I'm bloody P*ssed off!!!!!!

[Matt76]

Now before I get on my rant, please understand that I am not anti-police or a cop hater by any means, I have a mate who is a cop, and I would not trade them jobs for anything. Today however, they pissed me off!

I was travelling along the centenary highway towards springfield where all the road works is, it is a 60 zone through all the roadworks and we were stuck behing a volvo anyway (probably lucky!) so we cruise through the roadworks at almost walking pace, 60 signs all the way, then the roadworks stops, it turns back into a normal looking highway and ther is a big yellow "End of roadworks" sign. I speed up and start headng towards the normal 100km/h, we come around a bend and there are cops and cars stopped everywhere. they stop us and pull us over and I said to the missus 'must be an RBT', the cop comes over with his ticket book and says "mate we have clocked you doing 86km/h just back there'
I say 'yeah mate that sounds about right, but its a 100 zone isnt it?"
Cop: 'no it is a 60 zone'
Me 'but mate it is 60 for the roadworks and then there is a big sign saying that the road works is finished'
cop: 'It is a 60 zone'
Me 'but it has an end of roadworks sign, that surely means that the 60km/h roadworks speed limit is over?"

From then on he avoided any of my questions regarding the end of roadworks sign. He even came back to the car and said 'so do you have any excuse for breaking the speed limit?" I said "No, and I don't dissagree that I was doing 86, I dont beleive that I was breaking the law!"

I told him very politely that I will be contesting the ticket because I do not believe I have done anything wrong, along with the other 10-15 cars that were pulled over in the short time that I was there. Dead set there were at least 7 cop cars there and a shit load of cops and they were absolutely cleaning up.

The cop then started talking into his voice recorder saying stuff like "The driver is driving a Black 4wd, he has two other passengers in the car, a female in the front and a male in the back, he has a company logo on the side of the car" I couldnt hear what else he was saying but I can't work out what he was doing. I guess he was taking notes knowing that I was going to contest it and he would have to explain the whole senario to his superintendant.

I went straight to the Yamanto cop shop to ask them if they could explain to me the law because i just cannot understand it, and you guessed it there was no traffic cops there because they were all on site doing the blitz on the centenary highway. They told me I have to send a formal letter to the superintendant of traffic at Yamanto and explain why I beleive I am not in the wrong and they will investigate it. I dont really think I will get anywhere because I am sure they will say that I have to wait for a new speed sign before raising my speed and not a roadworks sign. It was terribly decieving though and there would have been loads and loads of other drivers that would have been done exactly the same as me believing they had done nothing wrong.

Anyway I will send off my letter and see what happens, I will keep you informed.

Rant over......

 

[Dave]

Not a good day mate.

Go back and get some pics so you have evidence.

I haven't had a speeding fine for ages, jeez I love that UHF and channel 40.

If you see a truck speeding there are no highway patrol cars.

I think its pathetic that they sit and wait at roadworks when most of the time the roadworks only happen twice that day when a Dozer or Grader is working close to the road.

Outside of Singleton NSW the south side they are doing this crap all the time.

Dave.

 

[Navara_cruz]

Mate I can understand your pain but it happen to my father down here on the central coast highway, they told him until there is a sign that displays the change of speed that previous zone is enforceable....

I'm not sure how long you have been driving or how many speeding tickets you have had but someone told me that if you haven't had a ticket inside a 10 yesr window you can use that as like a good driving record way out of it...

 

[kitch76]

I was under the impression as well that an end roadwork sign you could resume the set speed limit for that stretch of road.

 

[Dion]

Sorry to hear about the ticket, good luck contesting it.

That's how I would have understood it as well, I'll have to be more careful. Frequently (there's an example on Yawalpah Rd in Pimpama QLD where they're laying a recycled water pipeline next to the road) there are no "return to limit" signs, or the wrong sign, because the traffic control contractors run out of signs or can't be jeffed putting them up.

I'm fairly sure a few times on the Pacific Highway I've had a head scratch because the roadworks "end", but there's no restorative limit sign for like 10kilometres till the next permanent sign, so you have to assume the roadworks are over and the limit is restored?

