Ian, I wryly smile and shake my head when I see these twits with their fancy cars, knowing that most of them are paying a great deal of money for the privilege of looking like twits.

But when it comes to ratty driving, I’ve got very little tolerance. I despise tailgaters, bullies and risky drivers who have no respect for other road-users or for the law.

Yes there is a pretty high correlation between the penis-extension brigade and this sort of driving. But there are also lots of young females who are hopeless tailgaters, and plenty of ‘ordinary’ older folk who drive very poorly as well.

But what I despise most is the police, who seem to be in cahoots with them! We can’t report this sort of rank driving and expect the cops to act on it! I am profoundly disgusted at the results of my attempts to do this, from about 2000 to 2010, when I gave up.

What we need is a campaign to promote the use of small cameras, positioned in a vehicle which can cover all angles, including the speedo, and which can just be all turned on with one switch, or just automatically come on when the ignition is on, so the rank antics of drivers can be captured, and people can make reports to the police with hard evidence.

And then of course we will need a major change in the attitude of the police to be receptive to this and to follow right through to the point of either warning or charging the perpetrators.

Not hard really!

continued

There would be plenty of people willing to do this if it was promoted and facilitated by the authorities. It would only take a very small percentage of road-users to do this for the d!ckhead drivers to realise that it is not just the very thin police presence on our roads that can bring them unstuck, but that it is potentially any car on the road.

As it is, if you stick to the speed limit and other road rules, or even just crudely approximated them, you very frequently get tailgated, riskily overtaken, cut sharply in front of, etc…. and it is getting worse all the time.

Ian, you forgot the mobile phone! My most recent experience was a very loud and highly adorned black number swerving its way along the highway. The driver (avec backward facing baseball cap) had his phone clutched to his ear with his left hand and his right hand clutching both the steering wheel and a very large bottle of coke.

As an old fart myself, I often struggle with the natural instinct to indulge in thinking that the young – the most common P-platers – are rubbish drivers when I see some of them in action.

As an old fart myself, I often struggle with the natural instinct to indulge in thinking that some old farts are crap drivers – e.g. varying their speed between 40-50 in a 60 zone; drifting over the line towards me; lane changing without a signal; gesticulating with both hands off the wheel to their passenger; going to sleep at the traffic lights, and so on.

As an old fart myself, I think these old farts should give up driving; they are as much a menace as the ignorant young P-platers.

The young P-platers can be dealt with by the law. The old farts need to be told that it is the end of the road for them by their doctors. I have to have a certificate from my GP to continue driving each year, as everyone over 70 does. So, the law needs to put a rocket up the doctors to tell the truth

G'day there LUDWIG ol' chap...

You know I've always believed you to be a well informed, measured sort of gentleman, but for some inexplicable reason you're out to deliver a good kicking to the poor old coppers again ?

You say you've reported driving offences to police on previous occasions, and nothing was ever done about it ? And you would know that how ? Unless the circumstances warrant further investigation, and there's a reasonable outcome a successful prosecution, often all the coppers can do, is enter (contemporaneously) your complaint on the occurrence sheet.

You also mentioned in your thread, an idea that drivers are issued with small cameras, which are positioned in the car, in such a way they can see most everything, including the speedo ?

And what precisely would that achieve ? All pursuit vehicles, who do not rely on radar, but their speedometer's alone in order to check speed, during routine traffic interdiction, must prove to the satisfaction of a Court, that speedometer has been scientifically calibrated by an approved technician, within a statutory period of time. With respect LUDWIG, neither yours nor my vehicle have our respective speedo's regularly calibrated.

It should be noted herein, I'm now retired and much of the above data may have been marginally altered. Still, I'd be very surprised indeed if the 'exculpatory measures' (for the driver) have been removed. Either for the copper himself, or the processes he must follow, nor the precise accuracy of the instruments he uses and therefore, must rely upon.

