don’t know what they are round these parts. havent had one in so long i cant remember, but its not for lack of trying! i sometimes think the highway patrol just doesn’t care about me! just last week i was coming home from work and i was doing an honest 90 mph and crested a small hill to see an oncoming NHP! i didn’t even try to slow down, figuring i was nicked and would just pull over when he turned around. Nothin’! He just kept going. this has happened before, at speeds around 75 (normal cruising speed round here) in a 65 mph zone. i guess you really have to be doing something stupid or special to get thier attention. (thank god!)
I received a pretty pic of my car in the mail a few weeks ago. It was an 82.00 ticket. I was going 70 kms in a 50 km zone. Thats for a city ticket. Once you are on provincial or federal highways, it costs a fair bit more.
In Charleston, SC, we don’t have much leeway when it comes to speeding. For 1-10mph over the speed limit, it’s $80. For 10-19mph over, it’s $130. If you get busted doing 20 miles over the speed limit, the cops have every right to take you to jail. Of course, it is difficult to speed in a town where most of the streets were originally built 200 years ago and are about as wide as a compact car.
Skerri, who got pulled doing 122 in a 55 and got away with it…
I did. I wrote a letter explaining that the cop with the radar was hiding behind a parked van, he was at the bottom of a hill, it was 5:45am, there was no traffic, the visibility was very good, and I was driving somebody else’s sporty vehicle when I was used to my diesel van.
(Actually, I was late for work, and blatantly speeding my tits off -26 k’s above the limit)
I received a reply back saying that “We have reviewed your representations and decided that the police acted correctly” however the fine would be dropped “because of my good driving history”. Somehow I don’t think my driving record was the reason they dropped it. The police were definitely stretching the rules a bit.
As Narrad said, Australian highway policing is very intense. Speed cameras, roadside radar, vehicle-mounted radar, “slant” radar, red light cameras, patrols by aircraft, Random Breath Testing (0.05 limit, 0.02 for young drivers or heavy vehicle drivers - one very small beer and you’re over). We’ve got graphic anti-speeding and drink driving media campaigns, we have the demerit point system. The speed limit on many minor suburban roads is now 50km/h (30MPH). On public holidays and long weekends when road casualties traditionally rise, we have double demerit points - a three point offence becomes a six-er. If you are caught not wearing a seat belt, it’s three points off your licence. If just one of your passengers is also not wearing one, it’s six points. If you are silly enough to let this happen during a long weekend, it’s twelve, and you’ve lost your licence in one go.
It’s a pain in the arse, and it does make the poor bugger who’s just driving down to the shop for a litre of milk feel like a criminal. However, the road toll is much much reduced from the disastrous heights of the 1960s and 70s. So we put up with it.
You all got off pretty good. I paid in Appleton Wisconsin $200.60 for going 81 in a 65 zone. It was a state trooper, and I had my car serched also. (they did not find anything, because I have nothing to hide)
My last one was in October of last year, in Mower County, Minnesota. I was going 74 in a 55, but the state trooper was nice and put 64 on the ticket. The fine was around $80.
i didn’t even try to slow down, figuring i was nicked and would just pull over when he turned around. Nothin’! He just kept going. this has happened before, at speeds around 75 (normal cruising speed round here) in a 65 mph zone. i guess you really have to be doing something stupid or special to get thier attention. (thank god!) 