924Board.org

[gwsg]

Well. well, well, how the worm turns!

The Victorian state government yesterday announced that they were putting aside $26 million to compensate drivers who were convicted on speed camera charges on a new freeway. The 30 km freeway had 25 permanent speed cameras and was a money tree for the government.

It came to a head about 18 months ago when a mid 70’s Datsun 120Y was clocked at 173 km/h and the owner faced mandatory loss of licence for exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 km/h. Of course everybody knows that a 120Y with a sky rocket strapped to its back could never, ever go that fast. But computers have no compassion and they never lie so conviction was pending when a local TV station picked up the story and organised some timed test runs on the race track.

They couldn’t get the car to go faster than 97 km/h and this was covered on the evening news. The government announced a hold on the issue of fines from the cameras while testing procedures were put in place. After 18 months of exhaustive testing they still can’t guarantee the accuracy of the cameras.

So drivers who had their licences suspended are having them reinstated and can claim compensation for loss of income and transport costs while under suspension. People who were fined are having their fines reimbursed.

No such thing as a money tree.
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My 80 924 loves me.

[wdb]

i came across an interesting article about insurance companies giving lower rates if they can watch what time ,where and how fast you drive .

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,312036,00.html

[Khal]

Yeah, that's kinda sad, huh? Brisbane's not quite as bad as Melbourne and Sydney. We have no fixed speed cameras. And the tolerance on our mobile speed cameras are higher... I think 10% of the stated limit compared to something like +3km/h in Melbourne. But the bastards will let the cops park their mobile speed cameras anywhere! I've seen one just up from my work, at the bottom of reasonably long, steep hill in a 60km/h zone. They're just pinging everyone!

I've been done by a camera once, and I was speeding, I know it. 115km/h in a 100km/h zone. But they got me on the downhill stretch of a nice, straight part of dual-carriageway highway, with at least a kilometre forward visibility. What the hell were they doing there?! Why weren't they off the next exit, around the corner, where the local primary school is?! Bastards!
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'80 924 Turbo

[red924]

no chance of simliar action in the UK!
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1980 Red 924 CARRERA GT(rep) with custom leather interior + GT goodies!
Click on link 4 pics! http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=12422

[Chrenan]

I just got a photo radar speeding ticket in the mail yesterday. I was doing 69 in a 50, cost me $120, what a rip-off...
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1987 951 - M193 Version for Japan

[JoonTae]

Not that I won't ever speed but speed limits are the law not a suggestion. And I'm gonna end it there cause arguing on the internet is like the special olympics. Even if you win you're still retarded.

[-nick]

Shouting profanities at vegetables is against the law in Ohio. Does that make right?

Speed limit fines are revenue making devices. The worse the local economy, the more tickets get handed out. I've got a couple cop friends. It has nothing to do with safety.

Here's a good story. I was heading through Kansas earlier this summer. Driving quick. I was in the left lane on the highway going around a left turn. The highway had a barrier wall on the left side. As I came around the turn I saw the car in front of me hit his brakes hard and the car started to wriggle from having all the weight transferred to the front tires going around the turn. What do you know, there was a cop sitting there with his radar gun. I got nailed. If he had any concern for safety then he would have sat just before the turn so people would slow down for it rather than almost causing accidents as people slam on the brakes midway through. Or the cops might even get out into traffic and catch tailgaters and all those folks I see driving wrecklessly. That's too tough though and it doesn't bring in as much $$ as picking off speeders.

That's my rant... Glad to hear you guys in Oz don't have to deal with the big brother cameras anymore. My Aussie friends out here have told me that their pretty tough on speeders down there (maybe that's why they drive like old ladies!).
-nick

[CMXXXI]

Here's another one...

The Germans used to (still do probably) have similar radar/photo traps. I got called into my bosses office one day and he told me that I'd been caught in one of the traps, and that I could look look forward to being "called on the carpet" soon by the Brigade Commander about it. (I was a mid-level staff officer at the time). I asked my boss where and when this had occured, and he told me the name of the town. He said that there was a photo, and the licence plate was <indeed my number>. I said that I'd never been there in my life, and I wanted to challenge the citation.

He told me OK, but I'd have to go downtown to the Laison Office where there was a staff of US MP's and German Polizei who worked together on inter-national issues (including traffic stuff). I went down and made my case, and then they called the 'precinct' where the photo was taken. A fax was sent back of the photograph, and lo-and-behold the licence plate was the same as the one on my 931. The problem was that the vehicle was a military VW van!

The explanation is that the Germans saw it was a US plate, but didn't realize that private and "official" vehicles have different <shape & color> plates. Somewhere along the line the fact that it was an "official" vehicle was lost, and they processed things as if it was a private vehicle. I'm sure when they looked up the number and saw that it was a Porsche, they didn't question things a bit, and just processed it through the normal military channels.

Needless to say, with photo in hand I was able to prove my case and all charges were dropped.
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'79 Eurospec 931

[Lizard]