LUDWIG, I can get as annoyed and exasperated as anybody, with some of these really awful, very dangerous drivers. Believe it or not my friend, the coppers do get off their substantial a...s and grab some peanut who's well recorded as an habitual (often, disqualified driver) as long as the complainant is happy to testify to what they've witnessed, in Court.

Being a firm believer in peak oil and it's accelerating approach it will only be a matter of time before these clowns and their antics are reduced to speeding around on bicycles or pony traps.
This cannot come too soon for me and for the environment.

Hi Ian,
Loved your piece - would like to see more. You didn't mention un-repaired accident damage or rust, along with a bald tyre or two. I miss the plastic dog on the back shelf complete with eyes that light up when the brakes are applied and the over-size pair of dice hanging from the rear vision mirror.

Ludwig, you have a spelling error in the last word on the second line of your post. Ir should be spelled with an 'a'.

It's all a matter of mentality. In this case a bad one. Give the silly mutts an opportunity to be better adjusted thinkers & you'll get better drivers. No good waffling on about P platers when those in charge are incapable of dreaming up a more sensible system. start with having driving schools before you allow them to drive a car. My PPL was nothing in comparison to the european driving license. I don't know about nowadays but many years ago you had to be able to work out how many metres it would take a car to stop when it was raining so many points, with that many people in the car & with 4 mm tread on the tyre etc etc. Here they get a license without having to know what brand of car they're driving. Insist on an idiotic system & idots will be behind the wheel.. Provide sensible conditions & sensible drivers will be in charge of vehicles.

Hi o sung wu. Firstly, I support the proper enforcement of our laws, which includes all road rules. I wish to support the police in their efforts to keep our roads as lawful and safe as possible.

But in my attempts to do my bit as a conscientious citizen, I have found the police to be nothing short of dismal to deal with. Not always, but often enough to be very disturbing. I now have a very bad impression of them. Make that a VERY VERY bad impression, where it concerns road safety, and other minor matters that I have had cause to deal with them over.

This is critically bad. My regard for the police has reached rock-bottom. I now would be very hard-pressed indeed to go anywhere near the police for any reason.

<< You say you've reported driving offences to police on previous occasions, and nothing was ever done about it ? And you would know that how ? >>

By the reactions I received when I went to the police station. Mostly they were of total disinterest. Sometimes they took a few details, literally written on a bit of scrap paper, which almost certainly just went straight in the bin as soon as had I walked out the door.

Twice I received good responses. The officers were interested. On those two occasions they got back to me after they had made inquiries.

So I presume that it is proper procedure to inform the complainant about the outcome, or to give them a contact name, phone number or email address so that they can inquire directly to the officer undertaking the inquiry and be informed of the outcome.

continued

Once, after a very hairy experience on the open road, I went to the Casino police station to report the offender. The police were just completely not interested.

I then went to the Lismore police station and tried again. I struck an officer who very reluctantly agreed to take a statement. I made the apparent mistake of saying that after the absolutely chronic tailgater had overtaken me I flashed my headlights at him. He virtually blew up at me for doing that and was no longer interested in taking my statement! That was an utterly rank experience.

<< You also mentioned in your thread, an idea that drivers are issued with small cameras, which are positioned in the car, in such a way they can see most everything, including the speedo ? And what precisely would that achieve ? >>

For example, it would indicate that you are sitting on or just above the speed limit when some twat is rampantly tailgating you and then dangerously overtakes. Your speedo doesn’t have to be calibrated. It doesn’t have to be deadly accurate in order to do that.

Thanks for your interest in my comments o sung wu. I would be interested in discussing this whole business with you at length. I would love to be able to outline each of the bad experiences I've had with the police in full detail.

Ludwig,

I sympathize, however "What we need is a campaign to promote the use of small cameras, positioned in a vehicle which can cover all angles, including the speedo, and which can just be all turned on with one switch, or just automatically come on when the ignition is on, so the rank antics of drivers can be captured, and people can make reports to the police with hard evidence"

A photo of your speedo merely proves that the needle on the instrument was indicating a certain speed, it does not prove that your car or the car in front is in motion and certainly not the speed of the other car.

