more liable to die young from liver failure.
Suseonline,
that's fine by me, as long as they're not hurting an innocent family like a drunk driver would after the coppers let him get into the car so they could get a fine out of him.

shift the responsibility of the inebriated not to get behind the wheel to the police.
csteele,
I don't think it is unfair considering that many criminals get off by claiming to have been under the influence of whatever as in temporary insanity.
If a drunk is not considered to be temporarily insane then should he not be considered as able/capable ? Anyhow, my argument is with Coppers posing as Police & entrapping someone under the influence by watching them get into a vehicle to catch them. It is my view that in such a case the Copper is more guilty than the drunk.

It seems to me Indi that drink-driving is one thing that the police deal with pretty well… at least compared to many other aspects of road safety.

I have expressed some concern on OLO, that as a prolific driver in all states in the country over the last few years, I have only very rarely been random breath tested. Hence it all seems to me like a more of a token effort than a realistic attempt to deal with the problem of drink-driving.

However, there are numerous other aspects which are at least as important which just get NO attention from the police.

The biggest one which again I have mentioned numerous times on this forum is the disempowerment of the public to do their bit.

We see signs imploring us to report litterers, or suspicious vehicles and people as part of neighbourhood watch. But when it comes to reporting tailgaters, speeders or drivers who are demonstrating risky driving practices, well just forget it. The cops don’t want to know!

It is crazy. The result of this absurdity is that we have the very thin blue line out there on the roads, and only they can deal with these sorts of offences, if they witness them, and then feel inclined to act. Whereas if every driver was a potential police officer by way of being enabled to make complaints and have them treated seriously, then I would think road safety would improve markedly and very quickly.

We badly need this sort of community policing. It would help greatly with many aspects of road safety, including drink-driving.

Not all cops are good people.
I am convinced o sung wo would agree.
Some wear the uniform like a vandal.
But we can not pay the true value a good cop is worth.
Individual, you throw stones from a glass house.
To find ten cops who think as you often do would be impossible.
It is impossible to please every one, and even harder to do so with some
Mentality?
For a very long time YOU challenge my mentality and just about every ones, including, and we have swapped barbs over it, all Australians.
I am unable to find merit in your use of the word.
But just as your opinion of o sung wo is good because you have spoken here with him, try being friendly with any cop, few will not be just average blokes/women in a job bringing dislike.

The academic component on these threads thinks I am condoning driving under the influence. Get into your head I AM NOT! What I am getting at is the fact that Coppers aren't doing their job at PREVENTION but resort to ENTRAPMENT. I can't make any clearer. What is the story with three strikes & you're out ? Why aren't first-time caught given a stern warning in that case ? Why the hit straight away ? I drove away from a store in a 200 soul village in 2nd gear on a dirt road to drive to the pub 200 metres away. I had forgotten to grab my seat belt & the copper whacked me for $125.00. I saw in the rear vision mirror that he bailed up a young indigenous chap too. When I got to the Pub the young indigenous chap arrived also & I said to him "He got you too eh ? The chap said yeah, he told me to wear a seat belt in future. When I asked how much his fine was he said "No fine, just a warning ".
My point for those who still don't get it is, why aren't people getting a warning at the first offence which in most cases is not an offence at all just a mere mistake.
I think it really is simply revenue based. That's why cops don't bother chasing up on break-ins because there's no revenue.

"I had forgotten to grab my seat belt & the copper whacked me for $125.00."
Individual, what is the point, you broke the law and you paid the penalty. If the police had let the next 10 people off for the same offense, it might not be fair but in no way does it diminish your criminality. Go to court and try and use "the real criminals are getting away with it, why pick on me" defense and see where it gets you, answer, nowhere. That is the way the system operates.

Indi, I can’t really appreciate this as an example of entrapment.

Here’s what I would call entrapment:

The police allow the general public to get into a certain practice of driving, such as getting away with doing 10kmh over the speed limit and only getting booked if you are doing 11 or more over, and then change the policing regime and booking people for doing five or more over, without any warning.

This sort of thing is absolutely accentuated in roadworks zones, where general behaviour has been allowed to get completely out of whack with the temporary speed limits signs. The signs are treated as only a crude indication to slow down somewhat, especially in the lead-up and outgoing parts of the slow zone, outside of the actual work area!

It is now very possible for a driver to be both booked for doing more than 20kmh over the temporary slow limit, AND have a line of traffic concertinaed up behind him/her, showing gross impatience because he is driving far too slowly for their liking!!

I HATE roadworks because of this schizoid situation I am so often placed in, between wanting to get my speed down to something close to the temporary slow speed limit, while copping tailgating and belligerent driving going on behind me… and very often being angry overtaking in the roadworks zone!

The safest thing to do is to roll with the flow. But this very often means infringing the law and putting yourself into the bookable zone!

We absolutely need to know what the REAL speed limit is in all cases, instead of the police simply saying that there is a little bit of leeway while never defining just what it is!

Entrapment is when you have a good driver who is very conscious of driving as safely as possible and as harmoniously as possible with other road-users. But has to infringe the UNDEFINED speed law or the normally UNPOLICED speed limit (as per roadworks) in order to do so, and then gets booked for their GOOD DRIVING!