Australia’s toughest anti-hooning laws have just come into effect in Queensland.

There is a new hoon hotline.

Very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLzpZMCFPoQ

But hold on… the government and police are still just dancing around the edges of road safety with this sort of thing. They’re only addressing end-of-the-spectrum behaviour.

What we need is a crackdown on tailgating and belligerent driving, and an overall recovery of the rule of law!

It is infuriating to be sitting on or a bit over the speed limit and have to twat come up quickly behind you, sit far too close and give you the very clear message that you are not going anywhere near fast enough for them, regardless of the law!

And as I have said many times on OLO, if you report a driver of this sort, you basically get laughed out of the police station. The cops DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!

Even really serious incidents are just dismissed out of hand, in my experience!

http://mypolice.qld.gov.au/rockhampton/2013/11/01/go-too-far-lose-your-car-as-australias-toughest-anti-hooning-laws-come-into-effect/

So, is a chronic tailgater and bullying driver a hoon?

From the link above; offences include:

Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle

Careless driving

So yes, one could conclude that this sort of driving does fit within the definition of hoonery.

But I bet the police think differently. I bet this sort of ‘normal’ driving continues to go unpoliced and the general public continue to be neutered by way of having any complaints ignored and having their assistance in the policing and improvement of road-safety stifled.

I have becomeutterly disgusted with the police in regards to road safety and my efforts to help in the way that any concerned and conscientious citizen should.

I don’t think they’re about to change. So I reckon these new hooning laws are more of a distraction than anything else - being seen to be doing something while not really doing anything significant.

Your thoughts…..

Ludwig,

".....and an overall recovery of the rule of law!"

I'd be more worried that the "rule of law" is being trampled underfoot, if I was you.

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/stories/freedoms-and-rights-concerns-qld-bikie-laws

"Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Australia is a signatory, states that “Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity … to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives … to have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.”

“The fact that the laws were rushed through without being subjected to the parliamentary committee process, without affording public consultation or scrutiny, would very likely not satisfy the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Professor Triggs said."

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/10/27/14/46/human-rights-lawyers-slam-qld-bikie-laws

"The laws, rushed through parliament less than a fortnight ago, have also been criticised for being so broad they can potentially be used to outlaw activist groups, trade unions or other organisations the government begins to dislike.

For reasons inexplicable the parliamentary committee and public consultation processes were blatantly binned by the Newman Government, Mr Coyne says."

"This flurry of backdoor secretive legislative action is both unprecedented and a significant blight on the democratic principles which found our lucky country," he said."

Ludwig, I would say there aren't enough police driving around to effectively deal with tailgaters, so if I find one up my tail, I move over into the left lane if I can, and let them scream on to the next multinova...

If I am on a one lane road, I just put my brake lights on for a second, so they back off.
I know they will inevitably shoot themselves in the foot one day, so I try not to worry about it too much.....it's not good for the blood pressure : )

Poirot, I’m not sure about the appropriateness of the new bikie laws when it comes to the finer detail or the breadth of government powers. But I think that the overall effort by the Newman government to deal with this issue is a very good thing.

Other state governments seem to think so too and are working towards similar moves.

We’ve got to realise that every law infringes rights and freedoms. So I think it would be impossible to implement effective bikie laws, or I should say; laws to deal with criminal bikie activity, without offending the hardline civil-rightists.

Meanwhile, the rule of law has gone to pot on our roads. Temporary speed limits at roadworks are not observed at anything like the legally binding speed that the signs indicate. Overtaking lanes on our highways are speed-limit-free free-for-all zones, belligerent dangerous driving basically goes unpoliced, the public has been disempowered when it comes to assisting the police, the police won’t tell us exactly what the policeable speed limit is, and they have recently lowered the leeway on speed limits without telling us first, thus booking thousands of people for doing just the speed that they had come to know as being acceptable to the police, and which the police had trained them to do!!

That last-mentioned point is one of the most disgusting things I have ever encountered in Australian law and the policing thereof.

continued

It is interesting to note that the police want us to dob in a hoon, or a smoky or offensively loud vehicle (except Harleys!) and they encourage us to report suspicious activity through Neighbourhood Watch…. But they do NOT want us to report tailgaters or other bad driving, unless an accident has actually happened!

This really is quite bizarre and again, totally disgusting!

