If this is "faith", none for me please

[Marty_d]

Funny how wives don't appreciate oft-repeated sayings from their husbands.  

 

Whenever mine says "I'm not happy", I say "Well which bloody dwarf are you then?"

 

Needless to say it doesn't win me any brownie points!

[facthunter]

I've got one guaranteed to $#!t them off. Darl , do you know where my (such and such) IS?. She says "I wouldn't have a clue".

   I say " I know, but I'd really like your help to find it".  Nev

[old man emu]

6 hours ago, facthunter said:

I've got one guaranteed to $#!t them off. Darl , do you know where my (such and such) IS?. She says "I wouldn't have a clue".

   I say " I know, but I'd really like your help to find it".  Nev

And then the fight started.

[facthunter]

It's GUARANTEED.  TSTO.   Nev

[spacesailor]

BUT.

Do You !, swear & carry-on,  when the Old fuddy travels 5 k Under the limit .?

After loosing another fortnights pension to the revenuers.

There,s so many speed changes on any trip, it,s getting rediculous , trying to See every sign AND watching-out  . For Drunks AND children at ' school pick-up zones ' Was it a 30 OR 40 ks p h .

spacesailor

Edited November 27, 2022 by spacesailor

[Jerry_Atrick]

Don't get me started on the speed limits and the fascists who enforce them (at least in Vic). 80km/h in the Domain Tunnel is fair enough during a weekday, but on returning to Aus way back in 2003, I didn't know they had speed cameras and on the Sunday morning, I had to go from the south east of Melbourne to Tullamarine to pick up some stuff we had air-freighted from London. It was about 7am out and 8:30am back, and the traffic was negligible both ways.

 

And, yep, I got a speeding ticket for each way under the tunnel. 82kph on the way out and 83kph on the way in. I challenged them on the basis that it was a very minor transgression, on a Sunday morning, no traffic and safety was not really compromised, but it fell on deaf ears. I spoke to my local MP about it, and the look I got was as if I had attempted murder... twice. They really have (or had) the state brainwashed.

 

It was around the time that Vic decided for residential roads, to reduce the limit from 60kph to 50kph. In Melbourne, I get it, especially the inner suburbs where the streets are narrow, cars parked on the streets, higher density of housing (now,  the apartment ghettos, too)... and the outer suburbs where the new estates are actually increasing the density of housing. But, they applied it across the state, and I was living in Bendigo at the time - Flora Hill was the suburb. The streets are so wide, and the density of housing could be considered more a rarefication, hardly any cars parked on the street, extremely wide nature strips and roads, that it felt like 60 was almost overly cautious. But, they slapped a 50kph speed limit on all of these roads, which the local police blitzed to bring everyone into line. The road was probably 1/2 mile long and out place was near the end - it seemed excruciating at the time. Even my partner complained how slow it was and she is not lead-foot. 

 

 

[old man emu]

After hearing stories of the strict enforcement of traffic laws by the Victoria Police, I could see that, compared to the NSW Police (at the time I was a member), the people of Victoria had a very low opinion of them. Was that a hangover from the goldfields enforcement of miner's licences and the later hero worship of Ned Kelly and the reporting of Ginger Mick's stoushes in Little Lonsdale Street? 

 

I think that nowadays the motorist is seen as a government's cash cow, to be inflicted with fines for no better reason than the filling of Treasury coffers. The lawmakers fail to understand that policing a community harshly makes it a prison. Years ago, police were actually taught to use discretion when applying the law - that arrest and carting off to the police station were the last resort in law enforcement for minor matters. However, governments have now loaded up street police with all manner of recording devices which prevent police from using discretion without themselves having to undergo rigorous interrogation by superiors. 

 

Long ago studies showed that motorists will drive at a speed that they consider to be safe. Often that speed will be above the signposted speed limit, but usually not more than about 10 kph. The dangerous speedster is the one who is doing 20+% over the signposted speed limit. 

[spacesailor]

Discretion! .

Not in N S W .

0.4 of a second in the red,  crossing a ' red-light ' intersection, trying to be safe & not blocking other vehicles. 

Drove to slow . In first gear .

$ 480 ish .

NO leaniancy anymore .

spacesailor

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by spacesailor

[old man emu]

12 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Discretion! .

Robots (camera detection) cannot use discretion. And camera detection does not, in any way, change driver behaviour over the long term, which should be the goal of traffic law enforcement.

 

But we all know that governments have little or no interest in education of any type, be it scholastic or skills for Life.  Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family. Kofi Annan. Those who rule us know that knowledge is power. "Teach your children? Hell!"

[nomadpete]

Sad, but true, OME

 

Send me another picture of your toilet. It'll cheer me up more than the MSM news

Edited November 28, 2022 by nomadpete

[facthunter]

MSM "Views" is not news and it's bad for your mental health. Don't watch it. It only encourages them.  Nev

[spacesailor]

My excuse to the governing body,  ' was, I tried go be cautious & not block the intersection ' .

