The Bloke

The Crow

I do, with two exceptions:

* If it's in a 40 school zone

* If they are hurtling down the road at a silly speed

In those cases, IMO, they deserve to be fined

Sally Simpson

I follow a similar thought process.
I try quite hard to stick within the limit but it is scarily easy to drift from 60kmh to 70kmh without meaning to.

Alfresco

In South Africa, when I lived there, they would have traffic cops about 500 metres past the speed trap on the other side of the road, catching all the people flashing their headlights that were warning other drivers of the speed trap. They still made their (our) money!

Do they do that in Oz?

Sally Simpson

I hope not!

buchanan

I got stopped by the police here for flashing, they were waiting down the road!

Sally Simpson

It was the dirty mac that did it!

scottishcelts

then stop getting yer kit off outside ffs

Alfresco

Did you get fined at all and what did they say?

EvannTel

Yep, I'm pretty sure its an offence in WA to do this also and I have heard stories of them doing exactly the same thing.

I think its slightly ironic that they argue they do this for better road safety, so if by flashing lights you help people slow down, why do you get fined - as opposed to a reward?

slipshot

Very welll said. More than slightly ironic though - ridiculous and shows how they want to hurt people in their wallet which gives them lots of additional revenue.

I flash, although I agree that speed traps in 40 zones around schools etc should be supported. However, I've never seen one in a 40 zone yet have seen plenty on teh freeways at the pathetically slow 100kph and get nicked for doing 104kph. That's when I;d flash as it's revenue raising and nothing else, plus has the knock-on effect of causing accidents as people see the cop car and brake heavily...

The Crow

Oops - here we go:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...25-952,00.html

I'd better check for Victoria

BadgeIsBack

Agree. It's the cars that sit on a 60 where people tend to do 70 say.

In defence of many camera cars I have seen they are quite good though at not sitting too close to the speed limit boundary so people have time to adjust their speed. (But I am sure they have worked this one out having seen the courts throw out fines in such cases).

In fact, in a number of cases, the camera car sits in a silly spot (not a dangerous one - rather one which does not take into account road topography) and I've wondered about their judgement. They could move 50m and actually catch more people...so maybe there is an element of deterrence.

Amazulu

Of course. Anything that frustrates the revenue collectors (aka police) with their tax raising duties is to be encouraged.

Swerv-o

I often wonder as to the judgement of the cops here in NSW. Very often I see the cop stood with his back to the flow of traffic speaking to sombody they have pulled over through the driver's window. That's just a recipe for getting cleaned up by someone not paying attention.

And last week a cop was writing a ticket for somebody that had driven the wrong way of the street (4 lanes, one way), and while he did so, stood in the lane over from the guy he had pulled, causing an obstruction and risking his own safety. No flourescent jacket, just shirt sleeves.

That was copping 101... They seem to think they are indestructible because they wear blue and carry a firearm.

Also, they don't seem to be very good at discretion - The week before last I was walking home from the station and the cop was yelling at the woman he had pulled over across the bonnet of her car that she was going to be charged and going to court. That's just plain wrong in my opinion. Imagine if she had been seen by her boss, or co-workers or whoever. Seen similar on a couple of occasions. They don't seem to have the "Take a seat in the back of our car Sir, and we'll get this all sorted out..." approach here.


S