Speeding ticket and demerit points
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm from the UK but moved over to the North Shore Auckland in November with my Kiwi missus.
I got a ticket from an unmarked traffic cop a couple of days ago (68kph in a 50 zone) but he couldn't show me the photo as his mates sped off to knick some other poor c*nt. Now I know this is just a revenew generator as the little squirt who knicked me wouldn't last 5 minutes doing "proper" police work and I was on a non residential road going no faster than the other cars.
I've a couple of questions:
As I'm currently on my UK licence do the points count? Can I/is it worth contesting the ticket as the pig couldn't show me the photo of my speed?
Thanks in advance for any help.
PS - I love this country but the cops are c*nts - in the UK I'd have got a slapped wrist and did on many occasions
I'm from the UK but moved over to the North Shore Auckland in November with my Kiwi missus.
I got a ticket from an unmarked traffic cop a couple of days ago (68kph in a 50 zone) but he couldn't show me the photo as his mates sped off to knick some other poor c*nt. Now I know this is just a revenew generator as the little squirt who knicked me wouldn't last 5 minutes doing "proper" police work and I was on a non residential road going no faster than the other cars.
I've a couple of questions:
As I'm currently on my UK licence do the points count? Can I/is it worth contesting the ticket as the pig couldn't show me the photo of my speed?
Thanks in advance for any help.
PS - I love this country but the cops are c*nts - in the UK I'd have got a slapped wrist and did on many occasions
Fair enough - thanks for all your replies, guys. I guess I won't be getting out of 1st gear much on my motorbike and may have to swap the car for a shopping trolley
Seriously though, I know I was speeding (now) and I know the Police officer (note the spelling) was only doing his job but the offence was in a non-residential area and I wee bit of discretion would've been nice. I know for the future now.
I did check with my insurance company for both the car and bike that I was OK on a UK licence for 1 year - I will, however, convert long before then. I was more worried about the points than the fine so I guess I'll have to wait and see if they carry over when I convert.
PS - I'm from Chelsea, London.
PPS - The Cop was still an a*se!
Seriously though, I know I was speeding (now) and I know the Police officer (note the spelling) was only doing his job but the offence was in a non-residential area and I wee bit of discretion would've been nice. I know for the future now.
I did check with my insurance company for both the car and bike that I was OK on a UK licence for 1 year - I will, however, convert long before then. I was more worried about the points than the fine so I guess I'll have to wait and see if they carry over when I convert.
PS - I'm from Chelsea, London.
PPS - The Cop was still an a*se!
I was gonna bring the KTM but it worked out more cost effective to sell it in the UK (it was a year and a half old with 8K miles) and buy a new one here (the sterling to kiwi dollar was very good when I changed up) and was a lot less hassle too (no re-registration and emissions testing etc.). So I bought one here - I couldn't live without my KTM.....
I also had a 993TT in London which I sold 6 months before the big move. I hindsite I'm glad I did as I'd have lost my licence with an hour here and probably never got the car out of 1st.
I also had a 993TT in London which I sold 6 months before the big move. I hindsite I'm glad I did as I'd have lost my licence with an hour here and probably never got the car out of 1st.
I think I've got to agree with jaybkay - the majority of cops that I've come across (and that's a fair few) are wankers. They're either big meatheads who love a punch up or little squirts that were bullied at school and want revenge on anyone.
It's pretty obvious to me that the complete lack of discretion when dishing out tickets is due to the fact that this system is a revenew generator under the disguise of road safety. Better roads and better driver training would be much more effective.
Jaybkay - thanks for the tips. I'll check out the thing with leaving the country to keep my UK licence and they can f*ck their demerit points.
It's pretty obvious to me that the complete lack of discretion when dishing out tickets is due to the fact that this system is a revenew generator under the disguise of road safety. Better roads and better driver training would be much more effective.
Jaybkay - thanks for the tips. I'll check out the thing with leaving the country to keep my UK licence and they can f*ck their demerit points.
Funnily enough I was chatting with an off duty Auckland traffic cop in a pub recently and we had a long discussion on the subject. He told me that the police are set quotas of traffic tickets which thay have to dish out which are set by the ACC payments they recieve and that is why they cannot generally show any discretion when they stop someone. He did not agree with this at all and said most of his colleagues feel the same.
