Comments on: Pulled Over for Speeding? Dealing with the Police

By: Zac

Zac — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:14:42 +0000

Stupid question so I expectto get stupid replies, but in honestly if anyone can provide a sensible reply that would rock.

Well I was running late to work this morning so I took the M4
( Freeway in NSW ) the speed limit was 100km/h.

I was doing approx 10km/h – 15km/h over the limit at most when there was a cop car in the middle of the freeway parked on the grassy island.

I saw him and put the brakes on but not sure if it was in time though, didn’t want to slam the brakes any harder since it would look obvious.

I drove on as usual, noticed he pulled out in a rapid hurry, so I expected to be flagged down but nothing happend, you would still think he’d chase me if that was the case

Will I get booked in the mail?
Don’t they need photgraphic evidence?

PS> I know I am stupid for speeding, but cast the 1st stone if you arn’t gulity of speeding at least once Smile

By: Grumpy

Grumpy — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:13:44 +0000

Thanks gaf

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:53:24 +0000

I just got done the day I got on my Green P’s. 25Km/h over apparently…… He was approaching me the opposite way, Had another car under 10m infront of him. Spoke to a speed ticked expert and he said that they cant have another car infront of them for 200m. Which makes sense as it was a mobile radar and its very easy to get bad reflections/incorrect ones with this system if there is multiple large objects.

I want to debate it but unfortunately I cant remember exactly what I said to the officer. I was too busy shacking to remember i think.

Thing that really is BS is that if you look at the QLD police website (PLEASE SEE FOR YOURSELF http://www.police.qld.gov.au/r.....manual/06/ ) and try find some policies, guess what, The pages you want to read come up with 404 error (PAGE NOT FOUND) Funny how chapter 6.0.0 to 6.5.7 works. All the chapters after (Which is what you need to know about positions and usage) wont work. Seams pretty dogey if you ask me.
So i called Police HQ, NOONE could find out why, ended up saying hold on, then transfered me to “traffic fines” without notice, they had no idea either, noone knew how to contact IT either……

What is with THAT, They wont give us access to the policies that we want and are entitled to know.

I wasn’t doing 85 and whats probably happened is that he hasn’t cleared the screen from his last catch. (Apparently it happens more than you think)

Just remember, If they pull you over,
1. DONT ADMIT TO SPEEDING
2. Ask to see your speed, If they cant show you, tell them to piss off. DO not let them bully you into a ticket, I was scared, DONT BE, there is really nothing to be afraid of.

Good luck

Andrew

By: gaf

gaf — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:48:32 +0000

grumpy…i would suggest getting a report from your phone company showing calls made AND received and compare the time on the ticket to the report… If calls were made minutes before or after the alledged call dont bother but if there is a good time gap it should stand up in court…The only other thing you should need to do is prove the report is of your ONLY mobile or they could argue you were using another phone… if you have more than 1 phone get reports for all of them, good luck.

By: K7

K7 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:23:13 +0000

I come from a family of police officers. My sister, her husband and my grandfather are all cops. With this in mind I have never had a pleasant incident with a member of the Police. I have been accused and threatened several times one officer even threatened to give my sister a ticket simply because he didn’t like my attitude (my sister was driving and I asked the officer what we had done wrong. We had noticed the Police car following us for several blocks and even stopping outside our house when I ran in to grab something). Recently I was told by an officer “we can do whatever we want”. Often I get pulled over just to be asked how my night has been (this is done by male officers only). A few weeks ago I went through a booze bus on my way to work and was told by the officer who breath tested me “a smile would be nice”! The nerve! I understand where people are coming from when they say they are intimidated when pulled over, of course they are intimidated, and no amount of counselling as suggested by one wanker on this site will fix that.
I think that people simply pay speeding fines without disputing them as it is the easier avenue to take. Court dates and disputes with police seem a lot more intimidating than a couple of hundred dollars and quite frankly most people don’t have the time for these lengthy processes. In my oppinion, speed cameras and parking fines are revenue raising. And I don’t see how suspending someones drivers licence could possibly make them a better driver. Perhaps the revenue raised from speeding and parking fines would be better used putting speeders through another driving course or something. I don’t know and I’m not claiming to have all the answers but there has to be a better way to deal with these issues. It is getting to the stage that the sight of a Police vehicle or officer does not make me feel safe but rather scared. I saw an interesting bumper sticker the other day which made me giggle: Victorian Police- To serve and collect.

By: Grumpy

Grumpy — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:32:16 +0000

I got fined $250 and 3 demerits today for talking on my mobile phone in the car. Funny thing is that I wasn’t. I was talking to my 10mth old daughter in the rear seat. The policeman assumed I was talking into my hand (which he in turn thought was a phone)

I’m gonna fight this. Anyone got any advice/experience?

