Queensland police are to get expanded powers to seize the cars of hoons and other repeat offenders (Sunday Mail 1/10/06).

Good.

I’ve got no time for hoons or repeat drink-drivers or repeat unlicensed drivers or drivers who drive so recklessly that they lose all their demerit points. If their cars can be confiscated and auctioned off to help pay for law enforcement and public safety, well….bloody good.

However, I feel that it will hardly put a dent in the problems.

The main issue here is that the rank element of our driving fraternity face a very small risk of getting caught, all-considered. If there was a significantly higher perceived risk then much bigger mitigation of the problems could be achieved.

Of course, putting many more police on the streets would achieve that. So would many more police behind the scenes in conjunction will a much-improved facilitation of public complaints, ie empowering the public to do something about law-enforcement, rather than the current situation of, for all intents and purposes, discouraging complaints on matters that are not really serious. But that is not likely to happen

So the alternative is to take police officers out of marked cars and uniforms so that they can meld into the community. If this was done, every second person could be a police officer in the eyes of those who would offend. There wouldn’t be any more mucking around after having checked the scene for the boys in blue. There wouldn’t be any more radio communications to tell others where the cops are on our highways, and so on. Unmarked police officers could very easily identify themselves or their vehicles when required.

We do have some unmarked police, so why not expand the concept? I would love to know why this very simple idea seems to be completely beyond consideration by governments

60% of all photos of law-breaking motorcyclists from red light and speeding cameras were rejected in Queensland in 2005-06 because motorcycles are not required to have front number plates, so could not be identified (Sunday Mail 8 October).

Well, this one just blows my mind completely.

How basic is it for vehicles to be identifiable? Drivers are up for hefty fines for obscured or old and unclear number plates, but our authorities allow the situation to exist whereby bikes don’t even have number plates on one end. They have known for years that this flaw allows bikers to break the law with impunity…but nothing gets done about it.

Many years ago when front number plates on bikes were lawfully abolished, I thought that it was a stupid retrograde step.

So we can’t even rely on our authorities to get the most basic things in place.

Now, I really do object to police who turn a blind eye to unlawful behaviour. http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=99. It seems to me that the quality of number plates is just one of many aspects of road safety that the police generally don’t police. You see lots of obscured or old plates around the place. And you see lots of police cruising around town. But you also see police cars just go on past vehicles with dodgy plates.

So in light of that, I guess its no wonder that the police and pollies allow bikes to go unidentifiable from the front view.

Crikey, it really is gross stupidity at the most basic level. And it just makes a complete mockery of the message from government and police that they are tough on road safety.

Tailgating rage tops anger list.

A new survey by the RACQ has revealed what really drives drivers mad.

Again, for I think the third time, tailgating has topped this RACQ survey, taken every few years.

But still, tailgating, and the aggressive, impatient and dangerous behaviour inherent in it, goes unpoliced.

WHY?? ?? ?? ?? ??

What is with our police?? !!

Tailgating is also responsible for many nose-to-tail accidents, which are the greatest source of motor vehicle insurance claims.

So it is simply unforgivable that it isn’t included in road-safety advertising, campaigns and policing blitzes.

James Cook University has conducted a study running over some five years, which comes to the conclusion that it is not the quality of our roads that leads to most accidents, it is driver attitudes.

Well………..you don’t say!

As obvious as canine testicles if you ask me!

And so it takes me back to my early comments on this thread, in which I expressed the great need for much better driver-training.

I have also suggested that we stop spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year on road upgrades and just keep up basic maintenance and put this huge amount of money into better driver-training and policing.

See relevant discussions on two threads;

Blind-eye policing http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=99

and

Public resentment towards law enforcement http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=165

The Northern Territory Chief Minister, Claire Martin announced today; “The open speed limit for the Territory will end”.

Well….how about that! A bit of basic commonsense at last!!

Red light cameras will be introduced. Fines will be brought into line with the rest of the country and the demerit point system will be introduced.

Currently the Territory has much lower fines and no demerit point system..... and has three times the national accident rate on its roads!

So why on earth weren’t these basic steps been taken years ago?

Oh hold on…. the open road speed limit will be 130kmh, and the default limit (where not signed) will be 110. Now comeon, let’s make it the same across the country. The default should be 100, with a maximum 110 where signed.. or perhaps 120 would be OK on some stretches of the Stuart and Barkly Highways.

One country – one set of road rules.