RoadSide Watch – Grandmas with Cameras
April 5, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
I stumbled across a website today called RoadSideWatch, a website setup by Loraine McElligott on the Sunshine Coast who hopes to catch “Hoons” in action and have them reported to police. Usually when I come across a website as stupid as this, I don’t bother writing about it, but this site has been getting a little bit of media attention.
The idea is relatively simple, they lend you a camera for the weekend (for $150 – plus a $1,500 bond – this site seems more concerned about money than safety), you video tape the hoons in your area and they will forward it to police in the hope that the cops will do something about it.
This all sounds like a great idea doesn’t it? I mean wouldn’t we all love to get rid of these “hoons” on our roads. There is one big problem with it all though. It is nothing more than a reactionary response jumping on the anti-youth driver bandwagon. It hopes to catch people in the wrong using a sort of big brother system of in car cameras and microphones.
It hopes to get the community involved to go out there, and try to video tape drivers breaking the law. Not exactly the most subtle way to combat bad driving. I would like to point out that, the majority of people who will be getting these cameras to video tape the hoons are going to be doing this at night, and unless they have night vision cameras (which they dont), the technicality of this is nonsense – but it makes good news.
So far it hasn’t been a great success, the site has all the sections regarding how to buy cameras and tshirts finished, whilst the important things like statistics and facts are left with a “coming soon” section, there are hardly any videos on the site and more importantly, the idea behind it shows a little bit of vindictiveness to get back at anyone under 25 driving a modified car.
It appears to me that some correlation between someone ‘endangering your life with a gun and someone endangering your life by driving dangerously in a car can rightfully be made.
This is always the best way to start, by comparing bad/reckless drivers to armed gunmen! The ironic story behind this site is that the support is coming from the parents of these very so called hoons. The parents who see their children as angels on the road whilst the reality is a different story.
If you saw a gunman in the street you would pick up the phone and call the police without hesitation. We ask people to take a video/photo, and send it to us, if they see someone in a car endangering the lives of others. Or better still, hire /buy a car camera and forward the footage to us.
I would love to see Ms McElligott go through and redo her driving test. How many mature drivers are out there who put the lives of everyone else on the road in danger by breaking every road rule known to man? Nonetheless, they don’t speed, their cars are quite and most importantly they are not young, so therefore they are mature and experienced drivers who cause no one harm.
But it all makes sense, the media loves this sort of knee-jerk response. Target the youth, bring out more restrictions, video tape them being stupid – makes great news, and put them all in jail. Fantastic.
Perhaps someone should remind Ms McElligott that teenagers are going to be teenagers, its part of being a teenager to take unnecessary risks and put ones life in danger. To put it simply, its natural. Recently RACV’s Ken Ogden made a comment that I, for once, agree with :
“Young people, especially males, are inherent risk takers,” he said. “They can’t just turn that off when they’re driving.”
All statistics back up this claim with road fatality rate for young males three times higher than young females. Furthermore, a good portion of these “hoons” that RoadSideWatch wants to bring to justice are also young males.
The site has also received its fair of bad and rude comments from these so called Hoons. So there has been a little section put up to mention:
I want to make it clear that this campaign is not directed against young people any more than anyone else.
Thankfully though the voice of reason has caught up with the site as well, with comments like this left by visitors:
Just saw your segment on Today Tonight and I am absolutely disgusted at this pathetic attempt to make a quick buck with the use of scare tactics and senile citizens with an infinite amount of time of their hands.
Haven’t you people got something better to do? How about you go help the under-privileged or disabled children? Why waste your time with fruitful attempts to curb what is a nationwide problem that can’t be solved by grandma’s with cameras.
I notice I can buy a roadside watch t-shirt now – congratulations on reaching phase two of any online revenue spinner!
and even better:
Instead of jumping on the generalisaion band wagon i think you should be more focused on banding together with car enthusiasts and youths to lobby they government to upgrade their roads, implement new driving schemes like drivers ed in schools, make driving instructors more accessible and affordable, fund more places where it is legal and affordable for drivers to feed their erratic behaviour such as racing burnouts and drifting
and most importantly make it mandatory for all drivers to undergo intensive driver training courses. Not just slap a few more years onto newer drivers and hope their parents, partners and friends teach them he correct way to drive.Older drivers also need to be tested more regularly to ensure they no the every changing road rules.
It seems like our message is getting through to some!
Print it: 
I tell you whats worse than Grandmas with cameras is grandmas behind the wheel ! But thats a generalization on my behalf of all grandmas and grandpas so if you love your granny then good on you!
P.S Hi grandma! Haaaaaaaaaaa
This is exactly why I refuse to watch rubbish current affairs shows. I wouldn’t worry too much. You’ll see a few overweight, out of work, moccasin wearing grumble-bums (A Current Affairs core demographic)running around with cameras for a while but they will have no idea how to get the pretty picture from the camera to the website.
