Government to erase demerit points scheme
February 5, 2008 by Matt Brogan
Victorian drivers could soon be given the chance to wipe off licence demerit points in a scheme proposed by the state Government.
Speeding fines (speed kills remember), red light camera fines and selected other offences could soon trade points in return for undertaking a driver education program. Meetings with trauma victims of road accidents could also be among the proposed options.
Only motorists who have lost eight or more demerit points would be eligible, the scheme seeing three demerit points erased. The Government is studying the proposal (a similar scheme already operates in Britain) as part of a shake-up of road safety measures aimed at cutting the road toll.
Almost 700,000 mobile speed camera fines were issued in the last year which based on an average $220 fine (for exceeding the limit by 10km/h-25km/h), meant motorists contributed roughly $147 million to government coffers.
What do you think, will the proposed scheme work? Or is it a back flip on the ‘Speed Kills’ mentality?
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It would be a great idea better than speeding cameras which are a revenue gathering exercise.
driver education will defonatly pay off in the long term
It’s kinda the chicken and egg arguement… wouldn’t it be better to have the training to begin with?
agree with casey…i reckon all L and P platers should first pass some driver education course before receiving their license.
or because the stupid victorian labour government only wants money from almost every source conceivable…they should bring back the speeding threshold to 10% of the speed posted…and not 3kms…because of this stupid rule…90% of drivers in victoria are getting fined to speeding because they are 4 kms over the limit whereas in the old days 10% grace was given…thus not giving the mentality that there are heaps of lunatics out there everyday.
brumby and his labour cohorts are and have been a do-nothing government!
I’ve gotta laugh, the courses they mention do NOTHING to improve driver skill but sounds like they are designed to scare you into driving slower. And I bet each course will probably cost about $300 or above. If they are going to have an education trade with points it should be you have to take an advanced driving course to improve driver skill and educate on how to drive, not this may happen to you or someone you love scare tactics that just make you keep an eye on your speedo rather than the road
They need to keep these drivers on the road, it’s their best income stream. Yet more proof that the safety of the driving public is not the issue here.
Now this is a great idea, makes sense doesnt it.
Everyone I talk to, Says how incompetent the Labour State Govenment is in Victoria, why do we keep voting them in all the time.
With the extensive revenue created within the Motoring world Sales tax, Licensing, Fuel tax and levies, Infringement fines etc. it would be just to see compulsory, free advanced driver training for all motorists. Really, how serious are the authorities about reducing road carnage? or are they just happy to provide lip service and continue to rake in the dollars.
runnaln thats because under them victorians have been dumbed down to i.q. levels only seen in toddlers!
and you cant really vote for the opposition since they dont represent a better alternative…thats why we have too many speed cameras…underpaid police…overcrowded freeways…under funded public transport…overtly expensive rego’s…all making owning and driving a car in victoria more of a luxury than a need.
Still wont make any diffeence to what the government does to remove demerit points and make driving more safer for people. People are still gonna be speeding and breaking the road rules. If you want to stop accidents and road deaths and what HOONS do then educating drivers isnt the only answer. Car manufacturers need to make better cars that can save much more lives and to make cars from not speeding. Maybe Kevin Rudd needs to put a remote control on peoples cars to control them all so we all cant speed. Government loves to control our money but cant control our cars. Nothing ever will change in our screwed up HOON society. It still be like this by year 2050. So where did I put that remote control for my garage door.
Casey you are spot on.
BK as far as the manufacturers needing to make safer cars, well I’d say most cars are much safer now then they ever have been and every maker seems to be striving for the highest safety rating they can get.
Compare current cars to those of 10 or 20 years ago, today’s cars are much safer.
Hoons are a tiny percentage of the road going public.
Not everyone who has an accident is a hoon or is speeding.
Why do people see driving to be so different to any other skill, we train or are educated to preform at specified level in our professions, sport, work place safety, etc.
It has always been too easy to get a licence in Australia, most people see it as a right rather then something to be earned and respected.
