Feeling the pinch?

[wtr]

Don't know about what the situation is like up there in NSW, but down here in VIC many of those I know, even including my old man and I. Had been subjected to what we believed to be "legitamite robberies". By that, I mean those expensively thin infringement notices the coppers have been handing out.

Naming a few cases:

*Work colleague copped a fat $141 fine and 3 points off for sitting in her car in the carpark without her seatbelt on while the car was off but keys in ignition. She was already tailled since entering the carpark.

*Boss copped a $120 for "reckless driving" after passing both breathalyzer and ID checks, guilty of swerving between lanes, with have a tonne of stocks worthed $6ks in the back of the van.

*Dad copped not 1, not 2, but 4 $109-112 fines from a fixed location camera during a 2 week period. He hasn't had ONE single speeding tickets in the last 3 yrs! I've already lodge a complain to the Ombudsman to investigate the accurracy and consistancy of the equipment.

*Paid my fine back in Feb for not having my P's up in the car I in. Last month I got a letter along with ANOTHER infringement notice from the same guy for the same cause, 3 months after the initial matter was sorted. His reason for sending me another one? "the dates on the previous notice issued was incorrect, a refund will be sent out, and you'd have to pay it again". 3 weeks passed, no refund yet. Will be giving him a nice grill when I catch him on duty on saturday at the station.


Here's a little something I dug up..
The juicy bits.

I refer to Budget Paper No. 3, Volume 2, page 563. In view of the commissioner's assurance that no quota system has applied in New South Wales, can the Minister advise me how the additional $26 million shown under Operating Statement at page 563 is to be raised?

I do not have the detailed knowledge of the information you seek in respect of that item. However, let me pick up on what you have referred to as a quota system and reaffirm that when I took responsibility for this portfolio area I asked for advice because it was a matter of some concern. As a result I was assured, and continue to be assured, that there is no quota system and therefore no revenue projections can be linked to that. However, it is important that we have a system for reviewing the quality of infringements that are processed by police officers of this State. I hope - and I know the commissioner has constantly asked - that the police officers of this State are not just out there intent on achieving numbers but are actually issuing infringements that are directed towards ensuring the safety of individuals and other road users. That is the important direction that we should be looking at.

Feel like starting a protest or riot of some sort? Just reassuring that the money they are netting are actually spent on services they were ought offer. When getting around to my friend's cleaned-out house took 45mins since she reported it seeing figures from outside, one would think they should just stick to the lightning reactions of a speeding pursuit.

The Minister mentioned quality of offences. Are you suggesting now that there is going to be a new regime of police traffic infringement notices and increased fines?

No, what I am indicating is that, in the review by commanders of the work that is done by our police officers, there should not be - as you have implied - a quota by number but there should be, obviously, a review by commanders of the types of infringements, to make sure that they are directed towards providing increased road safety in the State. That is the direction in which I believe our officers should be maintaining their activities.

HA!

 

[Icarus]

Yeah, I got pinged for having a bike (A Demo 8, dammit) obscuring my plate. Sure, technically i WAS in the wrong, but there was no warnings, no options (I easily could have put it inside my car then and there) but a nice $110 fine.

 

[-DAvo]

i feel for you warren..

i got sent over the pits because some power trippin copper gave me a yellow sticker for having fog lights mounted on my car. even though they wern't even on!

good luck with your appeals

 

[johnny]

There are some serious wankers in uniform.

I had my bikes on my Gripsport rack on Sunday night when I went past a camera about 12kms over the limit. *FAFLASH*, sorry, can't see past the Nicolai gear box!! Knew there was a reason I didn't put a temp plate over the bikes!

Haha, a win for the bloke in the 4Runner!

 

[dhd]

Nice one Johnny.......That's another reason I leave my Grip rack on all the time!

 

[S.]

That carpark one is total BS WTR. Not all that surprising though, some cops are EXTREMELY anal about stuff that just does not matter, and usually they don't seem to care about the stuff that does. For example, I was at the Young and Jackson a couple of years ago (directly opposite Flinders St Station) and a fight broke out between this huge bloke and a group of somewhat smaller Asian guys. Somebody called the cops, and it took them about FIVE MINUTES to get there from less than 100 metres away (and when they did get there, they did NOTHING, even to the guy who'd pulled out a parking lock with a pretty obvious intention of using it). Yet sit in a carpark without a seatbelt on and the car not even turned on and you cop a fine and demerit points.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who is more concerned about beating the system than obeying the laws, anyway. "Road safety" is a joke and so is the whole demerit point system at the moment. The road toll is exceptionally low already (for 2004, nationwide, it was 7.9 people per 100,000 - wow we're really at threat of having the whole country's population wiped out by car crashes), and the crap they fine you/give you demerit points for is just utter garbage. In Victoria, you lose 3 points for not having your P plates properly displayed - what's the danger in that? Why do we even have P plates anyway? What really highlights the BS in the rules is that other things that DO affect safety are less heavily penalised, for example driving without your lights on at night is only worth ONE demerit point. So apparently it's safer to drive at night with no lights than it is to drive around without your P plates up. BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE IF THEY DON'T SEE YOUR P PLATES.

