Bad decisions and Blue Heelers
Posted by Bill Thomas at 12:45PM on Tuesday 07 August, 2007 10 Comments
Here's a thing - if you've seen my feature in the latest issue of Top Gear about the Stuart Highway in Australia, you'll know that from January 1, 2007, the government in the Northern Territory imposed a 130km/h (80mph) blanket speed limit across the state.
This is a bit silly in a place where speed limits have never been applied, never in 90 years, and deristriction makes sense when some residents are forced to travel 350 miles to the shops. It's likely the current government will be kicked out because of this idiotic behaviour.
Over to my mate Toby Hagon, who works for the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper: "When Clare Martin, the governor of the Territory, announced this move, she claimed that people from the NT were poor drivers because they ran red lights, drove drunk, drove unlicenced and overloaded their cars. No mention of speeding as an issue, yet that was the biggest part of the apparent 'solution'.
"Now, since the introduction of the speed limit, the road toll in the NT has gone up substantially year on year - in fact, it's up by 35.7 per cent in the first six months of this year."
He's right - looking at the figures, there were 19 road deaths in the first six months of this year, compared with 14 in the same period last year.
Once again, the Australian politicians have got it completely wrong, applying speed limits in order to be seen to be doing something, without tackling the real issues.
And let's hope the UK doesn't follow Australia down the speed camera route. It's impossible to drive there; the very worst place in the world to drive when it comes to speeding, in fact, with robotic, draconian, brain-dead coppers applying absolutely rigid speeding rules and no discretion whatsoever.
In Queensland, they even lurk in Hiluxes with surfboards on the roof, pointing their radar guns from the back of tinted windows. The bottom of hills are favourite hang-out spots. Dreadful, and dumb. Here's Toby again:
"You guys can't whinge about speed cameras - you want to try driving in Melbourne these days. Hidden speed cameras everywhere (they don't have the fluoro markings like you guys) and they nail you for 3km/h over the limit. I copped one for doing 64km/h in a 60km/h zone."
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Totally agree with Toby Hagon. I lived in Melbourne until recently and had 3 speed camera tickets in 2 months for doing 64, 66, and 67km/h in a 60 zone. Each one cost me about $130 and a point on my licence.
The 3km/h tolerance is stupid as one needs to watch the speedo constantly or risk losing your licence. I used cruise control everywhere in the city but even that will get you a ticket if you are going down a hill.
Now I live in Belgium, the speed limit is 120 but most people drive at least 140. And if I feel the need, I pop across the border to Germany for a spot of autobahning.
"Dreadful, and dumb." I couldn't agree more.
The saddest thing is the Northern Territory has more pressing problems, yet the NT police now dedicate their efforts to policing well over 1,400km of arrow-straight, empty road in the middle of nowhere.
What's more, the car manufacturers of the world will no longer consider the NT for hot weather, high speed testing, since the high speed part of that equation will no longer be possible there. Which means less money brought in to the local economy by said visiting car manufacturers.
Dreadful and dumb? You can add disgusting to that list...
Welcome to driving in Australia - where the authorities are more concerned with raising revenue than saving lives and improving roads.
The worst part is that most people have been brainwashed into believing it with misleading advertising and ridiculous media statements.
It's utterly depressing...
3km/h over the limit? I can beat that.
When I was working in Rotterdam a few years ago, a colleague got a speeding ticket for doing 1km/h over the limit.
Not only does the state of Victoria have a tolerance of only 3km/h but the ADRs state that a speedo only has to be accurate to 10%. When you consider that the main urban speed limit is 60, that's plus or minus 6km/h.
Did I forget to mention that the manufacturers stipulate that they can't guarantee accuracy within 10% unless re-calibrated daily? Like that's going to happen with all fixed and handheld units across the state.
I live in Melbourne and spend more time looking at the speedo of the car than I do looking on the actual road.
Get this! Cops in Tasmania will actively tailgate cars, at dusk and at night, and book you as soon as you try to put some space between your car and theirs. I've seen it many times. If you don't bite, they will overtake you and move on to the next source of revenue, er, driver.
Just drive the speed limit down here in Victoria and you are fine. At least the cars they use for cameras are the same sort and you just have to look for a new Ford Falcon XR8 or Commodore SS pursuit car and drive a bit slower...
However they hide permanent speed cameras on bridges and behind bushes don here too... gotta love revenue... as long as it makes my taxes cheaper.. oh and did I mention that when the police breath test drivers they also test them for drugs via an oral swab in lovely Victoria, Australia?
At least there are almost decent speed limits over there, here in New Zealand the open road limit is 100kph. The worst thing is the powers that be want to lower that to 80km/h!
At least the coppers have a 10km/h tolerance, although your usually safe at 110. If they do you for 111km/h, you'll be fined for 11km/h over the limit, not 1!
How familiar all this is. We must have the most anti-speed government in the world. Take the platoon of speed cameras installed along an almost perfectly straight stretch of three-lane freeway, upgraded just a few years ago (Geelong Road - fellow Victorians have no doubt learned where the cameras are by now).
Don't even get me started on the 40 km/h roadwork speed limits. The state government has to fund its routine overspending somehow, so brainwashing the public about the 'dangers' of 'criminal' behaviour such as doing a whopping 104 in a 100 zone is as good a start as any.
I need not say that the effect on the road toll has been statistically insignificant at best.