Lets be completely honest with ourselves here. If someone is speeding by even 1kph over the limit, they are breaking the law. It's black and white. This country has terrible drivers - the worst being the people who say that "they are good drivers, and that accidents are caused by people who can't drive fast". What a load of BS. Even professional drivers can crash due to high speed, so what makes us believe that we are different? EGO! This causes us to take risks believing that we are capable of going 120, because "I've been driving for 30 years without an accident, and my car is able to do this". Ha! Our police force need to be able to enforce our laws, ALL OF THEM. Yes, we need more police to all criminals, but I feel a lot better knowing that someone is out there catching those idiots who feel they can risk the lives of me and my family by speeding.

Excellent news, now more people will think its ok to speed, god save our country.....

Ian #61

Yes, I also make my own judgments on stop/give way signs.

Some stop signs have clear vision well before you get to them, so I don't stop at them. Alot, infact probably over half of give way signs do not and therefore require a full stop to see whether any traffic is coming.

Sorry, I have no respect for idiotic laws. To name a few, the anti smacking bill and soon to be the new internet piracy law. While traffic laws are not idiotic as such, for a safe driver they are able to be bent somewhat without causing problems.

Handling speed is a matter of personal experience and skill, there are some people who can more safely do 180kph down an uurban motorway that others at 80kph. Police don't have the means to identify the differences, so they have to set rules around the lowest common denominator. Actually, in that case 100kph is way too fast, there are some thorougly incompetent drivers on the roads.

Another factor is relative speed - if everyone is travelling at around 100/110kph, they are not going to be expecting someone to be travelling at 140, and mistakes in judgement will be far more likely.

Also, like it or not, persistent and consistent speed limit monitoring (even at those places when we bitch and moan about revenue gathering) keeps people aware that no matter where, the speed limit has been set and police will enforce it, so it creates the mindset that speeding is not worth it financially. Smacks of big brother, but it is common sense, really.

Having said all that, there are times when a speeding ticket is brutally unfair (such as the time I overtook a slow vehicle and he sped up, then slowed down when I did, leaving me on the wrong side of the road, and resulting in a speed camera fine when I booted it out of necessity to get past), but sometimes a clear and properly explained letter will have the desired result. Especially if you get their rego.

I don't believe it. But if true, they'll be sure to come up with another way of taxing the soft targets. They need to become real cops and chase and catch real criminals. Recently, some kids threw something at my wife's car. We called the cops, none came. I went to the scene about 10 mins later and removed the LARGE object from the road myself. The cops never showed up there either. Pathetic - I bet they were chasing a granny doing 55 in the 50 limit somehwere. I was not impressed at all. PATHETIC.

If the police are short of money, isnt the best solution to ensure that fines more than cover the cost of policing, and then ensure that fines are actually paid?

Quite simple really.

@ Random #59

So you're fine with people stealing from your house? Someone killing a loved one? What about someone shooting a gun in random directions? Or do those laws have to be followed because you think so?

@ Expat #69

Hallelujah!! What you say has 100% knocked the nail on the head & I give the police the big thumbs up for the FANTASTIC job they do on limited resources. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE WHEREVER YOU WORK. I MEAN THIS 100%.

I would NEVER be a Police woman/man if you paid me a million dollars. Why? Because I would have to deal with the likes of the 90% of posters on this story who believe (like the majority of people who are in accidents) that they are fantastic drivers & above the law.

Have I sped? Yes. Am I proud of it? No. If I find myself speeding, do I slow down? Yes. Have I ever had a speeding ticket? No. If I got one for speeding would I be hacked off? Yes... for being a complete idiot for putting myself & the lives of others in danger.

It is interesting to note that the majority of people killed in NZ on the roads are male and between the ages of 18 & 45..... It appears to be the same sex & demographic of the people who are posting on here ridiculous comments of how great a drivers they are!!

BE VERY AFRAID,

If Police HQ are getting rid of their pet project and main focus which is ticketing the good citizens of New Zealand and turning good keen young cops into revenue collectors.

You can be sure that all other aspects of crime fighting and crime detection have already had their budgets cut or will soon be cut. We the public will suffer as less money will be spent on investigation crimes against our citizens.

The National government seems to have its priorities stuffed up, Theres plently of money for historic grievences and flash new buildings in London, but wont cough up any to maintain an effect police force and law and order in general.

The Police Hieracy is gutless and bends to every whim of who ever is in government, to protect there outlandish salaries.

God save New Zealand as the government is as the previous govt, incompetent.

Bring back Whinny!!

Jasz - your comment #74 is exactly what I've been trying to get across (yet the sheep in our society have been so brainwashed all they think about is the speed aspect)

Proper training before you get your licence! And $3,000 is a fair enough figure. Can't even recall what my licence cost it was so long ago. Think it was about $60 or so, and the "training" consisted of learning to change gears, indicate, 3-point turn, parking. Not once did anybody mention what happens when you need to brake suddenly and the back end steps out, or you lock up the fronts.

My actual learning has been through trial and error (mainly involving nicking Mum's car and hitting the gravel roads out the back of town thinking I was Carlos Sainz!). But it did teach me how a car will react under certain conditions without risking anybody else's life. I was also a truck driver for many years in many different countries and conditions and learning how to handle large vehicles as well. But even getting my truck licence consisted of being able to back a trailer using my mirrors. Being such a large weapon I'm astounded there is no training for what to do when your trailer starts to slide.

Making kids fork out that much would cut into their budget for high performance cars. I would also have no problem having to do something like that and pay a fee whenever I renew my licence. It would be well worth it to make sure I was still up to scratch (reactions slow with age) and also would give a bit of comfort that others on the road were also of an acceptable standard.

Dave #56 - good points yourself, especially about the manslaughter charges. If a construction company builds a building that collapses and kills people you can bet your bottom dollar the directors will be in court on charges. Why is a road any different? Every time a see a sign warning of a concealed intersection I just shake my head and wonder how that sort of thing can be allowed.