Almost lost my licence driving home today :(

[Michael999]

I was coming home today and after 30minutes in thick traffic i came to the highway, but it seemed really busy, so i decided to take a detour up a windy road thats always empty, its uphill and a fantastic drive.
The speed Limit is 60 all the way, i stick to 60 around all the bends other than some really tight ones, avoided any powerslides or squeeling.
And wouldnt have gone more than 70 on the straights.

I see a temporary sign, 25km, 50m after that there is a sign, "prepare to stop", so i keep going at about 30, and i see a police bike, as i get very close to him and slow to about 10km and look at him, he waves me on, or gave me a nod, i cant remember which.
I take off and after im around the next bend, back on up to 60, about 200m later i come around a bend and see some police bikes and another sign, i start to slow down and the police officer walks out onto the road to stop me.
I stop, open my window and say hello.
He Asks me what sign i went past, i told him exactly what i saw, and that the other officer gave me the nod, and that i assumed that i was past the potential roadworks or whatever.

He gets my licence and starts telling me that i lose my licence "at that speed you were going" (im on my P plates), i tell him that i thought that i was in the clear and that i was very sorry, and that i wasnt up there for a "hoon".
He asked me why i went the windy road instead of the highway, and i told him because i really enjoyed driving, and the freeway was what i do every day.
He told me again about how i should lose my licence, i appologise again and he gives me my licence back and sends me on my way telling me im very lucky.

PHEW!! i drove about 40 the entire way home...

[genphreak]

**** bro, that sounds as close as. These working limit road signs
are a joke, everyone is risking being knackered driving through them. Beware though, although your honesty paid off here, it usually won't with Blue Heelers. You may have been lucky and had that comment about the waving you on work...or maybe they didn't clock you with a radar check.

Beware in future never to admit you were in the wrong unless you actually want a citation/fine for it...

[Jehu]

You should have told him to fornicate a kangaroo.How you guys can live with such a repressive constabulary is beyond me. Is it the whole Prison Colony thing that makes them so over letigeous? Lose your bloody lcense for that? He should have a sting ray barb up his arssss!

[rob101]

But you didn't lose your licence.
Move to QLD, very nice police, very nice weather and very nice women.
lol 60 in a 30 zone loose the licence, as if!

[Michael999]

This is the first time ive been pulled over since i started driving, im gonna be more careful in the future, i wasnt aware that cops were this anal :S

[rob101]

This is the first time ive been pulled over since i started driving, im gonna be more careful in the future, i wasnt aware that cops were this anal :S
no not all cops, they get bored mate. probably get frustrated as well. the bike cops probably are adrenline junkies!
I find the road work speed limits a bit odd, for example there is a section of freeway that is 80 kph road work zone, now i've never seen anyone anywhere near that road. there are only concrete barriers on LHS shoulder all, the work is being done at least 5 m from the edge of the road.
good thing is, theres only one place they can put the cameras:p as there is no LHS shoulder

[Thayne]

Damn you got lucky.

[genphreak]

no not all cops, they get bored mate. probably get frustrated as well...But enough of them are! The trouble is that when your work involves going to fatal accidents and seeing people in pieces all over the shop, anything will justify blaming speeders. The sad fact is that it takes more than speeding to cause an accident, it takes reckless driving at least... and you can add to that whatever mistakes also occurred ie someone pulling out without looking etc.

Don't get me wrong if you speed you should be caught eventually, but I don't go with the current voracity/approach to fining every poor sod and 40k zones around most schools are plain wrong. If a kid is goes to a school near a highway they need to be trained to deal with it and where needed have footbridges. 40 zones are really there to prevent parents from not having a(nother) reason to vote for someone else. Reducing speed limits is just an endless game, and reducing them reduces the need for the road and the cars on it in the first place, a factor never considered puiblicly in speed limit debates.

As long as people can drive we will always have accidents; it is teaching safe driving within the conditions and enforcing that that will help the most. Until that happens people will get fined unjustly and the nutters will continue with their bad habits, some people will continue to get killed and the cops will feel justified in fining you for any wrongdoing to make you pay for the horrbile accidents they attend, which are in fact caused by poor preparation and/or stupidity as I have said (both of which are more affected by media, advertising and car culture far more than by fines, points or cops in the first place). That and the plain fact that accidents can happen by accident, so even with a perfect world the **** hits...

After all, transport was always dangerous, the population needs to get over it. In many ways before the motor car this has helped mankind evolve by weeding out the weak- either by losing control of animals or plain misadventure. Now there is not much left (in western societies at least) that achieves this. But it still drives SUV sales, (lots of buyers consciously want to ensure 'others' do the evolving...)

If only all drivers were as evolved as the average e34 owner... LMAO - Hmmm come to think of it, are we any worse or just the same as the others?

[gale]

The cop was just being a dick. They were just messing with you. The 1st cop prolly radioed ahead to have them give the guy in the sharp bimmer some jazz when you encountered the 2nd ones.

I had a road crew do that to me in Montana many summers ago. One worker at a stop was being ambiuguos with me whether he wanted me to go around him to the right or to the left & when I got up to the next construction stop, the 1st one radioed ahead & claimed I tried to run him over & said they could keep me stopped there all day & if I tried to make a run for it, they'd call in the State trouper. I played it cool & explained how the 1st one wasn't making his instructions clear, emphasized that I was going slow, took a lecture & they let me go on my way.

It's all a game. Everyone has to let you know their job is important & they get a nut having a form of power over you.

[ryan roopnarine]

haw haw, how ribald! spot on.
these days, whenever someone is trying to F*** with me in a low speed/no speed environment, like the one you describe, i put the flashers on, and get out and ask them what they want me to do. car v. car? like when the ghetto jackass wanted to use the right lane of a two lane road as his own turning lane (the only road into my apartment complex, and the one that kept me in the intersection) simple..after mouthing "two lane road at him,", i simply cut my engine, put my flashers on, and began reading from a paperback book rested on my steering wheel. either situation ends with the other guy giving me a hearty "get moving ******," and i get to leave with a smile on my face.


The cop was just being a dick. They were just messing with you. The 1st cop prolly radioed ahead to have them give the guy in the sharp bimmer some jazz when you encountered the 2nd ones.

I had a road crew do that to me in Montana many summers ago. One worker at a stop was being ambiuguos with me whether he wanted me to go around him to the right or to the left & when I got up to the next construction stop, the 1st one radioed ahead & claimed I tried to run him over & said they could keep me stopped there all day & if I tried to make a run for it, they'd call in the State trouper. I played it cool & explained how the 1st one wasn't making his instructions clear, emphasized that I was going slow, took a lecture & they let me go on my way.

It's all a game. Everyone has to let you know their job is important & they get a nut having a form of power over you.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

the cop would have to ticket you with an offense, the court find you guilty and penalize you with the revocation of your license.

I don’t think cops revoke licenses by the road side.

[SC David]

If you were close to losing your lisence, you for sure would have at least been fined more than you can afford, right? They were just messing with ya.

[stx133]

unfortunately in the land of oz they do have the power to revoke licences. its pretty messed up.
The australian design regulations (ADR) for new cars state that the speedo must be accurate to within +- 10% ie 10 kph at 100. the police can book you for doing 3 kph oer the limit and give you a $160 fine and 1 point off your licence. (12 points is 3 month suspention). 10 kph over is 3 points and a bigger fine (that is still within the ADR) 30 kph over is instant suspension.

They keep trying to tell us that 5kph over will increase your chance of accident by 50% or some bs. the amount of tyre wear or condition of suspension has as much effect. The advertising is based on some pertty badly fudged statisticts.

[Jehu]

You have a representative Parliament there ,don't you? It can be said you all have these laws because you want them. I see it more as a matter of greedy politicians setting the population up for a fall at every possible turn. make the laws as strict as you can get away with and the cash flow will be maximized for important things like pay raises and pensions.How can Germany manage to have the best road in the world and have no speed limit on it?Are they some kind of anomaly among human beings?Surely with enough effort some of those overly restrictive laws could be repealed .Do you like them personally yourself ? Do they give you a sense of safety you prefer to being free to tap your throttle without fearing you'll never be able to drive legally again?I know i struggle feeling safe [from the law not the risk of high speed] getting much over 80 mph but that's where i cruise when on highways and the police generally don't jump on you if you're in a flow of traffic all doing around 75-80 even when the Posted Speed Limit is 55 or 65.When i dare to bring it up over 100 MPH i feel highly vulnerable because i stand out from everyone else and i naturally only do it when i can see far enough ahead to be as near 100% certain there are no places for a cop to be hiding. Those places are very few and far between because for instance on a divided highway with a wide, high median they will cut an emergency access road between the two and often the police will park in there aimed at one side or the other, its like Russian roulette.In the grand scheme of things ,being able to drive over 100 MPH may not rank as a very high priority and i suppose it shouldn't but hey, I've only had this car a few months , the novelty may wear off eventually. Till then though I'm glad there really isn't anything i can do short of killing someone while driving drunk that will lose me my license. I wish it were so everywhere

[Airborne001]

they could keep me stopped there all day

If they ever try to detain you against your will, and let other cars pass, you tell them to go ahead and call a cop, and then place them under citizens arrest for kidnapping and unlawful detention. Once you state in the presence of a law enforcement officer that you are placing someone under citizens arrest, they have no chioce but to hook that person up.

Now the losers working on a road crew think they're cops too?? ..please.

[Michael999]

When on your Ps in OZ, you can lose your licence for anything over 10kph.
I beleive that you can contest it, but you dont really have a leg to stand on.
btw, ill be on my Ps another year yet, so better be careful :(