New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Here's a headsup folks.
I've not seen anything about any of these changes on the TV/online/radio news...

Some serious changes to commonly flouted laws that *might* make people think twice.
It's all about revenue raising if you ask me! ;)

Follow this link

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Yep, more nanny state bullshit from our thin blue line of revenue collectors.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

I wonder if there is a way round getting these fines - need to think about that one. :rolleyes: Seem to be a fair few where the fine and points are going down.

Only one I really disagree with is the relatively low fine for driving whilst on a mobile phone. That should be higher IMO

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

NSW will also be introducing the roadside instant saliva (lick!) drug tests soon. Just for Cannabis, Ecstacy and Ice.

Like the new points and fines, if you don't agree with them, obey the law, they won't affect you! Personally, I think they should all be tougher and higher. More hidden cameras the better. The worst case scenario is that everyone slows down and drives properly to avoid the fines. What's the harm in that?

Andrew

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Radar detectors are still legal in WA. I think it's time to invest in one......

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Isn't it funny how you would consider a radar detector that is "legal" so that you can do something that is "illegal".

Why not just abide by the law - no matter how asinine it is?

Let's hope that if a pedestrian steps out in front of your speeding car they have an ar*ehole detector.

Andrew

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Here we go again - the age old speed kills etc.

It's not speed as such - as long as it's used correctly.

In Adelaide there are roads - 4 lanes wide - with a 60kmh limit on them. They're not in residential areas - so why such a low limit? Many of the problems are also due to constantly changing limits, oh - and definitely here in SA.....S**T drivers! :D

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

And i thought we had it bad in the uk with money raising schemes :D

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

It must come as a shock to those coming from the UK that the authorities raise money through speeding fines - shudder to think that the UK would do anything like this ;) :D

How the hell do you think the cops pay for their doughnuts :rolleyes: :D

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Guess what? It does!
Picture this, one car going at 60 kmh in a residential street with a 60 kmh limit, another going at 80 in an identical street.
A kids darts out suddenly into the road.

Which driver is more likley to kill that kid?


Which is where you are!

QED

Andrew

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

1) Driving fast on it's own is not dangerous.
2) Driving fast & badly is dangerous.
3) Driving fast in the wrong conditions is dangerous.

Your scenario would apply to 3).
Therefore it is dangerous.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

I heard on the radio that Double demerit points start tomorrow Thursday and finish on the 7th January 2007 for WA.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Aha - the old selective quotation trick! :D

As I asked in my example - "why such a low limit on a 4 lane road not in aresidential area" - so why are you giving me an example of the cars in residential areas? Oh, and by the way the limit in residential areas is 50kmh (at least it is here). :p

And I think that in your example - the car travelling at 60kmh would still probably kill the kid because...

a) It's fitted with huge bull bars
b) It's got bald tyres 'cos there's no MOT type inspection in SA which coupled with s**t brakes wouldn't stop in time anyway.
c) The driver is so busy doing something other than concentrating on the driving aspect.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Of course it's going to raise revenue, but something has to be done about the road toll here. Afer a while you become desensitised to it, then it gets to this time of year and you have a night like last night where 4 people lost their lives and it wakens you up to it again.

Personally i'd like to see some form of vehicle testing and a limit on the engine size for young drivers, but you have to wonder what will help to stop people dying on the roads in such high numbers. :confused:

Lynn

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

We could perhaps reword the above to say that its ok to drive fast as long as you dont have an accident....

Lets be honest. Slower speeds = shorter stopping distances and more time to react in a lot of circumstances.

Nobody plans an accident its an unfortunate series of events. Even at low speeds they are going to happen but if anyone is really suggesting that as a generalisation speed doesn't kill thats just plain silly.

As to the decisions to place certain limits on areas, thats a matter for highways and of course they are going to get it wrong sometimes. Or perhaps there have been previous fatalities you were not aware of.

Personally I think the upping of the mobile phone penalty from 1 to 3 points is awesome. Its my pet hate seeing people on phones behind the wheel and watching them weave all over the road.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

WTF?
Driving fast on it's own is not dangerous??
Sure, if you are guaranteed that no-one wil step out in front of you? There are no other cars around? You won't have a blow-out? You won't lose control.
You telling me you want a radar detector because you only speed when there is know one else around?

The faster you go, there is more chance of not avoiding an accident.
Speed limits are there to protect you and the other users of the road including pedestrians.

The law is on my side - who's on yours? Fellow hoons?

Andrew

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Ah ha! The old selective selective quotes of quotes trick!!

So when you said:
"Here we go again - the age old speed kills etc.
It's not speed as such - as long as it's used correctly."

You meant to say that this only counts when you speed on 4-lane roads with a 60 kmh speed limit. I suppose if that's the only place you speed we are ok then!
However, with regards to your a, b and c above, I agree with them all and also the faster the driver is going with any of them, the more serious the accident is likely to be.
Speed kills.