Further to the disempowerment of the public, they say that we are not allowed to indicate our discontent to bad drivers. We are not allowed to flash headlights or tail lights or do anything else! We’ve just got to cop it sweet. When you are being chronically tailgated, you are supposed to just stay in that situation of increased risk, keep your cool and put up with it! Or get out of it very carefully by pulling over or turning off a side road or something, thus fully giving over to the tailgater and rewarding them for their sh!thouse driving!

Ludwig,
I agree with you that the Law is being trampled on however, what the Qld Govt is doing now is at least something in favour of decency. Any move or notion to curb excess or clamp down on bad behaviour is always attacked instantly. As I said it is at least something after a dozen or so years of just plain criminal avoidance & plain criminal revenue hunting. I just hope that the stupid laws get sorted fairly soon & some resemblance of decency emerges. I mean to have your indicators smashed by some kids in the car park & then get fined for having broken indicators on the way to the workshop is not decent. Most police officers I speak with are conservative but there are a lot of cops as well & their numbers need to be reduced alont with the unfair & stupid laws.

ITS ABOUT INTUIMINDATION

let the punishment fit the crime?
no..the theory..is a watched plot never boils

govt dont like people..talking..why?

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2013/10/29/surveillance-is-for-peons/

if the/state can organize effective and prolonged violence against dissent, it spawns reactive revolutionary violence, or what the state calls terrorism. Violent revolutions usually give rise to revolutionaries as ruthless as their adversaries. “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster,” Friedrich Nietzsche wrote. “And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Violent revolutions are always tragic. I, and many other activists, seek to keep our uprising nonviolent. We seek to spare the country the savagery of domestic violence by both the state and its opponents. There is no guarantee that we will succeed, especially with the corporate state controlling a vast internal security apparatus and militarized police forces. But we must try.

Corporations, freed from all laws, government regulations and internal constraints, are stealing as much as they can, as fast as they can, on the way down. The managers of corporations no longer care about the effects of their pillage. Many expect the systems they are looting to fall apart. They are blinded by personal greed and hubris. They believe their obscene wealth can buy them security and protection. They should have spent a little less time studying management in business school and a little more time studying human nature and human history. They are digging their own graves.

Our shift to corporate totalitarianism, like the shift to all forms of totalitarianism, is incremental. Totalitarian systems ebb and flow, sometimes taking one step back before taking two steps forward, as they erode democratic liberalism.

This process is now complete. The “consent of the governed” is a cruel joke. Barack Obama cannot defy corporate power any more than George W. Bush or Bill Clinton could.
http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2013/10/30/229339-our-invisible-revolution/

http://jonathanturley.org/2013/10/29/federal-agents-reportedly-raid-reporters-home-in-search-of-illegal-weapons-and-allegedly-question-her-about-prior-negative-stores-and-seize-unrelated-government-documents-and-journalistic-notes/

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/30/facebook-considers-vast-increase-in-data-collection/

jfk..wanted simply to take back the fed
http://www.rense.com/general76/jfkvs.htm

Poor old Coppers, however in is a fact it is very hard to gain a conviction when in the end it is your word against theirs [the other driver].
Imposable if after making your complaint you do not want to go to court.
However Cops have brand new ways to convict, in NSW without rego stickers we get scanned to see if it is not registed and if the driver is disqualified.
In car cameras, not just police but increasing in private cars are good evidence.
Victorian Police, soon in every state now patrol parking lots impounding cares that have unpaid fines for drivers and owners.
Rest mate, in time we all will make the opposite claims about police.

Like I said, Ludwig, I wouldn't encourage them.

It appears that already Queensland is morphing into a cosy police state.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-magistrate-hits-out-at-police-state-as-man-held-nine-hours-for-littering/story-fnihsrf2-1226751984446

"A MAGISTRATE has questioned "what this state has come to'' after a young man who dropped a tissue in a mall at 1am was held in the police watchhouse for nine hours.

"I'm appalled that this young man is in custody,'' Brisbane magistrate Chris Callaghan said yesterday, after hearing how long Michael Pennisi, 21, had been held without bail.

"Is this what this state has come to? This is all coming down from the top, it appears to me.'"

"Pennisi said outside court he had not even realised a tissue had dropped from his back pocket as he withdrew his ­wallet. He said as the female council officer, with two police, began to issue a $220 fine he refused to give her his details."

Gawd!.....

Yes Poirot, it is awful what happened to that young guy, but I think the main problem would have been the refusal to give his details to the police, rather than dropping the tissue.