The first police cars that I know of to have been fitted with cameras that recorded the police speedometer were so fitted in Chicago about 1937.

The police produced a photo shewing the speed of their vehicle, in Court, as proof that the vehicle of the defendant was speeding.

His lawyer immediately asked the Judge why the Utility Company that supplied electricity in that street were not also charged as it was obvious from the photo that their poles were exceeding the speed limit.

The case was thrown out of court and the local Police Department had a number of useless cameras on their hands.

Cameras could record dangerous driving but, as you say, no one is interested and one would need to have a good private income to keep attending court as a witness and if you were unlucky enough to photograph someone with money to spare then five or more appearances might be required and at inconvenient times and venues.

'evening there LUDWIG...

Thank you for supplying another comprehensive outline with the difficulties and attitudes you've experienced with police, when attempting to report traffic offences.

Obviously, I'm not aware of the precise nature of the incident(s), nor the circumstances relating to the particularly police officer, or the station concerned.

What I can do is offer some sort of apology, for the way they've treated you, and the negative response you've received, relating to their apparent vocational indolence and apathy.

Though I must again restate, unless the traffic offence is very serious, and as such, falls within the Crimes Act, more than likely no action will take place. Purely from a logistics point of view. From memory offences like culpable drive; D M D, speed dangerous; and several other offences. All that can be reasonably done, the duty desk constable can record the facts on the occurrence sheet, and if a car is available, members may conduct further enquiry's into the circumstances as alleged.

The main problem is, you claim someone tail-gated you ? The other driver repudiates it ? Or, you allege a vehicle was speeding excessively ? Or disobeyed a traffic signal ? All these offences must be proved. Rarely will a Magistrate take the word of a single person, another independent witness must corroborate the details of the offence as disclosed.

In conclusion, I'm fully appraised of the essential shortcomings of police, I was in the job for a bit over 32 years ? All that can be said, there are dedicated coppers, and not so dedicated coppers !

Many thanks LUDWIG, I certainly hope your next encounter with them, is substantially better then on previous occasions. Sorry, my eyes are tired, thus I'll need to give it away for the night.

Ludwig & o sung wu,
What would you say to my argument that the Police Officers would have behaved more responsible if they'd have had the benefit of a Nationa Service.

<< A photo of your speedo merely proves that the needle on the instrument was indicating a certain speed, it does not prove that your car or the car in front is in motion and certainly not the speed of the other car. >>

Is Mise, it does indicate, in conjunction with imagery from the other cameras, that you were in motion, and failing some rather serious tampering with your speedo, or your car being fitted with seriously different tyres or wheels to what the speedo is made to work off, your speedo could reasonably be assumed to be reasonably accurate.

You could also have this particular camera in your vehicle trained on your GPS with it being set to show the speed of your car. This is actually more accurate than most speedos when your car is moving along smoothly.

<< …one would need to have a good private income to keep attending court as a witness… >>

I can’t imagine that you would need to go to court very often.

The point is that there are many ratbag drivers out there who flagrantly flout the law and abuse drivers who stick to the rules by way of tailgating and various other risky and offensive antics. The use of in-private-car cameras to record wanky driving behaviour would I think be pretty condemning most of the time.

If this was promoted with a concerted effort, it would presumably initially result in a large number of reports to the police, with perhaps a few getting a bit complicated and going to court but the vast majority resulting directly in charges being laid against the perpetrators and the perpetrators paying up because they know they’ve been sprung and won’t stand much chance of getting out of it if they take it court.

Then once the d!ckhead element gets the message that this is going on, they’ll pull their silly looking woolly heads in and there will be very few complaints made to the police.... and the average standard of driving will have improved quite significantly.

Hi there Individual...

Gee that's a question from way out of left field ? National Service ? I guess many young men of eligible age would've received some benefit having done their National Service ?