DEAF EAR,S as usual.  But 0.5 of a second  !.  ( lights were green when I  ' (slowly ) started to cross )).

spacesailor

[facthunter]

 Plenty of intersections are set up like that to REGULATE traffic. It puts a big strain on driving there. Nev

[onetrack]

So how do your red lights cameras actually work, in the Eastern States? Over here on the Left Coast, there's wiring planted in the white stop line by the traffic lights. If you go over that line when the light is red - POW! - two flashes (to make sure they've got you) and its $300 and 3 points. But you can cross that line while the light is yellow, and no infringement.

 

Just as long as you get over that line while the light is still yellow, you're sweet. Even if the light turns red a metre after you've crossed the line, still no fine.

[Old Koreelah]

A smart driver seeing a green light always checks for traffic that might be running their red light.

[kgwilson]

9 hours ago, onetrack said:

So how do your red lights cameras actually work, in the Eastern States? Over here on the Left Coast, there's wiring planted in the white stop line by the traffic lights. If you go over that line when the light is red - POW! - two flashes (to make sure they've got you) and its $300 and 3 points. But you can cross that line while the light is yellow, and no infringement.

 

Just as long as you get over that line while the light is still yellow, you're sweet. Even if the light turns red a metre after you've crossed the line, still no fine.

I have no idea how it works on the right hand middle coast but the leftie coast idea looks pretty sound to me.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Years ago, before I first left Aus, and in Melbourne, I got done by a red light camera.. And I deserved it. I was in a hurry waiting to turn right. The duffer in front of me had plenty of time and finally, on late amber he went. I followed him across the intersection line just as the lights turned red, and got two flashes.. from the red light camera.

 

A few days later, the $60 fine (from memory) turned up in the post.

 

What I was running late for was not worth it!

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Jerry_Atrick

[old man emu]

Red light cameras are a bastard in peak hour congested traffic. You start to go into a slowly moving crowded intersection on a stale yellow and the light changes, catching you "running the red". If drivers obeyed the letter of the Law, the ones ahead of you would have not entered the intersection when the yellow showed.

 

I think that to be a real aid to improving road safety, the system should be a combination of red light and speed camera to show that

1. The light was red, and the length of time it had been red.
2. The vehicle was travelling at a speed that indicated the driver was actually running the light

That way events like Spacey's could be dealt with by way of an Official Caution - which is recorded on a person's driving record but does not attract any sort of penalty.

 

However, I'm just an ex-Copper and there's nothing more "ex" than an ex-Copper, so what would I know about law enforcement and public safety?

[red750]

This is the intersection of Canterbury and Mitcham Roads, where my daughter is the School Crossing Supervisor. The photos show the camera system.

 

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, old man emu said:

Red light cameras are a bastard in peak hour congested traffic. You start to go into a slowly moving crowded intersection on a stale yellow and the light changes, catching you "running the red". If drivers obeyed the letter of the Law, the ones ahead of you would have not entered the intersection when the yellow showed.

 

I think that to be a real aid to improving road safety, the system should be a combination of red light and speed camera to show that

1. The light was red, and the length of time it had been red.
2. The vehicle was travelling at a speed that indicated the driver was actually running the light

That way events like Spacey's could be dealt with by way of an Official Caution - which is recorded on a person's driving record but does not attract any sort of penalty.

 

However, I'm just an ex-Copper and there's nothing more "ex" than an ex-Copper, so what would I know about law enforcement and public safety?

Some intersections seem to have bad timing of the lights. I remember stopping at a wide intersection with only three cars in front of me. The light went green and we all moved off at normal speed. By the time I was three quarters of the way across the intersection, the light had turned red. I went through it again recently and it was ok, so they must have adjusted it.

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

…and got two flashes.. from the red light camera.

Jerry that reminds me of a late night arrival in Sydney. I was surprised at two bright flashes as I passes an intersection. Surprised that my Lada Niva could exceed the speed limit!

The camera had could a very fast sports car in the opposite lane.

[red750]

Two exposures in case your rego is obscured in one, and by measuring how far you travelled between exposures, they can calculate your speed.

[nomadpete]

The two exposure policy also helps them to identify which car is going faster, in multi lane traffic.

I once saw the flash when I knew I was 5 k over. But no fine. Luckily although I was in the right lane, someone in the left lane was cruising past me when the camera triggered. I guess the cameras picked the fastest, and disregarded me.

[old man emu]

On 29/11/2022 at 7:30 AM, nomadpete said:

Send me another picture of your toilet. It'll cheer me up more than the MSM news

Sorry to keep you in misery for so long, but here's some relief:

[nomadpete]

Every castle has its throne.

 

 

What, not painted yet?

 

I bet you've been off playing aviation again......