 

[STUTE]

My dad is a Senior Sergeant for Vic Pol.
Im not sure about NSW, but he belives in Vic, that unless its signed as 100km after the roadworks it remains 60kmh until to next 100km sign.
The end of road work is just an End of roadwork sign. Its not a return back to the standard speed limit for that part of the road..
Now, the old man hasnt been on the road for some time, so his knowledge of the law has some what deminished, LOL.
I dont know how your going to go with the letter, but im sure you will get off.
I have a feeling that if you admit fault and promise not to do it again you will get off your fine.
This is a bit of a grey area I rekon.

Thats my 2c worth.

Also, I was finned today for going 74 in a 60 zone.
Camera got me. I think I go down to 1 point now. ITS NOT GOOD.
I didnt even think my Nav went that fast.

Stuart

 

[flashum1]

sucks arse dude! one to watch out for.

definately worth protesting but they've probably got ya by the short & curleys. perhaps suss out main roads and get the definitions of the displayed signs and as dave said, get some photos!

good luck mate!

 

[Matt76]

Yeah Navara Cruz, I am sure that the law is as you state and that they will tell me the same thing, it just pisses me off that it was a blatent trap for people like me who assumed they were doing the right thing, I could even see the new speed limit sign from where we got booked so its not like it was actually dangerous where we were speeding, a couple of hundred metres up the road it was 100km/h anyway. bastards.

 

[kitch76]

Just found on main roads web, unless it has a speed sign beside it the speed is still at the reduced limit until the next speed sign.

 

[Matt76]

That sucks, oh well I'll still give it a shot and plead innocent and confused.

Cheers

 

[Dion]

Go to page 92.

Bugger.

 

[Navara_cruz]

another one to look out for is the school zones. I was made aware of this on the weekend that not all scholl zones are the same times. Some start at 2pm through to 4pm and others start at 2:30pm through to 4pm.

My aunty was booked doing 52km at 2:15pm through one and went to contest it and they said you should have read the sign and its times.

Apparently this is around some high schools

Another trap for beginners

 

[Dion]

Friend of the family who's in TMU in Vic sometimes does a blitz where three or four officers hide on foot on each prong of a roundabout, and walk out and pull people over when they fail to indicate exiting the roundabout. Ouch.

 

[Matt76]

Bugger, thanks Pro-Nav

 

[STUTE]

Fines Fairer and Firmer - Official Warnings


go here for a look see.

 

[Jason]

Damn, bad luck Matt, I know what you mean though, it's the deceptive nature of the whole thing.

I got booked a couple of months ago going through the boom gates at the train tracks on Telegraph Road. Gates were up but the lights were flashing. The bell at the gates was not working. Because of the nature of this intersection I didnt see the flashing lights because it was late in the day and the sun was low. I was also concentrating on oncoming traffic because the whole shit fight happens at a T intersection and half the pricks coming at you dont indicate so you dont know who's turning and who's not.

Anyway, a week after I get booked the gates are taken out by two different vehicles in about 3 days, and it's declared one of the worst rail crossing in SEQ. Friggin Einsteins!

telegraph road bracken ridge - Google Maps

I was coming up Lacey Road turning right into Telegraph Road.

Again, I dont deny I was in the wrong but how about some leniency for a broken warning bell and shit intersection?

 

[Nevyn]

Mate that really sucks! It's obvious that the Police planned it well to maximise revenue. I reckon if the original speed limit sign said 60 Road Works you might have a case with the End Road Works sign.

 

[Matt76]

Mate that really sucks! It's obvious that the Police planned it well to maximise revenue.

Thats exactly what pisses me off, instead of trying to catch the ones that are driving dangerously, they make a fortune out of those that beleive they arent doing anything wrong. Their figures will look fantastic this month and they will all get a pat on the back.


Oh and Jason I travel that rail crossing all the time too, and yep I hear ya, it is a pain in the arse. You can never assume where any car is going, its a mess.

 

[Lil_Menace]

Friend of the family who's in TMU in Vic sometimes does a blitz where three or four officers hide on foot on each prong of a roundabout, and walk out and pull people over when they fail to indicate exiting the roundabout. Ouch.

Well they need to do that in Queensland to teach people how to use roundabouts.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Bloody pisses me off when they use some bullshit law no one knows about for an obvious revenue earner.
I recon the lazy bastards should spend more time getting people for shitty driving than blatent accidental speeding. The other day a highway patrol car was sitting in the right lane at some lights and next to it some bloody princess with a little white dog on her knee yapping out of the window, (I was walking) so I had a go at the coppers about it, they said they had better things to do which really pissed me off as I never see them doing anything. This kind of stupidity really winds me up