New Demerit + Fine System & Radar Dectectors Banned

[Mr.Phreak]

Back on the demerits and speeding thing, someone said anything over 100kms and your licence is gone or jail etc as a suggestion, is that not just incentive to run?

Or possibly incentive not to speed??

They're going to have to need a whole lot more passing lanes around the country if that's the case. Personally I'd rather (and do) break the speed limit quite frequently when passing as I like to spend the least amount of time on the wrong side of the road. Yes, I know it's wrong, Yes I have been caught, No I haven't complained and Yep, I'll keep doing it.

You can't legislate behavioural change. As others have said, fix the problem at the start instead of handing out licenses. Just as an aside, were all those pro the changes, pro the Anti-smacking bill??

[IH8TEC]

i find it safer to spend up to whatever is necessary when passing and pull back in and get it over and done with quick. if people sat at the speed limit i wouldn't car, but when people are stupidly inconsistant, damn right i'm gonna pass them, my car i dont need as much room as i do in the honda city, whether speeding or not, it's safer to put your foot down to get past. my opinion anyway

[HZRDIZ]

Following on from MR Phreaks comment, I have to agree. Driving back from Gisborne, especially before going in and coming out of the gorge, people think its fine to travel at 80kms on either side in a 100km zone. My mate had his pricey Radar Detector on him so I turned it on in my car and was passing all these slow drivers all the way to Tauranga. (oddly enough only saw 2 cops the whole way - one in some small town just out of Opotiki and the next one was auckland).

Now it took me 6 1/2 hours to get from Gisborne to Auckland in that trip - Itcould've easily taken me another hour on top of that,if not more if i stayed behind the 80 km drivers that were scattered all along the pacific coast higway.

Granted I probably wouldn't of passed as frequently if I didn't have the radar, but I was a product of the environment I was in and don't see why I should be penalised for peoples imcompetant driving and now being able to do the speed limit.

Now i'm just using that as an example. Note I was doing the speed limit most of the way bar over taking and thats pretty much all I used the Radar for.

I'm probably going to get flamed for that now haha

Anyway I think it will be a ongoing debate of the pros & cons and unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world. Realistically though we won't get rid of them. Suppliers will come out with ways to hide them, they will come out standard as not being able to be detected. One way I thought already is having a clip on your sun visor. Where there is a will there is a way and people will still do that.

75 demerits is harsh though - doesnt fit the crime

[Mr Revhead]

but you shouldnt be overtaking where you cant see
so if you can see.... you can see any cops...

so i dont see how the argument about having dectector is valid.

[Bling]

did I miss the part where he mentioned not being able to see? That would indicate the move was dangerous, but from what I read, he did it all by the book, bar a bit of 'excessive' speed to do so. boo hoo

how many people would do an overtaking move with a cop car coming the other way, EVEN if they are outside the 100m zone? I know i'd wait till there was no cop, its just a mentality thing imo. Even if I wasn't going to break the speed limit, I doubt i'd go for it. That doesn't mean its a dangerous situation to overtake. But who wants to chance finding a cop having a bad day!!!

I used to use my radar detector for the same use as HZRDIZ, not for the added safety of the overtaking, as I never attempt stupid overtaking in my levin, but just to know that by slightly breaking the speed limits at times, I was not going to get caught I guess. But i guess people will wank on about how thats stupid driving, oh well

Overtaking at 105-110km/h imo isn't stupid (before anyone has a rant). A car sitting at around 80-90 is rather annoying and can cause all sorts of build ups like below..

I followed a line of around 30 cars last weekend, all because there was a damn tourist at the front damn tourists!!

[rolla_fxgt]

but you shouldnt be overtaking where you cant see
so if you can see.... you can see any cops...

so i dont see how the argument about having dectector is valid.

I think he meant he could see, it was just he didn't want to get a k up the road & get pinged by Mr Plod for speeding while overtaking.

My understanding of the radar law is, while it is a proposal at the mo, it will quickly become law, & in fact i think it doesn't need a law to pass parliment as such, but can be passed by order in council, basically what happens with OIC is the cabinet is convened & they say this enabling law (the land transport Act) says in certain circumstances we can make a law or a change to a law without having to pass it in parliament, because its so inconsequential, or we'd legislated for it previously, but hadn't enacted it.

[Mr Revhead]

never been an issue for me.....

if you can see..... you can see the cop
unless hes hiding in the bush with a laser! but thats pretty damn rare on the open road.

btw i too overtake in the same range.... and in 15 years the only speeding ticket i ever got was just that, blatant speeding.

[barryogen]

You guys do realise that the 100km/h limit is the upper limit of the speed that you are allowed to go in that zone, it isn't a "you should be doing as close as possible to the limit" guideline or something.

80km/h in a 100 zone? yeah, mildly annoying, but hardly worth bitching about.

maybe it's an age thing, but going 80km/h in a 100 zone behind someone less confident to go fast doesn't bother me in the slightest... in fact, I'd rather they take their time and get there alive than go the limit just to please a few people.

