Discussion - "illegal" modifications to vehicles

[SOLID D22]

So your experience sums up EVERY situation does it?

I was a cop for 10 years. You'll just have to believe me when I say that your last sentence is completely wrong.

I know of one example VERY recently here in Canberra where, following the accident, the prang gang (aka accident investigation) siezed one of the vehicles involved and basically took it apart bolt by bolt. PLENTY of problems. PLENTY of money in fines. PLENTY of problems for the owner. And no-one was injured in the accident.

So then explain why when i was involved in a rear end accident and the car that hit me had no license plates or rego sticker, and the owner had the nerve to come out and yell and abuse me saying why the hell was i turning, he almost threw punches when i asked for his details, he was definately drugged not drunk drugged i know the difference. I rang the police, their response was if no one was injured and there is no oil or likewise substances on the road then there is no need for them to come out to the incident.
Hooray for the moron police, i almost get bashed, my car gets smashed by an unlicenced driver and unregistered vehicle and its all fine isnt it.
Great job fella's. If you do scrutinise vehicles its obviously pick n choose isnt it.
In canberra it must be different, a perfect example is when my bro in law was building his new house items/building materials got stolen overnight one night. Insurance and police came the next day did the report and he got paid insurance money to cover the cost of stolen goods. So he is living in his new house now and next door neighbour is building a house, he hears a bang and see's people breking into next door house stealing building materials once again, he calls the police, their response 'sorry sir we do not have any patrol cars out patroling your area tonight, cant do nothing'.
These attitudes and my previous experiences is what gives me little faith in the vic police, and i know how it works my cuz is a policeman and me and him are practically brothers, you could say i almost know as much about the force as he does.

 

[ants_oz]

You have to remember that it is not the prime responsibility of the police to check roadworthiness of vehicles - that is the responsibility of the registration authorities. Police generally only over pick up blatantly obvious defect.

As to why they didn't attend whatever incidents - you have the right to complain. In person. Written complaint. You may be surprised how much attention these complaints receive. Or perhaps you might like to seek an explanation from your state elected representative. That's one of the things they are there to provide you with - they are YOUR representative in Parliament after all.

For example...I was run off the road by a B double truck on the Hume Highway a little while ago. I took exception (as I was obeying all road rules, and he wasn't and endangered my family) and went to the next local police station to lodge a complaint. The local NSW copper didn't want to know about the issue. Until I pushed the matter. Basically told him that it's not his job to be judge and jury, it's his job to hear my complaint, take my statement if I choose to make one, and if there is prima face evidence of an offence being committed, it is his job to pursue it. If he didn't want to do his job, I told him no problem, I'll just take his badge number and head off to his local area command to have the discussion with his boss. If they didn't want to know about it, no problem, I wouldn't stop there either. Result? My statement was taken, an infringement was issued to the other driver, and the incident got its day in court.

That is an example of how seriously I take my responsibilities as a citizen.

I can't excuse or explain the behaviour of the police in the examples you have given - how could I possibly do that? I wasn't there, and most importantly, I'm not them. I can only take responsibility for my own choices and behaviour.

I know it makes no difference at all to what happened, but I think what you described is abhorrent at best, bordering on dereliction of duty. Whoever told you (for example) that they don't have to attend an accident in the circumstances you describe should lose their job in my opinion.

 

[ants_oz]

...Nav wont be seeing the road till fully engineered and insured...

For what it's worth, I congratulate you for that stance.

In the example that Jason posted (thread on the Jeep forum), I noted a couple of things...

-the vehicle builder was quite open about the fact he was going to drive the vehicle illegally, several thousand km's

-someone took a stand - not with his modifications, but because he intended to so flagrantly break the law

-mob mentality kicked into gear and jump on the popular bandwagon

Vehicles which are modified in such a was as the one on that thread (and similarly, for example, the ones who have undertaken solid axle conversions of various kinds on this forum) are to me, technically interesting vehicles. I enjoy seeing and reading about the engineering accomplishments, the problem solving...it's great stuff.

In his example, he got the vehicle successfully engineer approved in NSW and good on him for achieving that. Congrats.