Andrew

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

I notice that nowhere on the link offered does it say the fine for "restraining a child in a non-Australian approved child seat". Does this mean this is now legal?

I'm still smarting that we will have to sell our perfectly good UK car seats and replace them with almost identical Ozzie ones.

:beer:

Buzzy

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Thankfully we are past child seat stage but out of curiosity, if your near identical UK seat has all the fixtures and fittings in exactly the same places as the Aus one, is that not legal?

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Thanks for posting that - I live here and can honestly say that it's the first I heard !!

Still, I am one of those who annoys everyone by sticking to the rules and the speed limits and moaning to OH because he doesn't.

So, what I don't get is, reading further down the link - why are some penalties being reduced ? I really don't understand that concept at all.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

There was a UK traffic cop on this site recently who stated that he had never seen an accident where speed was the only factor. He knows more about this subject than you & I, so I'll listen to him rather than you.
If you were driving fast where a pedestrian could step out then that would be driving badly. If you had a blow out, then your vehicle would be unsafe, so should not be on the road.
I will continue to speed where it is safe to do so (& where I won't get caught) at every available opportunity. Some of the new, legal radar detectors are fantastic. I think I will be purchasing soon.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

So how do you predict when your vehicle will have a blow out. It happens on brand new cars, old cars, new tyres and old tyres these are an unfortunate part of driving but if you are driving at slower speeds the chances of being seriously injured or injuring someone else are greatly reduced.
Its not so much the speed that kills its the sudden stop!!

John

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

There was a big ad in the West Australian today:p :D

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

It has to have an "Australian approved" sticker on it. Also Aus child seats seem to have a third strap that attaches to a metal bolt in the car.

Without these 2 items it is not legal in Oz.

Poo.

:beer:

Buzzy

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

To be honest your attitude to speeding is shocking. I mean nothing personal by that but your actively going to go out, buy a radar dectector so you can diliberately speed where YOU consider it safe to do so. :scared:

Of course speed isnt the only factor - there's the other car pulling out, lamp post, pot hole, weather, didnt see the motorbike and all the other things which contribute to an accident. Stopping distances decrease proportionally with speed and time to react increases.

I've been done for speeding since I didnt pay enough attention and thought I was in an 80, but it was a 60. My stupid fault and deserved it. But I dont go out with the intention of breaking the law and speeding with devices intended to stop you being nicked for doing something so premeditated.

I only hope that nobody with a lessor skill than your careful honed Nigel Mansell cat like reflexes does something unexpected in a car near you.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

I've actually been practising driving at 100Kph here in the UK so as to avoid speeding when I get to Bris!!
I can't really be bothered to enter into the debate too much but I will just fan the flames a bit!!!
I think to say that speed does or does not kill is oversimplifying things too much. Lots of factors contribute to fatalities on the roads.
On motorways it is pretty rare to see a fatal where the only cause was the driver driving at speed which is why the term more often used is inappropriate speed.
In built up areas it is unlikely that speeding will lead to the death of a driver but it will certainly condemn any pedestrian unlucky enough to be hit.
It is also important to pay regard to the argument that insufficient pressure is put on people to take responsiblity for deciding their own appropriate speed. Too many people will immediately counter any suggestion that the speed they were doing was inappropriate by pointing out that they were only doing the limit. Sometimes the limit is too fast!
Now, the point that is being made more and more, and it is worthy of note, is that by simply enforcing speed limits we are taking the onus off drivers being responsible for tailoring their driving to the prevalent conditions.
There are far too many people who are not safe at the speed limit because they treat the limit as a target rather than tailoring their driving to the conditions.
You have to question why it is that road deaths in Australia outstrip the UK when it is widely accpeted that there is less rigid enforcement of limits here.
One has to question why so many high speed roads in Australia have no crash barrier when they are so widely accepted to reduce road deaths.
Clearly the issue of reducing road deaths goes way beyond simply stopping people speeding.
The answer, if you ask me, and few would, is that the best way to reduce road deaths is to improve the roads (barriers, surface, lighting etc.) and to have an effective police force enforcing safe practice on the streets. Simply hunting for speeders does not encourage safer driving. That is a proven fact from the UK experience since introducing speed cameras.
At the end of the day though,as someone has said, if you dont want to fall foul of the laws, dont break them!

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

I always think if you are alert enough to see the radar van and slow down in time then it dosn't matter so much that you where speeding.
It's the people who don't see the large 4WD with police on it when they are speeding that really need the fines :)

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

I think people drive more over here, I know I do.


True! Is it france where thay have 2 speed limits, one for fine weather and one for wet weather?

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Not Nigel Mansell, more like Michael Schumacher.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

so it was you weaving in and out of traffic on Beaufort St then ;)

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Your not in Perth are you? They have a lovely selection of radar vans now a lovely shade of forest green!
Its double demit points again from 21 dec to 7 jan!!! and not just for speeding.

