Quote:
Originally Posted by marki
If they stopped using speeding fines to build up the coffers they would simply have to raise your taxes to compensate. They even include speeding fines as part of gov't gross income when they set the budget so they would need to get it from somewhere else. At least with fines only the silly or unweary have to pay. If you don't speed, you won't get fined and if you do get caught take it on the chin and pay up.
Mark
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Or, they drop the tolerances and start booking people at 5 km/h over the limit, like they do here in Victoria. They then place hundreds of "safety cameras" on the freeways and major roads to build up the coffers.
Let's be clear, this is no longer about road safety, we all know it. So trying to dodge a fine is like putting in a tax deduction.
The only way to dodge the fine in Victoria is to write a letter to the Police explaining that you've been a good person for at least the last 12 months, you have to admit that you transgressed and plead for sympathy. For the most part, if the infringement was under 10 km/h over the limit and you have a clear record they'll issue a warning notice instead and cancel the fine. If you get done within another year forget it and pay the fine.
As for those of you who say "I don't speed" etc. I can only assume you don't have a car or simply don't drive. If speeding is doing 5 km/h over the limit, then everyone who drives does it, unless all they do is look at their speedo all the time, in which case they'd crash at the first corner they encountered.
I meet people everyday on the freeway who claim to never speed, or at least that's what their driving habits tell me, they are sitting at what their speedo says is 95 km/h (in a 100 zone for instance), when in reality they are doing somewhere between 85 and 90 usually. They sit in the right hand lane and will not move over because they are doing what they feel is the maximum speed allowed. This causes other people (read me and the line of cars that has built up behind them) to move into the next lane and undertake them. Now, this may mean that I have to accelerate to get into the gap either left of me, or when I get around the right lane hog, to the right of me I may ever-so-slightly creep over the speed limit, sometimes enough to get booked by a speed camera. Who caused the "crime"? This is just as frustrating in a 60, 70, 80 or 90 zone. I have a car that can do the speed limit, I am capable of controlling the car at the speed limit, I would like to do the speed limit, no more, preferably no less.
I have calibrated my speedo with a high accuracy GPS device and the (few and far between) speed indicators on some major roads around Melbourne.
Cheers
Stuart