If it really is about road safety..

fangq · 16-09-2009, 09:10 PM

Driving towards Brisbane this afternoon, and watched the traffic on the Bruce "self regulate" when they saw the blue and reds flashing as someone was pulled over by the highway patrol. So, just thinking, what's to stop the boys in blue just flicking on the strobes occasionally( marked and unmarked cars ) so that they achieve similar results. If any fool gets nailed for infrigements after missing obvious cues like that, so be it.

cheers
Steve

Iggypoppin' · 16-09-2009, 09:13 PM

waste of taxpayer funds, stopping them from doing their job just so they can flick the lights on for a bit? A better deterrent would be if people didn't drive hazardously in the first place?

FPV+fteT3 · 16-09-2009, 09:54 PM

Yes its like an automatic involuntery response see a police car ;

1 Brake wether your speeding or not
2 Check speed....55 in a 60 phew...
3 Thinking jeez it really sucks to be that guy
4 Drive at the limit for a couple of K's then open the taps.....wait I think thats just me... lol.....

You are right people do tend to pull their heads inn at the sight of the red/blues lit up.

ute351 · 16-09-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 76txcoupe

waste of taxpayer funds, stopping them from doing their job just so they can flick the lights on for a bit? A better deterrent would be if people didn't drive hazardously in the first place?

My thoughts exactly when I see them parked at roadworks with their lights on. Sure it might make people think twice about exceeding 40km/h, but to have them sitting every kilometre or two... what a waste of resources. Anyone taking the Ipswich motorway through Goodna at night knows what I'm talking about.

fordOwner · 16-09-2009, 10:22 PM

Ive seen on A Current Affair a while back that in NZ they use life size cardboard cut outs of the back-end of a police car to slow traffic down with great results. They said they would mainly be used on roadwork situations. Would be interesting to hear from our Kiwi mates to see if they have encounterd this.

My understanding of Blue and Red lights denotes "Emergency".

**Burnout** · 16-09-2009, 11:58 PM

I remember when old Joe up here in Queensland had a cardboard cut out of a copper and his bike and a copper and his GD Car 'parked' on the side of the old Gold Coast Hwy just outside town.

There were brake lights day and night for years......

FalconXR6 · 17-09-2009, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV+fteT3

Yes its like an automatic involuntery response see a police car ;

1 Brake wether your speeding or not
2 Check speed....55 in a 60 phew...
3 Thinking jeez it really sucks to be that guy
4 Drive at the limit for a couple of K's then open the taps.....wait I think thats just me... lol.....

You are right people do tend to pull their heads inn at the sight of the red/blues lit up.

This pretty much sums up what's wrong with the approach to road safety.

Check out the points. Where in amongst that list of typical reactions is "concentrate on the task at hand - driving" ???

Cops don't help road safety with their presence. They scare people into driving like mindless drones. Is it the fault of police ? Maybe. Is it the fault of the way in which we are governed ? Getting closer.
But we all need to shoulder responsibility for reacting this way.

Me? If I see a cop car, speed camera, etc, etc I don't do a thing but continue on concentrating, ensuring I am aware of my surroundings, etc, etc.

Mark s · 17-09-2009, 09:39 AM

Really the lights from the Police does not bother me as I tend to sick on and around the speed limits. Doing 5 - 8 k's over the speed limit I find the Police in NSW let you go as they are interested in bigger fish.

I look at double demerit weekends and the extra police on the roads and I think it does slow down people. It not so much the extra points, but more the extra police on the roads.

I often wonder if there were always 3 - 4 HWP cars on each freeway in Sydney, and they were visable, and driver knew it. Would that slow people down a little in place of a ****y speed camera, where you see people flying up to, jump on the brakes, then fly off again once they are out of the zone.

Sorry I think a stronger visable HWP presence on the roads and in force would slow people down.

Again who cares, I pretty much stick to the limits so it does not bother me.

Tuddy200 · 17-09-2009, 10:01 AM

Speed camera's don't help because either they are fixed, or the mobile ones stay to long in the one spot or stick out.

If there was greater presence on our roads, (a government spending issue, not the police), then drivers would start to think, "Ohhh, I better to watch my speed/actions/whatever, as I know there is likily to be an officer on this road, I just don't know when or where, better safe then sorry".

Now it's, "Ohh, Ill slow for that speed camera, and know I have a 9/10 chance of speeding the rest of the way without getting caught...".

flappist · 17-09-2009, 11:02 AM

Some years ago a study was done on the freeway north out of Brisbane traffic flow patterns.
It was found that the traffic jams were far worse whenever there was a speed camera as the nett effect of the "panic brake" from 95-90 in the 110 zone was reflected back until it became stop/start. Anyone who drives on freeways during peak hour will be quite aware of this happening. After all, why should cars in a 110 zone be stopping all the time?

This study has been supported with similar findings all over the world but ignored because it is against current agenda and interferes with revinue.

One interesting place to note is USA where I have, on quite a number of occaisions, been driving on freeways at up to 30MPH (105 in a 75 zone once) over the limit in traffic and seen police highway patrol cars just ignoring the speeding. When I enquired as to why I was told they do not car as long as traffic is flowing. They are looking for those who are travelling faster or SLOWER to remove them from the flow making it safer.

So just for a change, yay for septics.....

Dauphin · 17-09-2009, 02:19 PM

In my area a few months ago they tried parking unattended police cars on the kerb on main roads to deter dangerous driving! It got into the local papers so everyone found out about it and I think they have stopped.

chevypower · 17-09-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fangq

Driving towards Brisbane this afternoon, and watched the traffic on the Bruce "self regulate" when they saw the blue and reds flashing as someone was pulled over by the highway patrol. So, just thinking, what's to stop the boys in blue just flicking on the strobes occasionally( marked and unmarked cars ) so that they achieve similar results. If any fool gets nailed for infrigements after missing obvious cues like that, so be it.

cheers
Steve

A friend of mine is a cop in Western Australia, and he said when they wanted higher salaries, to get their voices heard, they would park by the mulitinova speed cameras and leave their flashing lights on, so motorists would actually slow down. Apparently the state government lost so much revenue, it gave in to the demands, and the cops in WA, got their higher salaries.
Gosh... people slowing down, instead of getting fines.... what are people thinking? honestly!

XR8putts · 17-09-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordOwner

Ive seen on A Current Affair a while back that in NZ they use life size cardboard cut outs of the back-end of a police car to slow traffic down with great results. They said they would mainly be used on roadwork situations. Would be interesting to hear from our Kiwi mates to see if they have encounterd this.

Never heard of or encountered this!