By: gaf

gaf — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:49:08 +0000

I am a law abiding motorbike enthusist who has a perfect insurance record and had 1 major speed fine several yrs ago after a very distressing night.i knew i was in the wrong and admitted it, having done that the kind officer dropped my speed from 58k over to 40 k over so i wouldn t loose my right to drive. I was gracious and paid the large fine. However a month ago i was pinged with the laser doing 14k over when i know for damn sure i was not speeding i have photos of where he was standing and you can barely even see where i would have been traveling. Not to mention the fact i was going round a bit of a bend down into a gully( yes i was keeping an eye on speed) he was a Sergent and yet still put incorrect info on the ticket(num nut). Im pretty sure his position was not a legal spot there where trees in the was a power pole and centre islands blocking his view between him and the spot he claimed i was, im sure there is requirements for certain amount of clear view in order for a correct reading. In the past i have had a strong view against speeding since i saw my cousin slam into an embankment at 160klms (no i wasnt doing the same speed he overtook me for going the speed limit) it was a sickening crash which left him with huge injuries including 4 smashed vertibre. Can you imagine how that effected me? I almost never sped back then and since then i never speed yet i got booked anyways. My confidence in the police is gone. Im disgusted with the arrogance of police when they claim their laser is flawless so i must have been speeding. And when you take them to court they spare absolutely no expense in bsing their way into your wallet for thousands in court costs. And def dont bs me in saying that “if you’re innocent then thats how the court will find” we all know a judge is not there to decide innocents or guilt its his/her job to decide who made the better argument which is a load of crap for those who cant afford a lawyer. Im really disappointed i thought if i dont speed i wont get booked like the dickheads on tv claim but no that was a load of you know what also. Any comments from the officers reading???

By: Troy

Troy — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:20:38 +0000

“allan Says:
March 13th, 2009 at 2:42 am
where do you go when its the police vechiles clearly marked speeding past you (no lights or sirens)you are doing correct speed 110kmh on hume highway dual lanes and police pass you at such a speed enough to rock your car,is their a law for civillian drivers none for police,even in built up areas exceeding 50 zones town centre ,picton rd 130kmh in 100kmh zone especially when some of their own coppers have been killed on this road not so long ago. they have the hide to say i have gone over the speed limit by 14kmh ,you ask me it is them that need photos taken and reported but to who my impression of nsw police force is they are all currupt one bad apple spoiles the lot/glorifid revenue raising and paid well for it take a pay cut instead of a bribe for speed”

Before you go shooting your uneducated mouth off Allan, have you considered the fact that sometimes Police need to get to a job (break/enter occurring..robbery etc…) as fast as possible WITHOUT wanting to warn the offenders of their approach??
And as far as all NSW Police being currupt (sic), Im assuming you have had personal dealings with each and every one of the 15000 odd Police in this State to qualify you to make such a ridiculous blanket claim? I have served for ten years in the NSW Police and have never once acted corruptly, and i take your offensive allegations as a personal insult.
Clearly you are an armchair critic who would be the first person to call the Police when something happened to you. If you can do a better job, feel free to head to the Police recruitment office and have a go yourself. Until then, give us some proof of what you allege or shut the hell up.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:36:04 +0000

Very interesting discussion so far, it’s good to hear from people from both sides of the argument.

@Tony – As far as I am aware, and certainly in the few cruise control equipped cars I’ve used, cars with cruise control both speed up the car to meet the ‘target speed’ as WELL as slow it down.
So yes when you’re going down a hill the cruise control device detects the vehicle is exceeding the target speed and slows the car down to correct.
This is not an exact science though, I’ve noticed down steep hills in my area that the car can exceed by 5-8 km/h, so if you’re particularly unlucky you could get flashed/gunned even when you’re using cruise control. This only happens for short periods until it stabilises though, maybe 10 seconds at most, and of course you’re always free to use the brake to slow down manually (this disengages the cruise control too).

P.S. Cars i’ve used with cruise control are Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Toyota Land Cruiser if that helps anyone.

By: Tony O'Connor

Tony O'Connor — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:12:09 +0000

Do any cars have cruise control that will maintain your set speed while traveling down a hill?

By: dr00py

dr00py — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:54:00 +0000

*quick apology for the typo’s above but this issue infuriates me as I’m sick of losing my licence for watching the road instead of my speedo.*

By: dr00py

dr00py — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:50:23 +0000

In fairness to the police, most will let me drive away with just a warning after speaking with me. But you can’t negotiate with a camera and I feel that this zero tollerance approach to doing even a handfull of keys over the limit is training a generation of zombie robots who are inclined to believe that watching the speedo is more important than watching the road.
My neighbour has had three minor collisions already this year but since she has never recieved a speeding fine in her life she is considered to be a ‘perfect driver’ in the eyes of the law. Someone something is wrong with that picture!

