Only on two occasions did the police actually follow my complaints through and let me know of the outcome. On one of those occasions, the initial reaction from the police officer when I went into the Ingham police station was to totally discourage me. Only after I put my complaint in writing a few days later did they act.

I’ll bet a million bucks that none of my other complaints were acted on at all!

When confronted with idiots on the road, we are expected to show no discontent. We are legally obliged to not blast the horn or flash the headlights or do anything else whatsoever, except report the matter if we think it warrants it. Well, that would be fine if we could rely on the cops to do their bit.

So what happens? We either show no discontent when we get tailgated or whatever, which just indicates to d!ckhead drivers that they can get away with their dangerous and offensive driving…. or….we show discontent by way of the horn or headlights or flashing of tail-lights at a tailgater or verbally if we get the chance, and risk inflaming the situation and possibly being caught by the cops while the main offender gets away.

By Christ, I wish our policing regime was a WHOLE lot better when it comes to road safety and the empowerment of ordinary citizens to do their bit!!

Generally, those complaining about "tailgating" are the ones who refuse to use the left lane and speed up for overtaking sections.
I say generally, as sometimes its a spotty kid flogging mums magna in peak hour traffic...

I am probably one of those annoying people that drives faster than you would like me to, I dont sit behind trucks and landcruisers patiently breathing in all their filthy fumes and doing 70k's up hills. I give people space in front as I dont rely on others reactions, but certainly get closer in preparation of an overtaking move.

If the police came to my door and said "we have had a report you were driving too fast or doing something silly", my reply would be "it may be a vexatious report, who reported it and what evidence have they provided?"...

Think about it, at that point the case collapses or they give me your details... Best not to play sheriff on the road, because road rage is another thing to watch out for these days.

Pat, I think that one of the main causes of road rage is the powerlessness that people feel when confronted with offensive, dangerous or careless behaviour.

If we all felt that we could easily make a complaint and have it acted on by the police then we’d be far less inclined to react directly to the person that has offended us.

And if the police did act, and publicised it, and encouraged people to do the right thing by making complaints, then crappy driving would be steadily reduced.

As it is now, complaints are effectively strongly discouraged, unless there has actually been an accident. It is NO WONDER that people who are inclined to drive in an impatient, aggressive and risky manner do so pretty much with impunity and that road rage is as significant as it is.

It comes down to the need for a much better policing regime, of which a very big part is the contribution of the general public by way of making complaints. The police should be spending much more effort on teaching the public how to make effective complaints and then acting on them than actually being out there on the front line themselves.

We could never expect the policing regime to be adequate if the only people ever booked were via direct observation from the police (or speed cameras). The public has GOT to be involved to a high degree.

I very strongly feel that this sort of community policing is vital in the struggled to improve road safety, and in all manner of other areas of law.

Afterall, it is everyone's right, if not their responsibility, to do something about unlawful activity and to expect the authorities to follow it up. I thought that it was supposed to be a fundamental principle of the police to act on all complaints.

I'm not sure what you have in mind, the police following up each and every report of trivial traffic matters... I would hope they have better things to do.

Maybe it is outsourcing the service to private operators, who will certainly turn a dollar on it.

It seems a little poorly thought out, that we should be reporting trivial traffic matters en masse. The police will naturally be fairly dismissive when you ring up to report somebody, because there is nothing they can do with your information. To change this, would mean putting too much power in police hands- that they can prosecute on the basis of "someone said". While thats probably OK for a few hoons to get the rough end of the pineapple, police will never surrender the extra power and tend to use discretionary powers inappropriately.
Which is all fine and good, right up until it is one of your own younger relatives being hassled.

My opinion, keep the police for rape and murder etc.
I doubt you'd be happy if you had a serious need for police help, but they were all off investigating a "tailgater" or similar.

<< I'm not sure what you have in mind… >>

Pat, it is simply a matter of the police doing their basic duty and following up on complaints. Let’s face it, there aren’t a whole lot of complaints of the sort that I or Severin have mentioned. It is not as if it would become a huge part of a police officer’s job and detract significantly from more serious matters.

And besides, dangerous driving IS serious! Bad drivers that are an accident looking for a place to happen NEED to be dealt with BEFORE they come to grief and take innocent people with them.

The police should be encouraging us all to make complaints about bad and dangerous driving with a concerted publicity campaign.

If they did this, there would certainly be a spike in complaints and a concomitant increased burden on the police. But this would be short-lived. Bad drivers would soon realise that every person on the road is effectively a police officer inasmuch as they can get the police to act on stupid driving behaviour.

<< Maybe it is outsourcing the service to private operators, who will certainly turn a dollar on it. >>

This is worth considering.

<< To change this, would mean putting too much power in police hands- that they can prosecute on the basis of "someone said". >>

No, no. Prosecution is unlikely without evidence. However, if the police were to contact a driver and say that they had been reported, that driver in most instances would be likely to be more careful in future.

And if the police find that the same driver has been reported multiple times, then they can and should lay charges. This would necessitate some sort of database being kept for complaints. But I understand that this happen in New Zealand. So it shouldn’t be a big deal.

<< … keep the police for rape and murder etc. >>

Sorry Pat, but I’ve to very strongly disagree with that.

Hrrrgh !! There’s that confounded missing word syndrome again.

That last line should of course have read –

< Sorry Pat, but I’ve GOT to very strongly disagree with that. >

Hello Pat, are you out there? Would you like to continue with this discussion? Or anyone else?