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The Coalition believes such a scheme would help to ensure buyers of 4×4s and people movers wouldn’t be slugged with the new 33 percent tax rate.

It is painful as a motoring enthusiast appalled by the current pricing of new vehicles in Australia to read completely misinformed comments made by our members of Parliament in arguing the case for the LCT rise.

Deputy leader of the Government in the Senate, Stephen Conroy, attacked the Opposition’s proposal with the following remark.

“By lifting the tax threshold, they are giving a tax break to Porsche drivers.”

Meanwhile the most affordable Porsche in Australia - the entry-level Cayenne 4×4, begins at $94,700 - above even the proposed threshold increase.

Its unfounded rhetoric such as this which masks the true climate of the Australian car market, with Mum and Dad car buyers being slugged with a tax hike by outdated legislation which has no real perception of what a luxury car really is in today’s society.

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To qualify for the focus groups, you must have either lost your licence through demerit points or driving under the influence. Not everyday that criteria can be useful for anything except jail!

SAC will begin with newspaper advertisements to recruit the ‘bad drivers’. All costs will be paid by SAC, who is expected to recommended new punishments to the State Government within the next 12 months.

If you’re interested, you will have more luck if you’re a young male, aged between 20-24 as that age bracket forms the highest risk group among disqualified drivers.

Statistics show that disqualified drivers tend to break other driving laws as well, partially due to their “nothing-to-lose-attitude” whilst also being involved in a proportionately higher number of road crashes than licensed drivers.

“We want to know what motivates them, what might deter them and what they think of the fairness of driving laws, if people think the laws are unfair, they are more likely to disobey them.” SAC chairman Arie Freiberg said

Victoria is currently the only state that imposes a mandatory jail sentence of one month for repeat disqualified or suspended drivers, a law which SAC has already recommended abolishing due to potential explosion in Victoria’s jail population.

SAC now recommends impounding more vehicles, licence restrictions and compulsory rehabilitation courses instead of jail terms.

If you have driven with a disqualified or suspended license, what were your reasons?

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“With rampant petrol pump prices, it is now apparent that there are fewer cars on the daily commute to work. This presents an opportunity for the Government to acknowledge the role motorbikes and scooters can play in reducing congestion and vehicle emissions, and also in reducing petrol costs for families and commuters,” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase, said.

VACC wants designated and signed “Safe Routes” with improved traffic management features for two-wheeled transport.

“Scooter sales were up 40% last year and they are here to stay. That is a simple and inescapable fact. But the infrastructure for two-wheeled vehicles is not up to scratch. The Government needs to make fundamental improvements to our roads and form an integrated transport policy to incorporate motorbikes, scooters and push bikes.” Purchase continued.

The VACC also points out that with more scooters on the road, carbon emissions are reduced significantly.

The problem with two-wheels transport is the increased level of danger for the rider. Over 80 per cent of all motorcycle crashes are caused by other vehicles hitting them from behind or failing to see the motorcyclists at intersections to give way.

To combat the issue, VACC wants to see safety boxes for motorcycle and scooter riders at the head of busy intersections while allowing access by scooter riders to certain, designated bicycle lanes on roads where such sharing can be achieved safely (many electric and smaller scooters travel at bicycle speeds or less).

A further suggestion includes adding boxed turns, utilising safety boxes, on certain busy intersections for scooter riders (to avoid having them standing unprotected in the middle of passing lanes)

“Both Labor and the Coalition appear to be confused over their best policy on tackling the rapidly rising petrol prices. But there is a golden opportunity staring politicians in the face in promoting the environmental and economic merits of two-wheeled transport. It has worked in Rome, Paris, London, Stockholm and Tokyo – why can’t it work in Australian cities?” Mr Purchase said.

Should do the State and Federal governments do more to encourage two-wheeled transport?

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It was, to put in bluntly, a trap, as the offenders appeared in a local court that very day, many lost their licences instantly, nine of those disqualified got back in their cars and drove off. The men in blue were sitting outside the Richlands courthouse and all nine were quickly arrested for driving on a disqualified license!