But all that being said, I can never, and WILL never agree with someone's choice to drive a vehicle which is unroadworthy (people can make all the excuses they want - until approved, complied etc, the vehicle was unroadworthy) ESPECIALLY several thousand km's. Yes, the owner experienced some hardship financially - but how about the fact the vehicle should never have been on the road until it was approved anyway? How is that someone ELSE'S fault?

In essence, that was the point of me starting this thread - why do some drive vehicles which they KNOW are unroadworthy through modification, but either (a) can't be bothered seeking approval for those mods for whatever reason, or (b) don't seek approval because they know their mods won't be approved?

 

[Krankin]

why do some drive vehicles which they KNOW are unroadworthy through modification, but either (a) can't be bothered seeking approval for those mods for whatever reason, or (b) don't seek approval because they know their mods won't be approved?

Because the HOON factor kicks in.

Some think they know it all,

Some think they are above the law,

Some think they'll never get caught,

Some think there's no consequences for their actions,

and some have not evovled enough to fit in to civilisation.






On a different note

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY.

 

[ants_oz]

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY.

And to you too

 

[SOLID D22]

You have to remember that it is not the prime responsibility of the police to check roadworthiness of vehicles - that is the responsibility of the registration authorities. Police generally only over pick up blatantly obvious defect.

As to why they didn't attend whatever incidents - you have the right to complain. In person. Written complaint. You may be surprised how much attention these complaints receive. Or perhaps you might like to seek an explanation from your state elected representative. That's one of the things they are there to provide you with - they are YOUR representative in Parliament after all.

For example...I was run off the road by a B double truck on the Hume Highway a little while ago. I took exception (as I was obeying all road rules, and he wasn't and endangered my family) and went to the next local police station to lodge a complaint. The local NSW copper didn't want to know about the issue. Until I pushed the matter. Basically told him that it's not his job to be judge and jury, it's his job to hear my complaint, take my statement if I choose to make one, and if there is prima face evidence of an offence being committed, it is his job to pursue it. If he didn't want to do his job, I told him no problem, I'll just take his badge number and head off to his local area command to have the discussion with his boss. If they didn't want to know about it, no problem, I wouldn't stop there either. Result? My statement was taken, an infringement was issued to the other driver, and the incident got its day in court.

That is an example of how seriously I take my responsibilities as a citizen.

I can't excuse or explain the behaviour of the police in the examples you have given - how could I possibly do that? I wasn't there, and most importantly, I'm not them. I can only take responsibility for my own choices and behaviour.

I know it makes no difference at all to what happened, but I think what you described is abhorrent at best, bordering on dereliction of duty. Whoever told you (for example) that they don't have to attend an accident in the circumstances you describe should lose their job in my opinion.

Thanks, il keep that in consideration if something happens in the future.

 

[joelus]

prob a good idea any guys out there not to put your rego numbers on photos posted, ive heard of "persons" going through forums etc trying to find illegal mods etc. Not supporting "illegal" mods, im all for modding, but like joshy said, you spend to much money and time making sure everything is done properly for some guy to take it all away... or atleast annoy the crap out of you for a coupla hours...

And for anyone on here... all my cars are stock standard, I swear!!

 

[WIR35]

Surely there would be some kind of "club registration" available to the highly modified 4WD vehicles? They issue them to hot rods, muscle cars etc, which would have no chance in hell of meeting standard ADR's or state regulations. It would be just the thing if you were driving to a 4WD park or something...

 

[Jason]

Surely there would be some kind of "club registration" available to the highly modified 4WD vehicles? They issue them to hot rods, muscle cars etc, which would have no chance in hell of meeting standard ADR's or state regulations. It would be just the thing if you were driving to a 4WD park or something...

In QLD we have 'Conditional Registration', don't know how you would go getting it though.

Conditional registration

Conditional registration is a registration scheme for non-standard vehicles that do not comply with the standard regulations for registration and have a genuine need to access the road network. Conditional registration gives you the benefit of compulsory third party insurance in the event of a crash occurring on a road causing personal injury.