Maybe He was asking for trouble by being belligerent to the police, rather than calmly explaining his case.
Aggression towards police gets you put in jail!

Come off it, Suse,

""Pennisi said outside court he had not even realised a tissue had dropped from his back pocket as he withdrew his ­wallet. He said as the female council officer, with two police, began to issue a $220 fine he refused to give her his details.

I made the biggest mistake walking away and when the police said 'Come back' I ran,'' Pennisi said. "Then I realised I'd made a huge mistake and gave up the run.''

The young man, who has just graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Queensland, said he'd had four drinks before the incident.

Today he flies to London to take up a new job."

Hardly being aggressive.

(Uncooperative, perhaps)

Police state....watch it unfold.

Hey Luddy, where are you getting all this tailgating, you get so upset about? I used to regularly drive from the Whitsundays to Townsville airport & back, without anyone tailgating me. Probably because they couldn't catch me I suppose in retrospect.

I did get quite a few things getting very close when I first put my Triumph TR8 back on the road. I think it was more people trying to figure out what it was than anything else, & stopped when the car stopped being a novelty locally. Otherwise it is just not a problem around here.

I used to get trail backs behind me when towing a horse float, so I would pull over each time it got to about 4 or 5 cars. I did not want to blaze a trail of ill will against horse people, & stopping was not hard.

I do find it a little frustrating that many drivers travel at 20Km/H or more under the legal speed on the main road, then speed in the 60 areas, but I am not about to let them spoil my day, so basically ignore them.

I do find it best to avoid leaving town for my 28Km drive home at school out time. Too many of the school run drivers do so in a most distracted way, making it a bad time to be on the road.

Never heard about that tissue issue but boy!
Qld has been there before under the flying Peanut.
Those days saw a front of tough on crime but up to their eye balls in it existed.
Our wish for harsher sentences is only if it is not one of our own being imprisoned.
A wise man said when Dictator ship comes the people will call it freedom.

you can loose your life
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3881441.htm
A report estimated around 75% of people taking statins are in the low to moderate risk category, and, according to these researchers, that means up to 30 million people are taking a drug that won't offer them the benefit of living any longer.

*There are a lot of ways that one can manipulate data in a trial. Trials do what they call a washout period, and what that means is before they choose the people that are going to be in the trial, they give everybody the drug, and the people that have side effects get excluded from the trial.

85% of trials are funded by drug companies. A review concluded that if a drug company paid for a trial, it was 24% more likely to report the drug was effective and 87% less likely to report the drug's side effects.

Even the definition of 'high cholesterol' keeps changing. In 2004, a US panel of experts decided to lower the threshold of cholesterol, which sparked outrage amongst many doctors.

Professor Rita Redberg
More and more people think they have high cholesterol even though they don't have high cholesterol.

NARRATION
By changing the definition, it meant that millions more people became eligible for statins, and these thresholds were adopted by many countries around the world.

Dr Ernest N Curtis
Has this been on the basis of any scientific data? Absolutely not. Absolutely not, no evidence whatsoever, just the theory that less is better. You're creating more patients, you're creating more people who now have something to worry about where they didn't have anything before.

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3881441.htm

No Poirot , if someone refuses to give their details to Police, that is a crime in itself.
I have seen Police overstepping the mark before, but I have seen the public giving them a hard time far more often!

Who would be a police officer these days, with increasing violence and drug taking in the community?
I think they need MORE powers to step on criminals even harder...

Suse,

"I think they need MORE powers to step on criminals even harder..."

Yeah, especially those dastardly criminals who accidentally drop tissues from their pockets while removing their wallets.

Nothing like a bit of overzealous policing and harassment to ramp up the revenue raising aspect of things.

$220 fine for accidentally dropping a tissue.

Two policemen and a council officer.

Held for nine hours without bail.

You might think that's dealing with the criminal element.

I don't.

<< Ludwig, I would say there aren't enough police driving around to effectively deal with tailgaters >>

Suse, we don’t need lots more police out there on the roads to effectively deal with this issue.

What we need is a publicity campaign saying that tailgating will be rigorously policed as from such and such a date, which would be shortly after the publicity campaign was launched.

Then we need the police to actually police it and book people for it.

This, accompanied by compelling evidence, would be very easy for them to do. Tailgaters are highly visible in the traffic stream moving in the opposite direction to what you are travelling. All the police need is a camcorder focussed on the oncoming traffic in conjunction with a speed camera as they roll up the highway.