According to QLD Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson, police traps, like the one mentioned, are a “fair tactic”. They remove risky drivers from our roads.

A current trial running in the state has already led to 866 cars driven by repeat unlicensed drivers impounded for good. Now the trial will extend to the whole state.

So how exactly do you get your car impounded? Drive on a disqualified license over and over again.

How do you get your car impounded and sold? Don’t pay the cost for impounding the car and owe the state government money in due loans or fines.

“These are people who generally have thousands of dollars owing to the state and are not paying off those fines, we decided that instead we would teach them a painful lesson and take their car off them from July 1.” Police Minister Judy Spence said in Brisbane.

The harsh tactics result from the increased possibility of disqualified drivers engaging in high-risk driving behaviour.

In 2003, 4.5 per cent of Queensland road fatalities involved disqualified drivers, last year that figure rose to 9.2 per cent.

Whilst I completely agree that disqualified drivers should give up driving, setting up enormous traps and sending motorists straight to court resulting in instant disqualifications does seem just a tad out of the ordinary, even for QLD police.

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Nonetheless, Insp Richard Watkins, of Victoria Police’s major collision investigation unit, still claimed that traffic police strongly supported speed cameras.

“If the cameras are doing their job, then we spend less time at serious collisions and fatalities, members might want to come and spend a day with us to see the impact of speed.” he said.

In Victoria alone, an average of more than 50,000 mobile speed camera fines are issued each month and that figure excludes tickets issued by fixed cameras.

Victoria Police were quick to point out that regardless of what the Police force believe, excessive speed is still the most common cause of road accidents. A spokeswoman for the force noted that there has been a 50 per cent drop in the road toll since the inception of cameras in 1989.

Unfortunately, nor her or the Victorian police force has considered the enormous advancements in vehicle safety since 1989. The inclusion of airbags in nearly all new cars, ESP, ABS, Side airbags, the list goes on, but, according to Victoria Police, the 50% reduction is primarily due to speed cameras…

“The traffic camera program is ultimately designed to reduce the number of vehicle collisions and therefore the incidence of road trauma and death,” she said.

Now that the police officers agree with the majority of us, how can we move forward from here?

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Seconds after our reader’s passenger took the photographs, the driver then reaches over the wheel with her left hand (while still holding the telephone to her head with her right hand) and puts her indicator on. Effectively, the driver is using her left hand to hold the wheel on the opposite side and then uses the same hand to put her indicator on.

If that wasn’t dangerous enough, the driver then merges in front of our reader’s vehicle - eliminating the two second gap they were keeping with the truck in front of them - and comes within 1-metre of his bull-bar. Maybe she didn’t see the car? Unlikely, considering our reader was driving a 70-series Toyota Landcruiser with a large bull-bar attached.

Click for larger image

Seemingly oblivious to this potential near miss, the driver of the unmarked police vehicle continues on her merry way.

When contacted for comment with regards to the photographs, CarAdvice also posed the question of reprimand toward the driver.

Although we can’t publish the exact response from Natalie Webster - the Media Officer for the Media and Corporate Communications Unit of the Victoria Police - she told us that police are covered under Road Rule 300 (1), exempting them from breaking any law if they were to use a mobile phone while driving.

According to Monash University research (Monash University Accident Research Centre - Report #206 - 2003, authors: K. Young, M. Regan & M. Hammer), the use of a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle can increase the risk of an accident by up to four times! And that figure disregards whether the driver is a police officer or member of the public - as we are all humans at the end of the day.

The fact that the police have brushed this off on a technicality is truly appalling. The driver of this unmarked police vehicle put the lives of several people at risk and the police are unwilling to even follow the matter up. Being a police officer doesn’t somehow exempt you from a human’s common cognitive train of thought - which puts all of us, despite your job position, in the same boat when it comes to using a mobile phone whilst driving.