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:00:55 +0000

Police know what they are doing, they are also normal people like you and me, they have friends who arent cops and families who arent cops…they are not out to get anyone and make their life hell, they are just doing theyre job stopping people from speeding…sure some cops may act arrogant when you tell them you werent speeding, but wouldnt you if you heard that story a hundred times?..

hopefully cops can tell the genuine from the not genuine, my only concern is for the person not speeding getting a ticket or losing their license when they were genuienly not speeding…for example the sole pensioner above ‘Hurt’, there needs to be a better system in place if someone gets a ticket and they werent speeding, then it just isnt fair..

By: allan

allan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:42:41 +0000

where do you go when its the police vechiles clearly marked speeding past you (no lights or sirens)you are doing correct speed 110kmh on hume highway dual lanes and police pass you at such a speed enough to rock your car,is their a law for civillian drivers none for police,even in built up areas exceeding 50 zones town centre ,picton rd 130kmh in 100kmh zone especially when some of their own coppers have been killed on this road not so long ago. they have the hide to say i have gone over the speed limit by 14kmh ,you ask me it is them that need photos taken and reported but to who my impression of nsw police force is they are all currupt one bad apple spoiles the lot/glorifid revenue raising and paid well for it take a pay cut instead of a bribe for speed

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:32:47 +0000

to qualify the above statement, the payrise the government has offered us is absolute, ie, not negotiable depending on the money raised from fines..

By: Troy

Troy — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:01:22 +0000

I am a NSW Police Officer (not attached to the highway patrol) and i pose a question to those of you who believe that police issuing speeding fines is simply a revenue raising process….At the present time, the NSW government is offering its Police a 2.5% payrise, which is a full 1.5% less than the current rate of inflation. With that in mind, why do you people think that Police have any incentive/desire to raise money for them??

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:16:57 +0000

Roadworks can be enforced 24/7 however I do not do this. I only enforce it when there are actual roadworks in progress at the time, thus i can’t speak for all police. You still need to slow down as it is enforcible regardless of the time. Yes you will find QLD drivers like to sit right up your tailpipe, especially utes and young ladies they are always in a hurry. Hope that helps.

By: Thommo

Thommo — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:22:03 +0000

Mark,
Having visited Qld for the last 4 years, can you clarify what the situation is regarding road work speed limits “after hours”.
As a South Australian I followed the rules that apply here, ie road work speed limits apply 24/7, however I was subjected to enormous amounts af abuse from the locals.

What are the rules in Qld?

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:04:02 +0000

I am also a traffic police officer. Number 1 there is no such thing as a quota as the media would like you to believe. Example I completed a spped camera shift on a busy QLD motorway and had in excess of 6,000 cars pass me and only 3 were detected speeding. I don’t think this is revenue raising. Oh by the way your Mr COOPER is currently facing court on fraud matters in relation to his alleged knowledge of radar procedures, so his credibility should be questioned. As was clearly stated earlier by the time any motorist realises a police vehicle is coming towards them, or that a Laser has targeted their car the speed of your vehicle may have been checked anything up to 500 meters further down the road, hence “I wasn’t speeding, are you sure you got the right car”. I myself never ask why you have exceeded a speed zone as it is the campaign in QLD, “Speeding, there is no excuse,” you may think this is obnoxious, but if you pay attention to what speed you are travelling we will never stop you and infringe on your civil rights, spare me.

By: marilyn cassidy

marilyn cassidy — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:30:06 +0000

Last wednesday 29th Jan I was driving on a winding narrow road between Cressie and Camperdown in Victoria when I came upon a police car coming in opposite direct. I automatically checked my speedo (as did my partner who enjoys pointing out my shortfalls as much as the next guy) I was doing just over 100 on the speedo which in my car when checked at highway speed check points reads at just under 100. The police stopped turned and followed me for a few klilomotres and then pulled me over. They asked was there any reason i was driving at 114 ks and i replied that i did not believe i had been – this response was treated with disdain intimating i was lying and was breath tested. I have today in the mail received a fine alleging i was driving at 115 marked down to 113ks. I have no idea what their radar actually read and they dont seem to know either. I am very angry that firstly could not one of them have ‘observed’ with some degree of acuracy whether a car is doing 100 or substantially more rather that telling me the radar is correct. Wondering if heat effects readings as it was 45 degrees at the time and very windy when i asked about this they would not countenance that their could possibly be anything wrong with their equipment. I am not a lier and i try to observe speed restrictions. This particular road is very narrow and dusty and is not the sort of road where speed gets away from you – it requires full on concentration. I find it very frustrating that i dont see any recourse…i have no idea what the radar read i am relying on police ethics (and past years have shown this to be somewhat questionable if we are to believe findings of our law courts) to go to court would mean travel and time off work all very frustrating when i know i was not speeding.