 

[joelus]

My mate has one for his GT, yeah they are limited road use only. Dont see the point, unless you only go on the road 4 times a year.

 

[SOLID D22]

I had club reg on one of my vals, and its true different set of rules from one rego to another, sort of throws this whole engineer report business out the window.

 

[maddogrc]

if anyone is going to start dobbing in illegal mods you can dob in 225 tyres instead of 195 stock tyres. woo, 1 size too big compared to the max you can go!

and when i got pulled over the cop said the car looked great! (pulled over because i did 110 with a trailer, didnt know about the 100 limit, eek)

so yet this is such a small and simple mod, it is STILL illegal...

dont see how its bad though as it made my tacho correct, not 5km/h out from factory and its a more grippier tyre on the road.

 

[SOLID D22]

if anyone is going to start dobbing in illegal mods you can dob in 225 tyres instead of 195 stock tyres. woo, 1 size too big compared to the max you can go!

and when i got pulled over the cop said the car looked great! (pulled over because i did 110 with a trailer, didnt know about the 100 limit, eek)

so yet this is such a small and simple mod, it is STILL illegal...

dont see how its bad though as it made my tacho correct, not 5km/h out from factory and its a more grippier tyre on the road.

Thats the point i was trying tp prove before, where do you stop with illegal mods. There is soo many illegal things that can be done to a car without knowing its illegal.

 

[WIR35]

I had club reg on one of my vals, and its true different set of rules from one rego to another, sort of throws this whole engineer report business out the window.

Doesn't it work something along the lines of you can only drive it a certain distance from your garage address, or you can only drive it when there is a club event and you need something in writing from the club president that there is a meet on? That was my understanding, at least in QLD. That's okay, if you want to drive your monster truck Nissan up to landcruiser mountain park, just get your club president to send you an email saying there is a club meet there on that weekend, and you're sweet.

 

[SOLID D22]

Doesn't it work something along the lines of you can only drive it a certain distance from your garage address, or you can only drive it when there is a club event and you need something in writing from the club president that there is a meet on? That was my understanding, at least in QLD. That's okay, if you want to drive your monster truck Nissan up to landcruiser mountain park, just get your club president to send you an email saying there is a club meet there on that weekend, and you're sweet.

It works by driving the car to an event which is listed in the club newsletter, but your right, lets talk vals, lets say i want to go drags one friday night, all i have to do is let the secretary know what day its on and it will be posted in the newsletter.
Im hearing rumours they might bring in a rule/law which allows you to drive your club plate car for 80 days of the year without any newsletters or any events to go to, just basically for you to enjoy freely, but what you have to do is sign a book before you leave home, this book stays in the car, so if a cop pulls you over he/she can see its a day ticked off by yourself.

I know of club cars which are race cars, some of which could once hit 260km/h down the phillip island straight, and were talking in a valiant, dangerous, but they are allowed to drive to events along the roads as normal. Very illegal by any standard but doesnt matter if club plates are on.

 

[joelus]

thats right. so what makes them safe to be on the road for those 80days but your 4by with 1mm of tyre sticking out the guard "Illegal"?? there has to be some form a consistency to the laws and regulations. I understand they have to draw a line somewhere, but it has no basis, some things are okay whereas others arent??

Btw: solid post some pics in your garage or something of your Val? keen to have a gander!

 

[SOLID D22]

OK will post some pics soon.

 

[Nevyn]

Hey Anthony! Curious as to whether or not your tyres (on the Nav) are engineered or not.

Cheers Brad

 

[Krankin]

Hmmmm!

I had a very different understanding about 'Club Rego',

but by what some are saying here,

I can build a 'Pro-Stock Sedan', get Club Rego and drive merrily down the street.

I'd like to see that!

 

[Krankin]

For those looking at Club Rego, in VIC anyway,
have a look here.

Other permits : VicRoads

Key factors: No current reg, RWC and vehicles older than 25 years,

so unless I've missed something, an illegally modified '08 d22 wont cut it for club reg.



I dont make the rules.

You just have to learn to 'play the game'.