Australia has killed my desire for fast cars

[robm3]

I'm a committed petrolhead.

I've made sacrifices to get decent cars and probably spent and lost much more than I should on them.

But today I opened my mailbox (soggy) and see I've got a 4 point, $495 fine

In my entire 7 years in the UK driving swiftly (but safely) in a variety of exotic machines I never once received a fine.

But back here in Sydney over the last 3 years I've had countless, been in court once and enforced driver training. None of them has been anywhere as remotely dangerous as driving an LA freeway, driving in Paris, Eastern Europe, UK or Asia at legal speeds.

The new fine was issued at 4.53am on a three lane road speed limited to 60kph. I can assure you that no other place on the world would this particular road be limited and enforced at such a low speed. Anyhow I digress.

Point is I was seriously considering a the new Lotus Exige but I find myself asking, in Australia, why bother???

So sod it, I brought a diesel land rover instead...



(But it's the 4.4 v8 turbo diesel...boy it goes )

Edited by robm3 on Monday 17th March 23:55

[robm3]

Jim Campbell said:

PomBstard said:

Ouch! Which bit of OPH, and what time? Don't usually see them around at start or end of the day unless it's Bonus Points weekend

The bit where the north and southbound come together by the weigh station, so if i go there again i shall be waiting for the proper twisty bit before i put the hammer down. I say hammer down but i was booked for more than 10 over but less than 20, hardly a massive danger to the guard rail on the left and the rock face on the right. Didn't stop the copper talking to me like i just put his first born in a blender though.

I was surprised to see them as well. I was there accidentally there on the Bonus point weekend before last and saw none of them. My recent midweek trips have resulted in zero sightings of plod. It was at 1030.

Yep I got done big time on OPH on a double demerit weekend about two years back. Total of 18 points in one hit plus court summons. Managed to extract myself from that situation with a one point 12 month good behaviour license.

[robm3]

Mc F said:

Does anyone know anybody that risks a life sentence here & uses a speed gun / radar detector?

My friend has a SC Elise (actually up for sale at the moment). He has one mounted behind the grille with head unit in dash. It's a 'stealth' one he got from the US.
I'm no expert but apparently it shuts down after reading a radar and has some lead casing around it.

Anyhow he's had for two years and swears it's saved him helped him identify notorious black spots.

[robm3]

PomBstard said:

robm3 said:

Yep I got done big time on OPH on a double demerit weekend about two years back. Total of 18 points in one hit plus court summons. Managed to extract myself from that situation with a one point 12 month good behaviour license.

Anything to share re getting from 18 pts to the result??? Never know when it might be handy...

It's a long story. Starting with the incident.
I was on a motorbike heading South on the Old Road with a friend on similiar behind, I overtook a Ute on the bridge over the Hawkesbury as did my friend. The Ute had moved over to facilitate this. Coming towards me was an unmarked Highway Patrol (HP) but some way off. HP did a u-turn and followed us for about 5kms.
The stretch of road up to Pie in the Sky is a great piece of double lane fun on a bike so we particpated in this.
HP followed closely behind but no lights. At the top the lights went on. We pulled over.
From memory fines were:
103 kph on bridge (60kph limit)
Crossing unbroken lines
Changing lanes without indicating
Failing to produce valid license(I had presented my UK one instead of my Australian one)
Something about eratic or reckless driving

My friend received the same but for the last one. He showed an Australian license. He received fines, paid them and was suspended for 6 months due to accrued points. He could have taken the 1 point sudden death from memory but didn't, more on that silly mistake later.

I received a court summons.

I went to view the HP's in car camera of the incident at Hornsby HP headquarters (it's your right to do so). It was unclear if I actually crossed the unbroken lines on the bridge due to the distance.
Further to that, heading up the hill I did not cross any lanes but stayed in my own. e.g. I didn't 'straight line' any corners, my friend however, did.
I watched the reply with a HP motorbike cop whom I engaged in friendly banter. He commented that my riding was neat, tidy and not unsafe. A casual observation at the time but I used it later in the court.

In court, I received the testamony of the HP officer, there were discrepancies which I challenged.
I presented character references, medical history of my wife (requirement for a license to help her), requirement from work to drive, I undertook a Traffic Offenders Education Program (recommend this step, in fact this service requires it's own thread as lots to say about it: http://www.pcycnsw.org/toip ), obtained a copy of my UK driving history (clean) and sold my two motorbikes. All this was well received by the judge, who was actually very tough on every person prior to me.

So in summary:

103 kph on bridge (60kph limit) - stood due to radar evidence however could have been corrupted with bike behind.
Crossing unbroken lines - removed due to lack of clear evidence
Changing lanes without indicating - removed
Failing to produce valid license - challenged and removed, I had indeed produced a valid license.
Eratic or reckless driving - removed (quoted HP motorbike officer).

I should also point out I had two previous fines 10-20kph range. All within 3 months of returning to Oz.

It was pointed out during this process that my friend did not cross the unbroken lines nor hit 103, he had paid and admitted this prematurely but ultimately decided the reversal process to clear these were too hard/risky.
Also, he has now had all his insurances go up substantially by having a cancelled or suspended license.

Edited by robm3 on Tuesday 6th May 05:01

[robm3]

I see a young guy got caught in the UK on the M25 doing 149mph (240kph) and the punishment???

Disqualified from driving for six months. He was also fined £600 ($1,000) and ordered to pay £85 ($140) costs and a victim surcharge of £65 ($110)

Now I ask you, what would the same result be here for someone caught doing 240kph??

Crushed car? Jail? $5,000 in fines??

All of the above no doubt!