Another camcorder pointing the other way, to catch the rear number plate of tailgaters would be needed, as many offenders tailgate so badly that their front plate isn’t visible.

And they also need to empower the public to report tailgaters and commit a fair portion of their effort towards following up these complaints.

Then once the general public gets the message that the police are actually policing this issue and that anyone can make a complaint which will be followed up - as with neighbourhood watch and various other things in which the public has been implored to assist the police, then the issue will have been dealt with pretty damn effectively.

The same strategy should apply for various other rank driving practices, not just tailgating.

<< Like I said, Ludwig, I wouldn't encourage them. It appears that already Queensland is morphing into a cosy police state. >>

Poirot, I encourage Campbell Newman to recover the rule of law as fully as possible!

But that doesn’t mean that we here in Queensland would be living in a ‘police state’.

What it means is that the law as enshrined in legislation, and as officially espoused by the police and every other authority that administers various aspects of the law, actually applies… instead of something quite different, and often different in different places, or different to different people according to the whims of the authorities!

A well-respected rule of law, with a policing regime that keeps it all in place, does NOT comprise a police state.

A poor rule of law, where the police police something different to what is written in law, police some things vigorously and others not at all, abuse their powers of discretion, and can give people a very hard time over trivial matters and not follow up on serious matter if they can’t be bothered – THAT sort of stuff would comprise a police state, yes?

And….. that is pretty close to where we are at the moment!

Loose and sloppy = police state.

Tight and well-managed, where we all know what the go is with the law and the police = the opposite to a police state.

Poirot, we will have to agree to differ on this : )

Ludwig, I can see how it would be difficult to police tailgating unless they actually spotted it happening themselves.

What if someone was upset with someone else for whatever reason, and 'reported' them as a tailgater, even if they didn't do it?
I doubt many people would buy cameras for their cars just in case...

<< Ludwig, I can see how it would be difficult to police tailgating unless they actually spotted it happening themselves. >>

Suse, we have been implored to ‘dob in a hoon’, ‘dob in a smoky or excessively noisy vehicle’ and ‘dob in a stranger whose doing absolutely nothing wrong but we ain’t seen him around here before and that is what we are supposed to do as part of neighbourhood watch’!

The police CAN deal with things that they don’t witness themselves.

Of course, they have to carefully examine the veracity of the complaint.

They absolutely not be discouraging the public from making complaints about ANY illegal activity.

And they absolutely should not be failing to act on complaints!!

<< I doubt many people would buy cameras for their cars just in case... >>

If the police were receptive, I’d be doing that tomorrow! And I reckon there’d be plenty of people who would.

It would only a take very small portion of the general public to do something like that to effectively double or triple the policing effort on our roads. Then once the general public realises that it is not just the very thin blue line that can bring offenders undone, most rank drivers are likely to pull their silly looking woolly heads in and drive properly!

Hey we can record evidence really easily on a smart phone or similar device! Of course the driver can't do it while he's driving, but a passenger could.

Poirot,
Being a leftie you got it all back to front again as is their norm. Qld was a Police State but the Coalition is turning that around. Qld will once again become a state in which Police deal with those they should be dealing with & not let the real criminals run free as they did under your mates. You really must make an effort to learn the difference between integirty & decency vs toeing the line complicity & corruption furthered by pseudo academic intellect incompetence.

Individual,

"....Qld will once again become a state in which Police deal with those they should be dealing with & not let the real criminals run free as they did under your mates..."

Yes, I can see, from the deployment of the crack tissue-detecting SWAT team that they're onto a good thing.

Zealotry it's called.

Good luck with that - you'll need it.

: )

Ludwig,
Because major traffic violations involve the potential to cause death of physical harm to people and property damage to cars and infrastructure these incidents should be treated as premeditated criminal offenses and the perpetrators,on proof and conviction, locked up for a couple of years and their vehicles confiscated to the state and their drivers licenses removed for life.

cont
I forgot to add on a third conviction ten years prison time.

I wouldn't go quite that far Chris, but I do think that major traffic offenders (running red lights, over the alcohol limit etc.) should have their cars confiscated and crushed and their licence cancelled for a minimum of five years.

Conservation's Dirty Secrets.
“The wildlife conservation movement is one of those
unquestioned 'good things' that seem to be above all possible criticism.