 

[protecon]

BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE IF THEY DON'T SEE YOUR P PLATES.

Dher. How am I supposed to know to swerve and cut you off?

From my impression, the "carpark" scenario occurred because the subject may have not been wearing a seatbelt when they entered the carpark, and therefore was followed by the Police and issued a ticket once stationary?

 

[protecon]

Oh and I'm currently suspended from driving for 3 months for doing 80 km/h in a school zone (usually 80 though) on December 23rd at 9.22am...
The finest minds of a generation don't generally partake in law enforcement.

Don't school zones return to posted speed limits after 9am?

 

[Arete]

9.30am, in NSW anyway

 

[TonyG]

9.30am, in NSW anyway

and then 2.30 pm to 4pm, but you were outside these times anyway.

 

[Icarus]

School speed zones are only for school days right?

What about public holidays?

What about student-free days?

 

[rhyno]

Only for school days, but geez, if you don't have kids, or don't go to school, how are you suppossed to know when school holidays begin and end?

 

[Binaural]

Unfortunately for the two upstanding constables, one of the other group members was videorecording the scene at the time, and all conversation is audible on the tape.

Hahahaha, +1 karma to the person with the presence of mind to videotape that!

 

[toodles]

Mate of mine got done for DD for opening his car boot to get his jacket. We were at a party and he complained about being cold, went to get his jacket and rang us from the police station...

Apparently it's illegal to know where your car keys are if you've had inappropriate thoughts about a beer in the past 24 hours...

 

[Icarus]

Mate of mine got done for DD for opening his car boot to get his jacket. We were at a party and he complained about being cold, went to get his jacket and rang us from the police station...

Apparently it's illegal to know where your car keys are if you've had inappropriate thoughts about a beer in the past 24 hours...

Thats seriously shit. I can understand them saying something like "You arn't gunna drive that are you?" but full on arrest? Damn

 

[TonyG]

Mate of mine got done for DD for opening his car boot to get his jacket. We were at a party and he complained about being cold, went to get his jacket and rang us from the police station...

Apparently it's illegal to know where your car keys are if you've had inappropriate thoughts about a beer in the past 24 hours...

I have inappropriate thoughts all the time, and not all about beer. There was this one thought about a lonely goat and the young goat herder guarding off the cold.. I think I've gone off topic here.
Surely you could beat that charge in court. (and I'm not calling you Shirley)
I guess people in society do the wrong thing, and this doesn’t exclude the police. What makes their indiscretions such a kick in the shorts, is that it is such a terrible abuse of power. A power we gave them.
Mind you I have seen a bloke make a complete tool out of himself at a party. He was making first class dickhead out of himself, drunk as a sailor and really rude to everyone. The police got called as there was too much noise. Anyway he was really rude to them. It was painful to watch. In the end the inevitable happened and he got taken down to the cop shop for annoying the police so badly. He then got released later that night with no charge. I later heard him tell the story and he put a whole different spin on it. He was just a victim.

 

[wtr]

Made a few phone calls today. The officer who re-issued me the notice is playing hide'n'seek, despite calling back every hour asking when he'll be able to take the call. Apparently the Civil Complain office can be simplied to the function of postponing your fine for another month, although the VIC ombudsman's office was good at advices, but it's all down to us to represent ourselves on the matter down at the magristrate court.

I pity them, especially the Civil Complain's phone operator. She had to apologise twice and booked me in for another time to get back to me, because their lines are flooded with calls. Cute voice though, must admit.

I currently have a court date to challenge a $650 offensive behaviour fine.

Best of luck with you man, but thanks to the videotape, you'll most likely have them nailed!

 

[and1]

*Paid my fine back in Feb for not having my P's up in the car I in.

You know if you lived in sydney and got caught with no P plates you would have lost your license for 6 months as well as a fine. They put the points up to 2 points per plate a while ago so no P plates and your fucked.

I got RBT'd recently and I didn't have plates on and the copper asked for my license and then did a quick check for plates, as he was looking away I managed to slip one into the front left corner of the dash. I managed to convince him the back one must've slipped out behind the number plate on the rear which was lucky. Hooray for keeping my license!