[Mr Revhead]

sort of......
i would rather they pulled over.....


in some conditions yeah maybe....

but in a lot where its fine, nice roads etc, its a real PITA.

if they cant drive at 100 in a good car on good roads
they clearly dont have the skills to safely drive on our roads.

[Bling]

agreed with that, 9 times out of 10 they are reading a map or over 60

[Mr.Phreak]

I have no problem with people doing 80 on the open road, I do however have a problem with oblivious/ignorant/inconsiderate muppets who fail to pull over where possible, or the good old slow round the bends, foot to the floor on the straights.

And those same people that aren't happy doing 100, I can almost guarantee that they're the same people that get nervous and start looking more at the kenwood grill filling their rear vision mirror than whats in front of them.

[79rolla]

i hate the people who drive at 80 with a huge que behind them and dont pull over to let them past, yes i have been the one in front aswell (speedo was out) but wenever i could i would let everyone go past... and the worst people are the ones who do 80 constantly untill ther is a sufichaint strait/ passing lane they suddenly diside they can do 100 again

[rolla_fxgt]

i hate the people who drive at 80 with a huge que behind them and dont pull over to let them past, yes i have been the one in front aswell (speedo was out) but wenever i could i would let everyone go past... and the worst people are the ones who do 80 constantly untill ther is a sufichaint strait/ passing lane they suddenly diside they can do 100 again

I disagree, the worst drivers are those who do 80 & not pull over, but when it comes to a passing lane & you try to pass do 120, or even worse try pull out into you in the passing lane.

[mikeBrotherd]

They should give people two options if your caught breaking the law,

1.)You take the fine and pay it immediately
2.)Or go to jail for a period of time

Thats the system they use in Canada. They also have a "No insurance, don't pass go, don't collect $200, go directly to jail" scheme.

I have never voted as of yet but seeing this thread makes me think harder about that. Time to put my 2c in and be counted for

[flat_0ut]

They should give people two options if your caught breaking the law,

1.)You take the fine and pay it immediately
2.)Or go to jail for a period of time

The wealthy get away with a fine which will not even worry them? and the poor deserve jailtime?

doesn't sound very fair to me

[Gonad]

They should give people two options if your caught breaking the law,

1.)You take the fine and pay it immediately
2.)Or go to jail for a period of time

The wealthy get away with a fine which will not even worry them? and the poor deserve jailtime?

doesn't sound very fair to me

The rich have work to do - think of jail as a holiday for the poor

[mikeBrotherd]

They should give people two options if your caught breaking the law,

1.)You take the fine and pay it immediately
2.)Or go to jail for a period of time

The wealthy get away with a fine which will not even worry them? and the poor deserve jail time?

doesn't sound very fair to me Confused

They obviously have a points systems like us. The idea behind it is to make people pay their fines & to think twice about breaking the law

[Bling]

They should give people two options if your caught breaking the law,

1.)You take the fine and pay it immediately
2.)Or go to jail for a period of time

The wealthy get away with a fine which will not even worry them? and the poor deserve jailtime?

doesn't sound very fair to me

you should only do what you can afford to do..... poor people shouldn't speed

[tsoob]

They should give people two options if your caught breaking the law,

1.)You take the fine and pay it immediately
2.)Or go to jail for a period of time

The wealthy get away with a fine which will not even worry them? and the poor deserve jail time?

doesn't sound very fair to me Confused

They obviously have a points systems like us. The idea behind it is to make people pay their fines & to think twice about breaking the law

AWESOME

I hate slow drivers and its only fair for me to pass them, i have the car to do it in so why not.

[Stealer Of Souls]

80kph is fine. But you should get out of the way when you can. That's what I had to do this holidays while driving a car load of people. I was a little embarassed that I couldn't go around corners at my usual pace without throwing people around the cabin, and therefore felt like I was holding other people up.
And yes, Barryogen is right. 100kph is the MAX speed your legally allowed to do. So you shouldn't really complain about 80-100kph, doesn't mean you have to like it, but you can't rage over it.
And like Revhead, I can't see why anyone can't do 100kph in a "modern" car on our roads. Especially if it's straight, and I can't see why people need to slow down for slow gentle corners marked as "95". But hey... I'm just a young hooligan (apparently).

Yes. Poor people shouldn't speed/break the law. Neither should rich people, but if they are willing to pay the fines, that's their choice. They have the means and the free will to choose their path.

If you ask me... They should make owning a car and having a license much more expensive. Apparently in Holland my niece had to fork out over 1000 euros for her license (once all was said and done, with no resits/fails). Maybe it was dollars.... Either way... a bucket load more than here. Would make you think twice about losing it... And if a rego was say, $500 a year, it would make a lot of people reconsider even owning a car.
Of course the next comment on the board is... "Well then there will just be more unregistered cars and drivers on our roads"... And probably so true... But those people are probably already driving around unlicensed and unregistered (AND uninsured too!).