The speed debate over here is daft, its far to slow on some roads and the main deaths you see on roads which they all scream about are P platers racing each other in the middle of the night. The majority of the deaths here are speed related, and mainly on the open country roads. The police can do all they want to stop it happening but I don't see patrol cars much after 10pm, certainly few speed traps and never on country roads so what to they expect?
Speed traps put out on school crossing which already have crossing people on is a bit silly as the school kids here do seem to have sense and use the crossing guy. Speed cameras put in overtaking lanes are a bit soft, but find a camera ever down Neaves road - NO Ever seen a camera very late at night while the hoons are screaming round -NO so I think something may be wrong with the police system here. Hoons arn't out going to work at 7am in the morning they are still in bed after the fun they had the night before.
I could practically go on and on, but won't.
Jenny

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Yes, the system in WA is ridiculous. Single lane country roads can have a 110kph limit, yet the Graham Farmer Freeway, 4 lanes in part, has a limit of 80kph (no cameras in the tunnel though;) ). The Mitchell/Kwinana Freeways have a limit of 100kph, why not 110kph?

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

The worst is that I come down the Kwinana at 100 and, at the end, it changes to 80 at which point I'm nearly thrown off the road by all the massive lorries travelling well over 100 still. Sometimes I have struggled to keep the car on the road with the wind created by those hurtling monsters !

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

?? Again
Of course speed is never the ONLY factor. You have to hit something.
The faster you go, the less chance you have of avoiding it. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Another way of looking at it simply, is what about drink/drug driving? I think even the speeders on here (I hope) disagree with drink/drug driving.
Why is drink/drug driving illegal?
Let me explain simply - it slows down your ability to respond. That means that if there was a hazard ahead it would take you longer to react than a sober person. Similary, if you were doing 80 kmh instead of 60 kmh, the time it takes for you to avoid would not be any better than the driver under the influence.
In essence, it is the exact same.
Drunk driver doing 60 kmh in a 60 zone or a hoon doing 80 in a 60 zone will BOTH take the same amount of time to react to a hazard.

What goes around comes around - people who continue to break the law so that they can get to their destination 5 minutes earlier deserve whatever comes to them.

Andrew

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Drink/drug driving is stupid.
You do what you want & I'll do what I want. End of.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

[QUOTE=andrew63
What goes around comes around - people who continue to break the law so that they can get to their destination 5 minutes earlier deserve whatever comes to them.

Andrew[/QUOTE]

Speed
Tired - falling asleep at the wheel
Drinking - including drugs

All offenders are dick heads

The more they try and make excuses the bigger the dick head. The fact that my previous car could do 200mph+ doesn't mean I do it. What a crock of shit too make an excuse that a blow out is the result of poor car maintenance.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

A slight over simplification there? References please?

I react the same regardless of what speed I am travelling at. The point I think you are trying to make is that the consequences of my reaction may take longer to effect if I am travelling faster.
This is still not the same as if I were drunk/drugged.


I didn't post this thread with the intention of causing a debate over speeding, rather as information for WA residents of the new/changed penalties.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Yes.

130kph in the dry, 110 in the wet, both ignored by drivers normally doing 150kph. :rolleyes:

:beer:

Buzzy

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Mo9st blow outs are caused by either excessively warn tyres or by weakened tyre walls. The tyre walls are normally weakened either by a severe kerbing or by driving on underinflated tyres.
A blow out can occur as a result of hitting debris in the road or suffering a puncture while driving at speed but these are more rare and will normally be coupled with one of the above points.
There are plenty of crashes where speed is not a factor so I do hold that aspect in dispute but the facts, and no I don't know where to point you for this info, are that in crahes where speed is a factor there are more fatalities.
I still think that simplifying the road death debate to the assumption that speeding drivers are the cause is a large part of the problem.
The fact is that someone driving on the M1 at 90mph in clear daylight, light traffic, is alert and a skilled/trained driver is often safer than the person driving at 70mph on the M1 in heavy fog, while tired and there's heavy traffic and maybe even a bit of ice!
So the point is that speeding is not inherently dangerous but it does increase your risk and the risk at which you place others.
Driving fast does reduce reaction times, it reduces brake efficacy, it reduces control, most people do not go and add air to their tyres prior to driving fast, most people do not maintain their cars as well as they should, most people are not trained to a high level, most people do not have their cars adapted for safer high speed driving.
All in all I think most people admit that driving faster is more dangerous but few people seriously believe that is the only factor in road death rates being as high as they are.

Re: New traffic penalties to take effect from January 1, 2007
 

Nit picking a bit but..... is this Oz spelling right?
Spotlight on vehicle used to dazel another Road user or should it be dazzle?
and this...Cyclist not stopping for a yellow biclcle light
and this
Driving backwards for an unreasonable distance and withour due safety
and this
Driving or travelling with body or limbs protuding from a vehicle
and this
Using headlights on highbeam inappropiately
Wonder i f they need a new webmaster :rolleyes: