Well just as I prophesied a while back, the Police are using these ridiculous 90km/h "safe speed zones" on State Highway 2 as an excuse to harvest revenue.
Today having grown tired of following a line of traffic for many km's who were doing under 80km/h on good highway I decided to pass on a passing lane. I felt bad for those behind me as I was not game to pass them at speed for fear of getting a ticket so remained pretty much within the law.
Once I got in front of the last car that i wished to pass I immediately pulled in andslowed my speed. This left just enough safe room for the very patient car behind me to pass myself, which they did at approx 104km/h.
This had only just happened when a previously parked Police car accelerated into the small gap between my car and the car that had just passed, and pulled that driver over. This maneuver was dangerous and the Police car did not indicate sufficiently or utilise an appropriate gap as required by law.
This whole situation just stinks. There is ZERO reason for that part of the road to be a 90km/h zone and its absolutely pathetic that our passing lanes are being policed like this. The Police officer created a significant hazard while trying to Police an imagined hazard in the name of revenue.
How long are we going to roll over and take this nonsense!
Why do we even have passing lanes when the Police sit in the middle of them or even worse park an obstructed speed camera in the middle of them during 4km/h tolerance times!
Where is the fairness and common sense!
howgoodisit,
Jun 21, 10:35pm
Entrapment is used widely in NZ, you need to lobby to get entrapment made illegal.
slarty45,
Jun 22, 2:53am
Do plod have a performance bonus (like acc) when quota is achieved!
Tip: when you see an oncoming "safer communities car" heading toward you, with their left wheels almost in the grass, they are ready for the quick U turn and adrenalin rush.
net_oz,
Jun 22, 3:37am
Once again it's time for you to have a go at the police. What's the point of having any speed limit jazz! Are you such an expert at dedicating the speeds for certain sections of road/s! Have you laid a complaint about what you saw! How do you know the other car was doing aprox 104kph! In case you haven't yet realised, it is not the police that decide the limit for the roads. They are there to enforce the laws. You break them, you pay. Get over yourself and your hate for the police. Every thread of yours is the same.
slarty45,
Jun 22, 4:06am
^ Attack the messenger to divert attention away from the message
howie69,
Jun 22, 5:46am
Guy's Lets be clear the police budget is being cut and while revenue generated from fines goes to the consolidated government budget. These cuts will have an impact on police remuneration. You can not blame them for being aggressive revenue gathers when their remuneration is under threat.Successive governments have have had these consolidated funds to reward police for their diligence in raising additional revenue. Speed entrapment is one of the polices effective ways of generating much need funds, and we are expected to believe the rubbish about safer roads. It's not a new tactic one they imported from overseas.Changing government will not do any good the last lot were worse.
holden95,
Jun 22, 5:51am
Great story.you have more involvement with the Police than I do hahahahaha and you know the person that got pulled over was doing 104km priceless hahaha
smac,
Jun 22, 6:54am
So Jazz, serious question, you stopped and talked with the cop!
modie61,
Jun 22, 6:55am
You need to put yourself in Parliament jazz.
holden95,
Jun 22, 6:58am
Thought they already had a JESTER
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 22, 7:03am
If my health allowed for it I would seriously consider it. Its just so frustrating to see such stupidity going on.
However, the good news is, together we can demand an end to the nonsense without having to go through the hassle of becoming politicians. This is still a democracy (well sort of) the masses here just have to stand up and make it clear what we want and what we don't want.
I have my hands full on projects at the moment but I am considering starting some sort of petition for fair and sensible road policing. A key demand would be to reinstate the road policing guidelines of 10 years ago which didn't allow for this sort of nonsense.
smac,
Jun 22, 7:23am
OK another serious question: what are the guidelines that were removed/changed that you are referring to!
gedo1,
Jun 22, 7:32am
Hey Jazz.I note you mention your health precluding you from doing more.Look, lad, you are a valued member of the message board in that you give so many of us entertainment and the ability to say how unpolarized we are about certain matters - e.g. NZ Police, and Euro vehicles.So look after yourself and try to work on lowering your stress levels.We all need you around and vocal.Okay!
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 22, 7:37am
LOL, thanks mate, that made my day. Actually my health while not up to political standards has been really good lately (that's why I am not on here as much. busy in the real world).
Its been brilliant being able to drive long distance again and literally get my hands dirty working on stuff. I even bought a couple more Euro's to celebrate!
I just have to pace myself and follow busy days with rest that's all.
gedo1,
Jun 22, 7:41am
So was it the Kaimais or the highway through to State Highway 1 in the Waikato that had the 90kmh limit on it!If you knew the history (recent) of those roads then you would see why it was seen as necessary to apply those limits on both bits of road.Not saying I agree with it - but do understand why it happened.
Not so long ago you could actually easily compare the year on year guidelines but mysteriously I can't find that page anymore.
Basically this guide used to be full of good sensible stuff, like not using speed camera's in the middle of passing lanes, being sensible about where and how you parked while using radar so as not to cause a traffic hazard, not parking right behind change of speed signs etc.
Well when you could compare them you could clearly see every year more of the sensible guidelines would be dropped. We are not talking about making changes to increase road safety here but actually eroding away good sensible policies that were fair and kept the public safe. From reading the year on year changes it was very difficult to draw any other conclusion than that this was done in an effort to maintain the 100 Million dollar revenue target.
If anyone can find the page (which I suspect has been removed) where you could look at each years guidelines please post it.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 22, 7:55am
Also, if anyone knows where about's the last passing lane in the 90km/h zone heading south from Auckland on SH2 is I would love to post a street view link.
I think we should all take a look at this beautiful wide piece of highway and passing lane that somehow warrants a 90km/h sign and a police car at the end of the passing lane.
richardmayes,
Jun 22, 7:56am
LOL, this again.
What "revenue" are we talking about, exactly!
Ministry of Transport revenue is 1.76% of total Government revenue.
Traffic infringements are 0.0008% of Ministry of transport revenue. (Road user charges are where it's all coming from.)
The Government's "revenue" from traffic infringements is so insignificantly small, compared to total crown revenue, that they are wasting their time even bothering with traffic cops if "revenue" is the reason cops are out there.
richardmayes,
Jun 22, 8:05am
Nice! Sounds a lot like British cars - it pays to have several, in case the one you want to drive won't go.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 22, 8:25am
Nice "spin" richardmayes but your link shows much the same as my figures.
That is about $40 in fines per capita EVERY year needs to be raised. Remember thats EVERY man woman and child in the country of any age with or without drivers license. Condense that down to those who have a license and drive on a regular basis and we have the equivilent of a significant fine for every person every year.
To put it another way the fines revenue pays for half the road Policing budget every year.
That's why they Police the roads to levels of nit picking stupidity while actively ignoring serious crime. Its because the roading Police get a 50% subsidy as such AND they are visible to the public making it appear that we have some sort of pro-active Police force.So you get a subsidy and free PR, its win/win.
Oh and BTW, you are quoting completely the wrong figure. The "Ministry of Transport" income you quoted is not infringement revenue. You clearly have zero grasp of the situation as the tiny 1.76% you quoted would equate to $300 worth of fines per capita per year and I suspect much of the population losing their licenses.
For the record Infringement revenue annually has held pretty close to the 100M a year for many years now. Its pretty obvious in my opinion that 100M is the target and things are continually adjusted to maintain it.
rover79,
Jun 22, 8:33am
The main reason people pass on the passing lanes is that they have been following a car that has been traveling at 85 90 or 95kmh. When these people get to passing lanes they speed up to 100kmh (even 110kmh) then drop off to their 90kmh speed. Maybe people in the left lane should be fined if they go over 90kmh, which would be a better idea then people could get past at 100 to 105kmh.
holden95,
Jun 22, 8:34am
Yet 25% of the police duties is designated for traffic duties yet every year since the amalgamation the Police have never met this target not even by a long shot. You fail to address that a lot of the funding comes from local sources eg councils primarily for traffic enforcement within the local area. It is a rather simple formula really you should be advocating that people don't speed then the issues you address would disappear over night. If you speed you run the risk of being caught if you park at an expired meter you run the risk of being caught. Those nit picking police as you call them are primarily traffic officers whose job description is traffic enforcement, what you advocate is similar to the prime minister in between other duties doing the jobs of his appointed ministers and the portfolios they hold, now that is a waste of money.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 22, 8:38am
Thats a good point and a good idea. However I think we need to be more realistic again and allow passing speeds of up to 120km/h.
I did an exercise on these boards some time ago that showed many of our passing lanes were not even sufficient for even one car to legally pass another that was doing 90km/h in a 100km/h zone.
Any action in road Policing in my opinion should always be measured against a simple yard stick "Is doing this with our time/resources saving more lives and injuries than doing something else"
Often the Police are clearly creating a greater traffic hazard than they are preventing. There is also the issue of while the Police are nitpicking on the roads people are being beaten, kidnapped and killed off the roads.
Its all about balance and common sense.
pauldw,
Jun 22, 8:39am
Those 2007 guidelines were still current up to the beginning of this month. They've just been recycling them. "Group: Road Policing Support Owner: National Road Policing Manager, Police National Headquarters Commencement Date: 27/02/2007 Expiry Date: 01/06/2012"
Maybe you should ask the Road Policing Manager when the position is filled with a permanent appointment.
holden95,
Jun 22, 8:44am
Maybe the issue is not with enforcement but the fact that NZ roads are below par in relation to the rest of the world. Perhaps the Governement should be working on a four lane north to south state highway one. I doubt this would solve the issue of people speeding tho
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