And if we did, with full facilitation from the police and politicians, it would make more of a difference than any technofix options.

Yes and meanwhile our gaols and juvinile detention centres are full with people whos only motivation is to seek revenge when they get out and, thanks to the 'do-gooders' they will get out, often after honning their 'crime skills' at our expense.

I am not saying to be submissive to anyone in the wrong, but just take a look at the gangs of youths roaming the streets 24/7 as our police are powerless to do anything about them, esspecially if they are 'racially challenged'

Why else do you think so many witnesses fail to front up on court day.

Antiseptic: "Did you have a look at that chart I linked to?"

The entire point of this thread is to let a group of grumpy men tell the powers that be how they should be run the place. Don't go and confuse the issue with facts. You'll just spoil their fun, and give them yet another excuse to grump. There has been more than enough grumping here already.

So nobody is addressing the issue of job losses.

Traffic accidents are a bit like wars. Ecconommies thrive on them.

As sick as it may sound, tell me; Where are the jobs going to come from if these jobs are lost?

Also, where will we take the money from to fund roads if there are no traffic violators to pay fines?

It's a bit like smoking. Only a small portion of taxes raised through smoking go back to treating vitims of smoking related illnesses. This is why smoking can never be banned.

The governments are caught between a rock and a hard place.

It's a bit like you leaving your job (source of income/revenue) to find enother. Sure, you may not like your job, but find another first, then leave. Same applies here.

Antiseptic, You've responded to my statement:

"Do you realise that there are a lot of idiots out there that have come to know just how powerless the public really is and therefore how freely they can act like dangerous fools, with impunity?"

But, um...you haven't addressed this issue at all!

The link you posted suggests all the usual stuff like and increased police presence on our roads, blah blah. But it doesn't address my point.

I see one of the biggest problems in road safety as being the perception that there is just about no chance of being caught for many offences and only a tiny chance for the classic ones such as speeding and drink-driving. This is of fundamental importance to the whole road safety issue. It is the number one thing that we need to work on!

A very significant portion of drivers are just plain bad drivers. Then the vast majority of the rest feel pressured to roll with the flow. So they become entrenched law-infringers as well...and we end up with a culture of driving that is very different to the strict legal situation.

Why has this happened? Predominantly because of the TINY police presence....and of course, because of the absolutely awful blind-eye, inconsistent, unscrupulous, woolly manner in which road safety is policed.

So again, the most fundamental thing that we need is to empower the public so that any citizen can do their bit, and so that the vast majority of would-be bad drivers will conceive the risk of being caught to be very much greater and will pull their stupid looking heads in!

SIMMMMPLE !! !! !! !!

Don't get hung up with silly notions of authoritarianism, 'dobberism' or potential repercussions on those who make complaints. Be positive. Look at the huge potential advantages of simply increasing the power to the people, not to an excessive degree but just to the extent that we should all expect, within a democracy and free society.

Ludwig
Don't get hung up with silly notions of authoritarianism, 'dobberism' or potential repercussions on those who make complaints.

Try telling this to the family of a guy who got shot and killed recently in brisbane. All as a result of 'boat ramp rage'.

I don't know the facts but I will bet the guy who did the shooting was not the one who complained.

Ludwig:"the perception that there is just about no chance of being caught for many offences and only a tiny chance for the classic ones such as speeding and drink-driving."

I dispute that. I drove an old bomb of a car for a while and got pulled up for "random" breath testing regularly. When I was a young bloke I drove a couple of flashy cars and got regularly booked for doing the same thing as everyone else was, especially speeding. My car was singled out on several occasions from a line of cars all doing the same speed. Young blokes driving flashy cars are still facing the same sort of policing regime, only now the penaties they face are far higher.

Ludwig:"the TINY police presence"

I'd just as soon there were fewer policing traffic and more policing serious crime.

Ludwig:"Look at the huge potential advantages of simply increasing the power to the people"

Ah, if only 'twere so. Sadly, the majority of those using their new-found power would be either Mother Grundys or motivated by something other than civic duty, I suspect. We already have law that allows a party to make a complaint and if there is evidence, the police will act. We don't need the anonymous curtain-peerers to be given any more encouragement.