Most certainly, military service does teach some of the very basic things necessary in life. Though I've known blokes who've never worn an army uniform in their lives, do very well in structured organisations ? A lot depends on upbringing I believe.

So provided a young fellow gets some good basic instruction at home, from good parenting, and responsible education, in matters of personal discipline, standards of behaviour, ethics, etc., I suppose military service might prove somewhat redundant in such cases ?

Though, where there's a general absence of any parental and educational discipline, well I guess placing the young person into something like a National Service Corps, would conveniently come in next I figure ?

Please remember INDIVIDUAL, with some people, nothing will ever help them, nothing at all. Further, todays Army, Navy and Air Force, are far more technical, and weapon systems more complex, then they were forty odd years ago now ? So in some cases the Military may not want them ? Still INDIVIDUAL, as an all round disciplinary concept, the National Service approach is a very good idea indeed.

Good thinking, though ! Nevertheless, I'll bet 'London to a brick' National Service will never be re-introduced, unless we're plunged into another cataclysmic World War, of huge proportions ! I might also add, neither will the death penalty be re-introduced either !

<< …unless the traffic offence is very serious, and as such, falls within the Crimes Act, more than likely no action will take place… >>

Yes o sung wu, but if that is the case the public needs to know about it. This is certainly not the message I have received from the police. I’ve received totally conflicting messages ranging from enthusiastic and highly supportive to the absolute opposite, with the latter well and truly prevailing. I keep hearing people say that if the police receive a complaint, they are beholden to act on it. It seems that most people believe this to be the case. So if it isn’t, we need to be told !! !!

I was told quite recently by a police officer that they do follow up on all complaints….. So what they say and what they do are at stark odds!!

Unfortunately I’ve got to say that in my experience the police are just all over the place, are totally unreliable in the way they respond, and indeed are capable of responding to you in ways that you could never imagine!!

continued

<< The main problem is, you claim someone tail-gated you ? The other driver repudiates it… >>

Firstly, this should not be used and an excuse for the police to discourage people from making complaints or for them to not follow up on complaints. Crikey, we the ordinary citizens of this nation should be encouraged to do our bit, whether or not we have hard evidence to back up our claims. Consider the Neighbourhood-Watch, dob-in-a-dumper and report-a-smoky-vehicle programs. All of these sorts of campaigns encourage the community to report things regardless of whether they can prove or corroborate their claims.

With Neighbourhood Watch, we are encouraged to report suspicious activity, or even people that are a bit unusual. They don’t need to have done anything wrong for someone to notify the police!! And you can bet the police jump right to it with all complaints/reports of that nature!

Secondly, it would be great if we were encouraged by the police to purchase an in-car camera system so that hard evidence could be recorded.

<< All these offences must be proved >>

No I don’t believe this is the case. In the absence of proof, the police can still talk to the alleged offender and suss them right out. That would go a long way towards making them improve their driving. And if similar independent complaints are made against the same person, then the police could lay charges and a magistrate could convict the offender. Guilt would be indicated beyond a reasonable doubt, without the need for proof.

Ludwig.

The courts would soon be cluttered with appeals and you would find yourself having to defend the accuracy of your speedo on every occasion that it was used as evidence and having any measuring device calibrated for accuracy to the Courts satisfaction is very expensive indeed.

As a Metrologist I tested instruments for accuracy and the accountants often couldn't understand why their firm had to pay more for a Certificate of Accuracy than it had cost them for the instrument.

99.999 percent of the time the instrument would be within the tolerance required but, at the time, any firm seeking Government contracts had to have their measuring instruments certified.

There was no good reason for doing so.

<< The courts would soon be cluttered with appeals and you would find yourself having to defend the accuracy of your speedo on every occasion that it was used as evidence… >>

I can’t see that that would be the case Is Mise.

Anyway, being able to prove the exact speed that you were travelling at would I think rarely be of particular importance in amongst the other photographic evidence of rank driving.

Afterall, there is no excuse for tailgating or dangerous overtaking or whatever other stupid driving antics that your cameras might have recorded.