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=conservation's+dirty+secrets

you WILL..NEVER SEE POLICE POLICING THE REAL Criminals

Hey! get a look at this!
Chris Gaff tells us he is an ex Cop!
Poirot quite true must write self message, *never visit QLD again!*

Obviously Belly believes that traffic offenses are not to be worried about. Wait 6 months then come to QLD and break the traffic laws. You will go home with a whole new slant on the law and a huge hole in your pocket.

Traffic violation is a double edged sword.

On the one hand younhave the violators and, annoying and dangerous as they are, they do contribute a heck of a lot of the funding used for our roads.

So, if our violators were to all of a sudden turn a new leaf and stop breaking the law, where do you propose we source the revenue to plug the gap, remembering of cause, that we (Australia) are borrowing billions each year just to make ends meet.

It's a bit like traffic accidents, as horrific as they can be, they do provide an enormous amount of jobs.

just be careful you dont got any christian stickers on your car
atheist cops with zeal..ensure they will get you believers..anyway you can

its pathetic..that real criminals like eddy-abid can do real crime..
and there are the 8 to 4 cops..policing traffic duties and bikes
dont police political crime.or the too big to police

little wonder many cops leave..once they see their protecting real crims and only revenue raising from motorists[that takes weak rule thuggers bullies]..policing revenue raising policy..not crime

rehctub,

"So, if our violators were to all of a sudden turn a new leaf and stop breaking the law, where do you propose we source the revenue to plug the gap...."

Well it seems there's a potential revenue boon in targeting people who accidentally drop tissues when they're accessing their wallets.

I hear the govt can mooch $220 dollars out of them a pop.

"It's a bit like traffic accidents, as horrific as they can be, they do provide an enormous amount of jobs."

Takes a "special" kind of mentality to make a statement like that.

Belly & Is Mise,
There is a little more to traffic offenses and it is occurring in all states with federal support.

The next time you get breath tested watch what happens to the breathing tube the allegedly discard from the machine after you have blown in it.

Also try locate the hidden camera, generally in the window of a police car either in front of where you are required to park or behind you.

The camera clicks your plate and the tube is swabbed for DNA and suddenly you are on the national civilian DNA database.

Pretty shifty you have to agree and now with number place recognition coupled with reflector dot identification for alcohol venue car park
tagging which tells the patrol cars that you have been in a club or hotel possible drinking the revenue base has expanded greatly.

walk a mile..in..my shoes
http://www.today.com/news/nypd-chief-turned-inmate-kerik-prison-system-broken-8C11509923
Former NYPD boss Bernard Kerik tells ‘Today’ show
he wants prison reform after time spent behind bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-8lBdmG1dQ&feature=youtube_gdata

The disgraced former commissioner says the three years that he served as part of a plea agreement has changed his perspective. He says if Americans really knew what prison was like, they would never stand for it.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-boss-bernard-prison-reform-article-1.1503843#ixzz2jitNH0l7

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-boss-bernard-prison-reform-article-1.1503843

it relates the distance between us..and them
its about knowing..them..by their perks/works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a46u_yI3RoQ

Chris,

In NSW we count out loud, 1 to 10, no tubes for years.

Maybe they get our DNA off our breath?

<< Because major traffic violations involve the potential to cause death of physical harm to people and property damage to cars and infrastructure these incidents should be treated as premeditated criminal offenses and the perpetrators,on proof and conviction, locked up for a couple of years and their vehicles confiscated to the state and their drivers licenses removed for life. >>

Absolutely, Chris.

But what do you call MAJOR traffic violations?

And what about the everyday common-as-mud type of violations which reduce safety margins and increase the risk of mishap, but which the police don’t deal with?

I’d call the type of driver who has to catch up to the car in front of him even when it is sitting on 108 in a 100 zone, follows far too closely and is inclined to overtake in a risky manner….. an then often sits on or even slightly under the speed of the vehicle he’s just overtaken once he’s in front, a major offender.

And yet there is a pretty high proportion of people who drive like this … and it would appear that a lot of them don’t think that there is anything wrong with it!

They need to be brought into line. And considerably more severe penalties than what we now have should be part of the regulatory regime.

Ludwig,
That's what you carry a kids baseball bat for. To deal with the tailgaters and ignorant speeding P platesrs who overtake you in a quiet suburban street.

( :>/

We could do away with the utterly unrealistic speed limits on country roads and highways for a start.