This act of dangerous driving poses the question - should members of the police force really be allowed to use a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle?

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Despite the massive increase (and intensely advertised) number of speed cameras and police on QLD roads, the sunshine state has once again, recorded the worst toll for the nation.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has blamed speeding motorists, saying her government will review its road safety campaign with the potential for tougher penalties. QLD police have also expressed that they are at “wits end” with motorists’ behaviour.

“As a result of the continued speeding on our roads, and as a result of the continued drink driving on our roads, I’ll be talking with the Queensland Police Service and the minister for transport (John Mickel) about what else we can look at.” Premier Bligh said.

Unfortunately for Premier Bligh, she has missed the point. Last year QLD launched campaign 300, aimed at reducing the road toll below 300 for 2007. The operation involved substantially more speed cameras and RBTs.

The result? Not only did it fail, the road toll actually increased by almost 7 per cent (337 in 2006). The extra speed cameras have so far proven to be nothing more than a successful revenue-raising scheme.

What tends to concern us though, is that Premier Bligh has not even bothered to account for how the seven deaths occurred, opting to instead blame speeding without hesitation or merit.

Saturday saw a male pedestrian hit and killed by a vehicle at Craignish, north-west of Hervey Bay. That was followed by the deaths of a six-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy when the car they were in left the road, rolled and hit a tree at Murphys Creek, north of Toowoomba.

A teenager died when his motorcycle left the road and slammed into a tree. An elderly man died after a two car collision in the Brisbane suburb of Mansfield while a man in his 50s died when his motorbike collided with a cow about 10km outside Boulia, in the state’s west.

So, two motorcycle deaths, one caused by a cow, one pedestrian, two deaths in one car due to driver error and dark roads (Police did not blame speed as the primary cause), but it gets better, because according to QLD police the elderly man’s death could have been caused by a pre-existing medical condition!

What gets the blame? Speeding! Remember folks, if you can’t blame anyone else, blame speeding! At least that makes money.

When we said massive increase in speed cameras, we weren’t exaggerating, 14,731 QLD drivers were issued with speeding tickets during this holiday period, nearly twice as many as Easter in 2007. Almost 500 were caught drink driving.

What more can we say? Twice as many speeders caught, yet the road toll is higher? Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s not speeding?

Perhaps Premier Bligh should look into advanced driver training for all, compulsory re-licensing for older drivers, separate licenses for 4WD and high performance cars and focus the speed cameras on blackspots, not on straight roads.

Moving on from QLD, NSW Police issued just under 5000 speeding tickets, about 1/3 of QLD’s count, despite the state having a higher number of registered drivers. The number of speeding tickets also didn’t affect the state’s roads remaining fatality free.

It’s worth noting, however, that despite the minimal speeding tickets, 6780 NSW motorists were charged with other driving offence ranging from reckless driving, using a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seatbelt.

The motorist which topped the state’s idiot list was a 23-year-old disqualified driver, who passed a speed camera at 160km/h coming off the Anzac Bridge.

Moving to Victoria, a mother and daughter were killed when their car slammed into the side of a passenger train today in yet another level crossing disaster for the state.

Police have confirmed that the vehicle was a four-wheel drive and the incident occurred at an unprotected country level crossing at Moriac, near Winchelsea (picture below).

The second worst state was Western Australia with 5 deaths. An eight-year-old and a 21-year-old died when the Holden Commodore sedan they were in turned in front of a Holden Rodeo - the Rodeo had right of way.

Despite wearing seatbelts, the 21-year-old woman and the eight-year-old boy were thrown from the Commodore and died of their injuries.

On Friday a woman was killed when her car slammed into a tree on the South-West Highway, 30km north of Walpole. Another women died in the State’s north, after she was thrown from her car as it rolled on a bend. Police believe she was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.

Going by the WA Police’s own press releases, excessive speed was not the primary factor in these deaths.

