1,800 drivers tested on the Barton Highway

RAID fail only finding a single DUI in 1800 people.

They’d have a much better shot at catching the drunks if they camp around the suburban taverns and check the patrons as they motor home on a friday evening.

Solidarity said :

Loads of cars just pulled a U turn in the queue, so don’t be so sure they caught everyone…

I am 100% all for RBTs. The more of these people we get off the road, the better.

But if the RBTs are done in such a way that people have the option to turn around and avoid the test, I fail to see the point. The remarkably low number of people caught DUI during this border shutdown would suggest that this type of testing doesn’t work as drunks will simply turn around and avoid the test. Better to keep the border open whilst still testing lots of people (say 1 in 5 cars) and doing it over a period of weeks.

A one off tokenistic approach such as this is not going to change attitudes (or even catch drunks if they can simply chuck a U-ey).

But I guess ‘shutting down the border’ sounds important and gives the impression of things being done.

Solidarity said :

20 minutes for a normal person, took me an hour because I kept pulling over because the car kept overheating.

ok, i would be pretty pissed off. a few minutes yeah, but 20 minutes is a bit ridiculous imo.

qbngeek said :

majuraman said :

My maths are that 7 people busted is less than .05% of the 1800 odd taxpayers inconvenienced and held up on their lawful way about their legitimate business..balanced? appropriate? .in RBT the burden of proof is reversed, we are all presumed guilty until proven innocent..it sucks..and conditions us for other hard won freedoms to be eroded…f–k the police state, I say

I say f-k you. I am happy to be inconvienienced, and have been when they have done similar on Canberra Ave to Qbn, if it means that one drink driving tossbag is taken off the road. You don’t have a freedom to drink drive and put everyone else on the road at risk. I would like to see more of this, it will reduce people slipping through the net. I think it would be perfect on Tuggeranong Parkway where you can’t u-turn adn they get everyone.

As for the low hit rate, I would like to see them do it on Friday night or Saturday. Lets see what the numbers are then.

Absofarkinglutely!!

qbngeek said :

majuraman said :

My maths are that 7 people busted is less than .05% of the 1800 odd taxpayers inconvenienced and held up on their lawful way about their legitimate business..balanced? appropriate? .in RBT the burden of proof is reversed, we are all presumed guilty until proven innocent..it sucks..and conditions us for other hard won freedoms to be eroded…f–k the police state, I say

I say f-k you. I am happy to be inconvienienced, and have been when they have done similar on Canberra Ave to Qbn, if it means that one drink driving tossbag is taken off the road. You don’t have a freedom to drink drive and put everyone else on the road at risk. I would like to see more of this, it will reduce people slipping through the net. I think it would be perfect on Tuggeranong Parkway where you can’t u-turn adn they get everyone.

As for the low hit rate, I would like to see them do it on Friday night or Saturday. Lets see what the numbers are then.

+1 to everything you said.

majuraman – what the hell are you talking about, “burden of proof”? Is drink driving one of the “hard won freedoms” that you think you’re entitled to? Get a clue.

majuraman said :

My maths are that 7 people busted is less than .05% of the 1800 odd taxpayers inconvenienced and held up on their lawful way about their legitimate business..balanced? appropriate? .in RBT the burden of proof is reversed, we are all presumed guilty until proven innocent..it sucks..and conditions us for other hard won freedoms to be eroded…f–k the police state, I say

I say f-k you. I am happy to be inconvienienced, and have been when they have done similar on Canberra Ave to Qbn, if it means that one drink driving tossbag is taken off the road. You don’t have a freedom to drink drive and put everyone else on the road at risk. I would like to see more of this, it will reduce people slipping through the net. I think it would be perfect on Tuggeranong Parkway where you can’t u-turn adn they get everyone.

As for the low hit rate, I would like to see them do it on Friday night or Saturday. Lets see what the numbers are then.

Nothing random about an advertised road block. Could we please call it RBBT .

My maths are that 7 people busted is less than .05% of the 1800 odd taxpayers inconvenienced and held up on their lawful way about their legitimate business..balanced? appropriate? .in RBT the burden of proof is reversed, we are all presumed guilty until proven innocent..it sucks..and conditions us for other hard won freedoms to be eroded…f–k the police state, I say

I’m guessing the wait time was why people were turning around – taking a longer way to avoid roadworks if they didn’t know it was RBT?

20 minutes for a normal person, took me an hour because I kept pulling over because the car kept overheating.

Solidarity said :

Loads of cars just pulled a U turn in the queue, so don’t be so sure they caught everyone…

Out of curiosity what was the wait time to get through the border?

Loads of cars just pulled a U turn in the queue, so don’t be so sure they caught everyone…

Over four hours from 4pm yesterday, police from both jurisdictions pooled their resources to “lock down” the highway and breath-test as many drivers as possible on the NSW-ACT border, with [b]ACT Policing members focusing on the northbound traffic, and the Yass District NSW Highway Patrol checking the southbound traffic.[/b]

Huh. I was more on the money than I thought: http://the-riotact.com/cross-border-lockdown/60294 , comment #11.

Good to see only 1 (or 0.05%) of those tested was a positive DUI. How many were caught last year?