This lack of respect is a refection of how we as a motoring public behave on the roads and towards each other{see road rage, tailgating etc} we are rude, ignorant and dangerous as a result.
Hitting people with a big stick hasn’t and won’t change this only education and training have any chance to change these behaviours.
Best Victoria keeps those speeding motorists on the roads as long as possible to preserve its revenue stream. :D
Yeah – like this is going to work!!
I lost my license 15 years ago by speeding (I was a d3454head).. If i was given the opp to wipe my points in exchange to learn to drive confidently at higher speeds – would I have NOT lost my license? I think not!! At 18-24(ish) and with the quality of car handling today, I would think that (over confidence) may give way to common sense.
I reckon MORE speeding and WORSE accidents is on the cards for this plan..
I hope this doesnt come to NSW..
hahaha kwicks! spot on!
i think all drivers should have balls on their face.
that would be really funny
well if you lose your license you should be made to attend such courses (if thats how they want to play it) WITHOUT recieving full points back in return.
i also strongly feel that P platers that lose their license whilst still under the probation period should be made to count the 3yrs over again from the start.
why should people who cant survive with 3-4 points or what ever it is on “P’s” be allowed to advance to a greater buffer zone? they should have to show they deserve an open license rather than be gifted one once 3yrs ticks over
There is no evidence it works here in Blighty to my knowledge. Sounds great…go speeding, get knicked, get let off by going on a course to drive as flashy BMW instead of your corolla for a day or two. Mmmmm now theres punishment for you.
Will this help the bloke who ran over a group of school kids in Victoria when he was drunk with his child sat on his lap at the wheel in an unroadworthy vehicle. Naahh will it ever.
Primo! All these people doing advanced driving courses so they will learn how to drive to the conditions rather than to an arbitrary speed limit. Then we can get rid of speed limits all together. I wish.
Unfortunately, for every decision ever made by the government you can be certain someone somewhere is making money from it and this will be no different.
Ah, I see! Erase some points so they have extra opportunities to re-offend and pay fines before they loose their license!
Great idea guys…
Gotta say, I think AAMI’s free driving course for under-25’s is a great idea. They give you a free day driving course AND 10% off your insurance till your 25, all insurance companies should offer something like this.
John S . Quoted “…reckon all L and P platers should first pass some driver education course before receiving their license.”
It’s called getting their license, you idiot. They did their education in order to get their L & P’s.
There’s no pattern for idiocy on the roads. Every gender, race and age these days are all equally as useless as each other.
The shear STUPIDITY and lack of basic mentality astounds me constantly on the roads. 2000kg of steel travelling at high speed. Morons forget they’re in a machine.
What a load of … When the money collected from speedimg fines go to government directly one would never had a fair go. Miss Nixon had just had enough of pushing the limits and is now out to get a rest after collecting AS Required to keep her job. Some people tried to do treason (like on a Queen) to get rid of her unsuccessefully but now she knows that ANYONE including Queens ARE disposable. Would be nice to tell us how she did the job to stay in power . . . JUSt CURIOUS.
WHEN you claim that is safer to keep your eyes on the speedometer and on cameras and other collecting obstacle while driving instead of concentrating on the road than I can answer that stupidity kills . . .(oops sorry, speeding, overeating overrunning over … but we don’t pay but for speeding stuff)
Demerit points should not take 3 years to clear, that is unfair! Bad drivers/hoons should be penalized I agree. To all those good drivers out there that have been pinched a scattering of demerit points over this period, is unfair. The greater crime is to take a license away from someone, especially the person that has a family and mouths to feed and needs his or her license. Education is very important.
For our government $147,000,000 and then you’ll take someones license completely away…! SHAME ON YOU, to not support the greatest good for the greatest number of people! This is Australia not some damn 3rd world country.
Australian is out of control.
We are no longer a free country
There are too many laws
Cops or parking inspectors lurking behind every corner ready to book you for the smallest mistake …they take your money ,take your licence or put you jail…(for minor traffic offenses)
Its getting ridiculous….Its no wonder people snap and go on killing sprees.
