Right, now maybe this time I'll be allowed to post on this thread, after the most bizarre set of circumstances has prevented me from doing so after the last few days, including having written a post and then not being able to send it...or save it in any manner.

This internet access from all sorts of different portals as one is touring around has got knobs on it. Very frustrating indeed!

From Kuranda....

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"Ludwig, while your idea of "community policing" is obviously well-intended, I think it sucks."

It is nothing more than an extension of our basic rights; to be able to do something meaningful about illegal activities rather than to be powerless.

It is about being able to make complaints, with a bit of corroborating evidence if we can get it, and then expect those complaints to be acted on.

Hey, regarding all manner of illegal activies, the public CAN make complaints, without any real evidence, and the police will act on them. But when it comes to road safety, it is a totally different story.

There are signs on the Kennedy and Cook Highways imploring drivers to report hazards, with a phone number supplied. Oh, but of course, they don't mean dangerous driving in the form of tailgating or risky overtaking, they only mean other sorts of hazards. Yeah right!

CJ I'd like to explore with you some of the possible means of entrapment or other downsides of an enhanced community policing regime.

What are your main concerns?

"There is no doubt that drivers slow down in the vicinity of radar units. How many 'tailgate' cameras will you need?"

Corny, they only slow down if they know they are there. Cameras should be covert, not with bloody warning signs a couple of hundred metres ahead of them for f>cks sake!

These sorts of devices should be everywhere. The boxes that they are mounted in should be absolutely all over the place. The actual number of cameras would only need to be perhaps one tenth of the number of boxes, with them being moved around between boxes frequently.

The trick is to get a paradigm shift in the way we all drive, to one of virtual blanket observance of the law, instead of a virtual blanket malobservance of the law except when we think there is a reasonable chance of being busted. The principle is very simple.

"If following too closely is a serious offence why aren't traffic police making arrests?"

Good question. I'd love to know.

What on earth the police are really doing out there on our roads is befuddling. It is obvious to me that significant improvements in road safety could just so easily be made. And yes video cameras in all police cars would surely be a big step forward.

Desmond, on the north side of Cairns on the Cook Highway there is a whole series of big double-lane rounabouts. They are confusing to navigate at the best of times, but with this being complicated by the prevalence of drivers who take them too fast and who have no tolerance for those who take them cautiously, it is a bloody awful stretch of road to drive on.

The cops have realised that something needs to be done. So they've erected 60kmh signs well back from each roundabout, where the previous 80kmh zone has continued right through the roundabouts with yellow 40kmh suggested speed signs just before the roundabouts.

So do you think that this has helped? Not in the slightest. In fact it has significantly increased the hazard.

The vast majority of drivers just completely ignore these 60kmh signs. If you observe them when you've got traffic behind you, then you universally get tailgated. If you observe them when there is a whole line of traffic behind you, then your action of slowing down to 60 is likely to be exaggerated back through the line of traffic in which each car is travelling too close to the one in front, resulting in a nose to tail accident somewhere in that line of traffic.

So, the law-observing driver becomes the hazard in this situation!

Most would-be law-observers would quickly realise this and say under their breath; 'f>ck the law, I'm going to roll with the flow and preserve my safety margin'.

Quite frankly, if you observe the law in that situation, you feel like a bloody idiot, because you are just driving completely differently to everyone else around you, and don't other drivers let you know it!

For that matter, the same applies in just about every situation where you change speed zones, up or down. If you want to stick to the letter of the law and you've got someone behind you, then more often than not, they'll indicate that they think your driving stinks!

Paint the yellow signs black and put a speed camera there , then see what the difference is.

Me not understand that Des.

Can you elaborate.

Thanks

Because drivers who tailgate will do the same regardless of the lane involved, the speed limit or the speed of the other vehicle it indicates to me that it is more about discourtesy and bullying than anything else. From observation, they are also frequent lane changers and do so without adequate warning.

I don't doubt that their road rule breaking behaviour generalises and they also attract speeding and other fines.

That being so, maybe they are best removed from the road. I would like to see count back of demerit points over extended periods used to disqualify drivers for long periods of time and in some cases, permanently.

I would also like to see insurance companies offering large discounts (better than 30%) to drivers who volunteer to have speed tracking devices (there is an allowance for some excesses that are corrected after an automatic warning). Through reward, this encourages and rewards better drivers and young drivers can avoid high insurance premiums.