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These unfortunate souls that have perished on Australian roads this Easter period, have perished in vain. The State governments continue to deny the need for better driver training, while insisting, without merit, that excessive speed is the primary and root cause of the majority of accidents.

All we can ask is that you consider the facts and figures before blindly swallowing the Speed Kills propaganda. Sticking to 60km/h in a 60 zone does not guarantee your safety. If you want to improve your driving ability and lower your chances of being in a car accident, book yourself into an advanced driving course, it may just save your life.

Alborz Fallah

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The three minute ad will premiere at 8.27pm this evening with shorter ads appearing over coming weeks.

The TAC hopes the true stories will get through to speeding motorists though many cynics of the campaign believe the money could have been better spent in educational programs and improvements to our roads.

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The first guinea pigs will be Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon, a  former Victorian coroner plus other Victorian Government ministers and an estimated 45 other participants.

According to the Herald Sun, all state and territory governments as well as New Zealand have been in talks to introduce the system for some time. Depending on results, the project will move to NSW and Western Australia later this year.

The system will cost anywhere between $700 and $2000 per vehicle to install and it is expected to find its way into government fleet cars first.

So how does it work? It’s not that different to your every satellite navigation - only that it interfaces with your car’s electronic systems. It knows where you are and it has a database of all speed limits on Australia roads.

Firstly it works out how fast you’re going by taking an average reading of your changing position divided by time -it then runs the speed past the database to see if you’re breaking the speed limit - then begins the pain.

There are three levels of operation:

• Level one will simply give you an annoying audible warning when you go over the speed limit,
• Level two starts to cut power to the engine to slow you down by force - but can be overridden or ignored,
• Level three is like level two only that the system now overrules you, and won’t allow the car to speed regardless of what colourful words you will use against it.

Queensland transport, which despite a massive surge in speed cameras failed miserably in reducing the state’s road toll last year, has already come out and said the system can reduce serious accidents by an enormous 20 per cent.

But wait, it gets better. The Herald Sun also quoted in its original report that an unnamed Victorian government website has gone even one step further, suggesting that almost 60 per cent of road fatalities can be cut if the system was fitted to all cars.

Previously we would say that the state governments are looking for the cheap way out to fix the road toll epidemic, but this is no cheap option. With the estimated cost of $700-$2000, the money would be far better spent introducing mandatory advanced driver training classes to improve driving skills and reiterating the road rules.

No doubt that if the trial are successful, the system will find its way to everyday cars, perhaps being  a mandatory fitting for repeat speeding offenders.

So what do you think? Would you allow your car to be fitted with a big brother style speed limiter?

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“Were you driving safely Mr Hughes? If you were, then you have been lying to us about the importance of sticking to the speed limit, we don’t believe for a single second that Mr Hughes was driving dangerously and he must now tell us the truth about the role of speed limits in road safety.” UK group Safe Speed’s Paul Smith asked Mr Hughes.

Mr Hughes has been punished by being stripped of his current position and put in charge of ACPO’s security planning efforts for the 2012 Olympic games. We found this video that better explains why UK motorists should be angry at the hypocrisy that Mr Hughes has shown.

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Fines associated with these offences have also trebled to $3300, with police now given the power to strip a driver of their licence for up to 12 months.

Repeat offenders may also face jail time of up to 9 months, where as previously this only applied following a second more serious offence such as colliding with another car or injuring a person.

Car owners and parents are also in the firing line if their car is used by the convicted driver, with measures extending to a wheel clamping program, where cars are immobilised and dumped in owner’s yard at home.

Perhaps if the NSW Government would actually consult these “hoons” to better understand the needs for a cheap, easily accessible race track these sorts of laws would not be necessary.

As it stands now, Australia is quickly following Canadian and U.S. authorities by passing tough anti-hoon laws to crush cars and jail drivers. From preliminary reports from our allies in the US, similar laws have done nothing to curb the hoon-epidemic.

Stay tuned for more knee-jerk reactions from other state governments in the next 6-12 months.

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