I’m not a hoon but if I saw one of the idiots I’d probably run them over. Or shoot them. Ok,ok…I wouldn’t but I’d want to.
This is a joke, this whole website is setup todo what? Lend out video cameras so people can go vigilante ? and get some great footage for cars going fast? I highly doubt any good footage will come of this. And more importantly, no one except retired grandmas would bother.
Yet another reason why it is becoming increasingly harder to responsibly enjoy driving and owning a modified vehicle. Yes there is too much “hooning” but how many genuine modified car enthusiasts will be targeted by these people? Stick to your lawn bowls people!
These people could instead set up an advanced driving course for “hoons” and teach them about how to control a car in a spin or any other time when you’ve lost control. Teach them about reactions, and how drugs or alcohol can affect their driving performance.
Teach them about their car. Fuel economy and respect to people around them.
All the while, these people running the course should lobby to make it a compulsory course, like they have done with motorcycles, where you get taught how to emergency brake, not relying on ABS. Recovering the bike from a slide or loss of traction due to adverse road conditions.
I think they have the right idea, but the wrong way of going about it. I’m not saying I’m right. My opinions could be as wrong as the next person. I just think the idea is there, the execution isn’t.
License tests in Australia are a joke. You learn to pass your test, not to drive. If a race track can be hired for an entire day and charge people $200 for it’s use on a drive/ride day. Then I am sure they could charge $400 for one of these courses. A fair bit cheaper then the $150 + bond. And you get something out of it other then doing the un-Australian thing of dobbing people in.
There were some “hoon” talks on the radio last night and kids were being interviewed and were saying “The commercials don’t do a thing to us. Scare tactics work, yeah… for a about 5 mins. Then, 30 mins later you’re driving to your mates place to go to a party, the last thing on your mind is that commercial. You just wanna get to the party and pick up chicks”.
And he’s right.
A friend from Europe came here to Australia and was so scared to drive on the roads. When I was confronting him with “why?” He said “I can’t believe this is a road, it’s so bumpy, there are holes that your entire wheel can go into. No wonder you guys have accidents all the time.”
He was actually frieghtened to drive here because of the condition of the roads.
There will always be hoons. There have always been hoons. At least we can educated everyone on how to drive properly, fix the roads so they’re actually straight and not something like Parramatta Rd or Canterbury Rd. Educate drivers and train them to drive properly, not pass some test and be let out loose on the road.
My next point, and I’m finishing up is not related. But they can also rip out the other languages they allow people to do their L’s test in on the computer. I’m not racist, but I wouldn’t expect to get to China or Germany and have the license test set out in English for me when all the road signs are in their language. It’s not a matter of race, it’s a matter of what’s right and wrong.
Cheers
Stefano
QUOTE = I’m not racist, but I wouldn’t expect to get to China or Germany and have the license test set out in English for me when all the road signs are in their language. It’s not a matter of race, it’s a matter of what’s right and wrong.
Yeah but Im quite sure in the test if a question for example is asked about a roadside, the writing on the roadside is in english ;). Its just the questions that are in another language. So imo its fair enough, as long as their limited vocabularly includes what road signs means its ok
^
roadside = roadsign!!!
I agree though on the standard of the roads, I drive on Parra Road quite abit and it is disgraceful! The limit is 60km/h and even that low it feels dangerous, a road that straight if it was in decent condition should have a limit of at least 70km/h. Same applies to Cantebury Rd.
im not raciest but tha government is putting more signs in froghen languages now this is an english speking countery we r becoming to multi coulteral
if i went to japan every thin would b in japenise
m i right or rong its there so they can read it
i would learn there languagr out of respect if i went to visit there countery not expect them to have
signs in english for me
It is quite clear that the fools who are making negative comments about the grannies taking vigilante action have not lost a loved one in a car crash!
Hey Wayne of the west, What the hell are you talking about? Which,who,what fools ? im confused ..
Hey Brandon … better learn English first mate. Then after that try learning LAWN BOWLS. The current Australian women’s champion, 18 year old Kelsey Cottrell of Qld, could give you a few lessons. She might even buy you a Jack Daniels out of the $18,000 prizemoney she won. You might discover that lawn bowls requires more skill and mental dexterity than driiving a fast car. By the way here is Brandon’s current English skills”.
“im not raciest but tha government is putting more signs in froghen languages now this is an english speking countery we r becoming to multi coulteral
if i went to japan every thin would b in japenise
m i right or rong its there so they can read it
i would learn there languagr out of respect if i went to visit there countery not expect them to have
signs in english for me”
Instead of spead cameras I think there should be cameras in streets and roads to catch hoons where there is an offence reported.