I agree Rick you only need to drive in another country to truly accept the downfall of a scared driving culture and its consequences on safety and common sense.
For example i’ve been behind semis going downhill and slamming their brakes on in the rain, people speed up to not allow you in or not let you pass due to frustrating changing road speeds and multitude of speed cameras. It seems the only way to aviod this madness is to speed up and pass the frustrated neurotic drivers. A luxury it seems the rich can afford. Tradgedies such as the ones mentioned above, will occur regardless and certain people will not change no matter what, i have heard stories of the same individuals doing drink driver courses for the 5th and 6th times. But why not put it into perspective, if you are travelling 25000klms a year compared to 2500klm there is a very good chance you will incur more fines, humans are not perfect, but treat them like children and they will certainly act accordingly. I am saying they should be given more concessions because the system is biase, based on revenue raising and not saving lives. Cmon get real!!!
I totally agree with you Ron & Rick. This zero tolerance that the Vic Govt has introduced is nonsense and was only introduced as a revenue stream. The problem we now have is that the Vic Govt is so reliant on this income stream that it’s virtually impossible to change without it affecting the Govt Bureaucracy and incompetent wasting of money. Their only other option now is to lift taxes to compensate should they decide to change the system in any way which I can see them changing because it will affect their chance of re-election. . I am currently without a License and have been for 3 months already. All I am trying to do is to earn a living to support my family. I drive approximately 70,000km per year for my job in a sales capacity so as you said it’s all a numbers game. In 3 months being off the road the revenues in the business have dropped significantly to the point that now there are 8 other people’s jobs at risk and not only mine. Well done to the Govt. With the exception of one speeding fine which I was doing over 15km over the speed limit which I was in the wrong (having said that the speed limit sign was discolored to such an extent that Vic Roads verified that the sign was replaced 3 days after my incident – But once again the laws are written so tight that you don’t have a chance of contesting it) all the others have been for 53 in a 50 zone, 103 on a freeway and 105 on the same stretch of freeway two hours apart, 63 in a 60 zone and the list goes on. Please give me a break. Spend your efforts catching real criminals not the innocent trying to survive.
Don’t get me wrong I personally lost my brother to a road accident 13 years ago so I know the dangers of driving on the road. I also agree with the fine system because I saw the benefits that my brother’s wife and children received from TAC after his death but lets face it zero tolerance is not the solution nor is sending drivers off for training. As you said we are all human and not machines which can be programmed to never go over the speed limit. As it is now drivers spend more time concentrating on their speed and not what is happening around them. Which do you think will reduce the toll more concentration on the road and the surroundings or concentrating on the speedo? Oh yes that don’t call them speed camera’s any longer, they are now call safety camera’s. Do they really think we are idiots?
My sister lives less than 3 km from my place. When I drive to her place the speed limit changes 5 (FIVE) in less than 3 km. What hope have you got to comply with zero tolerance?
It’s the Hoons that need to be stopped. A few weeks ago I was travelling on a 110km zone with my wife and a hoon on a motor bike came past us at approx 160km per hour doing a mono on his back wheel. The Police should concentrate their efforts on these guys not on individuals who have been driving for 28 years without an accident.
The Govt is now so reliant on the revenue stream that their only solution is to introduce even more fixed cameras. It will not be long before the Police Officers themselves will be loosing their licence so I guess they need more camera’s so that they don’t need to leave the comfort of their office because they soon want be able to.
As one other person above wrote…….why do we continue to vote this Govt in?
IIRC in Finland they have to prove that they can control a vehicle in a slide BEFORE they get a drivers license. Why can’t we have the same deal here. Our drivers and riders are poorly trained to begin with, why not improve driver training and make the tests much harder! IMHO most accidents are just that accidents, however many could be avoided with better driver training. Also some folk who don’t quite make the grade will be on the bus, a safer option for all of us on the road.