There is a slight problem, you will need multiple cameras etc., to record every thing at all angles.
Unmarked police cars and obvious police cars equipped with cameras etc., are no deterrent, nor are the police aircraft that can monitor roads.
The only proven deterrent is plainly identifiable police cars driving along our highways but we all know that their presence causes a huge drop in revenue, so don't hold your breath.

is Mise,
As long as we don't work on improving mentality we'll never get on top of it. Try to imagine 200 million Australians instead of 20 million. Scary eh ?

Improving mentality is the answer and one way of improving it is to allow people more responsibility and one way of doing that is to get rid of some of the ridiculous speed limits.
Another is to instill into the authorities some idea of real safety; as I've remarked before, highways (??) with broken centre lines in blind corners, ditto on straights with car concealing dips, crests with broken centre lines, corners with reverse camber

Then there are the Roundabouts with pretty vegetation in the centre that stops one from seeing entering traffic and where there is 'beautification' on the median strip with resultant reduced visibility to the point of danger.

One might also add to the multiple stupidities, the encouragement by the Authorities of the pernicious and dangerous practice of driving with headlights on during normal sunny days.

<< There is a slight problem, you will need multiple cameras etc., to record every thing at all angles. >>

Yes Is Mise, that is exactly what I am proposing.

<< Unmarked police cars and obvious police cars equipped with cameras etc., are no deterrent, nor are the police aircraft that can monitor roads. >>

They are of considerable deterrence value. If they weren’t, practically everyone would just ignore speed limits with impunity. But for the d!ckhead fraction of drivers, the number of police out there is so small that they reckon there is very little chance of being caught for speeding. And as for the things that the police don’t police, like tailgating and dangerous overtaking – the sorts of things that in-private-car cameras could record, well… the police are just no deterrence at all!

<< The only proven deterrent is plainly identifiable police cars driving along our highways… >>

Regarding speeding, probably right. And they are awfully thin on the ground, all-considered. This is why we need to empower the public to help.

This really is just the same principle as for Neighbourhood Watch and campaigns imploring us to report litterers.

<< …but we all know that their presence causes a huge drop in revenue, so don't hold your breath. >>

Yes. You really do have to wonder just how real this motive is. I just can’t see why the policing of road safety excludes public participation while for the other abovementioned things public participation is strongly encouraged. The only possible reason would appear to be the loss of revenue, as empowering the public in the way that I suggest could be very successful, and could therefore lead to a very large drop in the revenue from fines.

<< Improving mentality is the answer and one way of improving it is to allow people more responsibility and one way of doing that is to get rid of some of the ridiculous speed limits. >>

Is Mise, there is certainly plenty of scope for changing stupid speed limits. Where I am right now there is a glaring example of a dumbarse speed limit: Military Road, Mosman, Sydney – 60kmh… with lots of traffic lights, parked cars, pedestrians and all manner of other stuff. Then you turn into Middle Head Road, which has far less traffic, far less stuff going on all around you…and the speed limit drops to 50!

I don’t think giving people more responsibility is the answer. The problem is the irresponsible d!ckhead factor! Even if this is only 1% of drivers, it is still one driver in a hundred…. and you pass many hundreds of drivers on any average trip.

The answer is to implement a much better regulatory regime so that the irresponsible fraction is made to do the right thing, or else cop serious consequences, rather than just face the very tiny possibility of copping consequences.

<< highways… with broken centre lines in blind corners …straights with car concealing dips, crests with broken centre lines … roundabouts with pretty vegetation in the centre that stops one from seeing entering traffic... >>

With all this sort of stuff the public should be implored to get involved!! We should be encouraged to report anything that we think is inappropriate or that could be improved, in the interest of road safety!

It really is quite atrocious that not only aren’t we the public implored to do this, but if we do we really do get a very poor reception, from the police, Departments of Transport, local councils and whoever else might be involved. This is another thing that I have had the misfortune of testing out for myself!

It is not just the police that are quite dismal authoritative personnel.