Yes, I hear you Poirot, but seriously, funding is a huge issue for us, especially with more and more hand outs.

Furthermore, traffic violators don't cause much more damage to our roads than the rest, in fact, the majority of the damage/ware and tear, is done by heavy vehicles, many of which don't get finned.

So, where will the money come from.

<< Well it seems there's a potential revenue boon in targeting people who accidentally drop tissues when they're accessing their wallets. >>

Poirot, I agree that this is disgusting. But it would surely be a rare event.

However, when it comes to police behaving badly, the recent fining of thousands of people for infringing the new lowered leeway on speed limits without the police or pollies having told us about it beforehand has surely got to be a thousand times more despicable…

… and yet I am not detecting much outrage about it.

I would have thought that you would be one who would totally share my intense outrage over this.

Ludwig,

"However, when it comes to police behaving badly, the recent fining of thousands of people for infringing the new lowered leeway on speed limits without the police or pollies having told us about it beforehand has surely got to be a thousand times more despicable…

… and yet I am not detecting much outrage about it.

I would have thought that you would be one who would totally share my intense outrage over this."

Well, yes....I think outrage is just the tick for that one.

I was having a poke at the Newman govt in Qld...which appears to be developing an interesting hue of fascist police state about it.

You've gotta watch that kind of thing...it's why terms like "slippery slope" were coined.

<< I was having a poke at the Newman govt in Qld...which appears to be developing an interesting hue of fascist police state about it. >>

Poirot, there are just so many aspects of law and liberties that have become really sloppy in this country. There is thus enormous scope for a bit of tightening up. I think Newman is striving to do this. Good on him. There’s nothing fascist about that in my view.

I was appalled at the reaction to Newman’s comments about the judiciary recently.

< He was concerned about the (bikie-related) decision and wanted the state's judiciary to "start realising what the community wants and act accordingly". >

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/30/judge-adjourns-newman-bikie-commentsl

A judge condemned him for that and suspended a hearing accordingly!

That’s atrocious! If Newman is not free to make a comment like that, then we are in big trouble! Basic freedom of speech would go out the window.

We are all free to be highly critical of government. Government is free to be critical of any individual or business or group of any sort….. except the judiciary??

And what he said is eminently sensible – of course the courts should be making decisions that reflect the will of the people, as far as the law will allow.

Sheesh!

It is not the job of the Court to reflect the will of the people but to apply the law as it is written and approved by Parliament and within such parameters as are allowed by law.

Nothing more, nothing less.

i agree with..is mise

welcome to stalin grade
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/fare-evasion-blitz-on-trams-buses-20130424-2ie3s.html

<< It is not the job of the Court to reflect the will of the people but to apply the law as it is written and approved by Parliament and within such parameters as are allowed by law. >>

Is Mise, the will of the people and the application of the law as written are not mutually exclusive.

The parameters within which a judge can make a decision are mostly quite broad.

Newman was simply saying that judges should be a bit harsher when dealing with bikie-related criminal activities, wasn’t he?

It is not unreasonable for him to say that this is the will of the people.

And it was certainly not unreasonable for him to publicly implore judges to consider this!

No good telling police about agressive drivers behind you, unless you have visual proof. A camera costs around 50$ and is worth a whole lot more. As people get close enough to see what you have they back off just as quick.

<< No good telling police about agressive drivers behind you, unless you have visual proof. >>

579, I wonder if the police would be any more interested in a complaint if you said you had caught the incident on an in-car camera?

I have got the impression that the cops are just not interested in things like that at all, end of story. I had one glaring incident, at the Casino police station in northern NSW, where as soon as I mentioned the incident that I wished to report, which was really quite bizarre and serious, they were not interested…. before I had given any details whatsoever.

Meanwhile, if you report someone for doing absolutely nothing wrong but just appearing a bit unusual, as part of Neighbourhood Watch, they’ll jump to it straight away. No evidence required.

Quite frankly, I’ve completely lost it with the police. I don’t ever want to go anywhere near them ever again for any reason!

I would love to be able to my citizen's duty to help with road safety, and all manner of laws, but it would have to be through some other management regime than the police.

If the Dept of Transport or the RACQ could administer road safety law, then I'd be right into doing my bit. But with the police being the official (and only) authority for this sort of thing, then forget it.

They are nothing more than a brickwall to the improvement of roadsafety!!