He also said that he believed the reason the driving standards here are so bad (he was a cop in Europe before moving here) was that allowing a starting driving age of 15 was rediculous and the NZ driving test was the easiest in the civilised world.
So at the end of the day I'll take back what I said in anger at the beggining of this post and agree that on the whole most cops are generally OK (although I have come across some real f*ckers in my younger days) and are only doing what they're told but that it's obvious to all that quotas are in place.
He also said that he believed the reason the driving standards here are so bad (he was a cop in Europe before moving here) was that allowing a starting driving age of 15 was rediculous and the NZ driving test was the easiest in the civilised world.
So at the end of the day I'll take back what I said in anger at the beggining of this post and agree that on the whole most cops are generally OK (although I have come across some real f*ckers in my younger days) and are only doing what they're told but that it's obvious to all that quotas are in place.
My family had another brush with Auckland's fine constabulary this weekend:
This time, my wife, 5 months pregnant, 2 year old in the child seat, got stopped doing 104kph on the Northern (very quiet at the time) motorway.
Cop gives her a ticket (which she accepts gracefully) then upon seeing her UK drivers licence (she's a Kiwi but lived with me in London for 10 years so had changed her NZ licence to a UK one) takes great pleasure in telling her he can get her a $400 fine for driving on a foriegn licence and ran back to his car to confirm. She'd pointed out that she had already checked with the AA and that they had told her she had one year from arrival in NZ (November 06) to change back to an NZ licence.
Anyway, the cop gets back to the car, tail between his legs, no apology but tells her that "she's lucky - this time". Tough guy!!!
Anyway - does anyone here think it's worth mentioning this episode when paying the fine?
This time, my wife, 5 months pregnant, 2 year old in the child seat, got stopped doing 104kph on the Northern (very quiet at the time) motorway.
Cop gives her a ticket (which she accepts gracefully) then upon seeing her UK drivers licence (she's a Kiwi but lived with me in London for 10 years so had changed her NZ licence to a UK one) takes great pleasure in telling her he can get her a $400 fine for driving on a foriegn licence and ran back to his car to confirm. She'd pointed out that she had already checked with the AA and that they had told her she had one year from arrival in NZ (November 06) to change back to an NZ licence.
Anyway, the cop gets back to the car, tail between his legs, no apology but tells her that "she's lucky - this time". Tough guy!!!
Anyway - does anyone here think it's worth mentioning this episode when paying the fine?
Kiwi XTR2 said:
Ewan Oozarmy said:
. . . Anyway - does anyone here think it's worth mentioning this episode when paying the fine?
Not when 'paying the fine'. What would a fines clerk do?
A separate complaint would but the only option . . . but to what end?
They could always argue (in line with the TV adverts) that she was "lucky this time" by not killing her unborn child and 2 year old by speeding.
Yes it's a annoying but pursuing it will achieve nothing but more stress.
Sorry, I actually meant a letter of some variety discussing the police officer's un-necessary attitude - she'd already admitted speeding at 4kph over the limit - it was more to complain about his keeness to try and fine her for driving on an incorrect licence, which she actually wasn't.
Kiwi XTR2 said:
The 10 km/h margin is gone around schools and I won't complain about that. Off peak on the Northern Motorway however 
Edited by Kiwi XTR2 on Sunday 6th May 23:37
Definitely agreed. My qualm was the bully boy attitude of the police officer towards a pregnant female who had admitted the speeding offence and been polite throughout.
venom500 said:
Ewan Oozarmy said:
burwoodman said:
BTW mate cops aren't pigs-u blew your argument by sounding like a moron. You got caught-deal with it. It was 18 over the limit-dont give a 5hit where u were.
Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........
Sounds like "Burwoodman"s gonna learn the hard way!
Beg to differ on this one but N.Z Traffic cops ARE COMPLETE ARSES! But seeing as your a cop yourself I can understand where your coming from.
He's a cop???? That explains a lot
Maybe he "knows" the tough-guy cop that gave my missus a hard time.....
Gassing Station | New Zealand | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff