get mucho $$$$$$ from ads about speeding

Media will not want to mess with that cash cow

and on ACA today we have a segment of p platers doing burnouts in industrial areas

repeat



send an email to your state transport minister - less than 7% of deaths have speeding as the primary cause - maybe they should focus on the other 93% of causes