3 October 2014

Double demerit points for the long weekend

| Canfan
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Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, reminds drivers that double demerit points will be applied over the Labour Day long weekend as part of the government’s commitment to improving road safety.

Double demerit points will apply to speeding offences and increased demerit points will apply to a number of other traffic offences from Friday 3 October to Monday 6 October 2014 inclusive, and are in line with NSW arrangements over this holiday period.

“Don’t ruin your family’s or someone else’s holiday through reckless driving,” Mr Corbell said.

“Speeding, fatigue and drink-driving are the main causes of road deaths and serious crashes. Plan your trip to meet arrival times without exceeding speed limits.
“If drivers exceed the speed limit by more than 15km/h and up to 30km/h, 6 demerit points will be applied.

“Exceeding the speed limit by 45 km/h or more during this Labour Day weekend will result in 12 demerit points being applied and the risk of licence suspension.”

Drivers are also urged to observe the seatbelt rules and ensure passengers under 16 years old wear appropriate seatbelts or child restraints.

“Failure to wear seatbelts can substantially increase the incidence of fatalities and serious injuries to vehicle occupants,” Mr Corbell said.

“Six demerit points can be applied to the licence of any driver who does not wear a seatbelt or who permits passengers to travel in the vehicle unrestrained.”

Drivers who commit other offences, such as running red lights or failing to stop at stop signs, will receive one extra demerit point on top of the usual number applied.

Mr Corbell also encouraged drivers to be aware of the dangers of fatigue and to ensure they were alert on the roads this long weekend.

“A tired driver becomes a dangerous driver, therefore, I urge people travelling interstate to take advantage of the driver reviver sites in the south east region of NSW where refreshments are available or alternatively take a break at one or more of the many rest stops.”

(Simon Corbell Media Release)

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justin heywood9:07 am 09 Oct 14

rommeldog56 said :

..The ” I’ll just slow the world down to my speed” on the road attitude creates traffic tains (particularly in peak hours) behind the slower vehicle so creates fustration and contributes to unnecessary lane changing, …

Are people so really so self-absorbed that they think slower drivers are deliberately trying to slow THEM down?
Wow

justin heywood said :

house_husband said :

….It even says the following in the ACT Road Rules “Always drive at a legal speed comfortable for you, your car and your passengers, but at a speed that will not obstruct other road users.” .

I think you need to re-read what you wrote. The above does not even remotely suggest that vehicles should be driven at the maximum allowable speed.

And if you regard a vehicle travelling 10 km below the limit as an ‘obstruction’ to you… Well words fail me. I give up and goodbye

In fine conditions, I reckon going 10kph or more under the posted speedlimit in fine/clear conditions is an obstruction. If your car isnt up to it (heavy vehicles, tractors, L platers, etc excepted) or the driver isn’t, then they shouldn’t be on the road. The ” I’ll just slow the world down to my speed” on the road attitude creates traffic tains (particularly in peak hours) behind the slower vehicle so creates fustration and contributes to unnecessary lane changing, brealing, etc.

Just show a little rspect and consideration for fellow road users – who want to or need to travel at the speed limit.

house_husband10:29 pm 08 Oct 14

justin heywood said :

And if you regard a vehicle travelling 10 km below the limit as an ‘obstruction’ to you… Well words fail me. I give up and goodbye

Words fail me that you can’t acknowledge that someone travelling below the speed limit can represent an increased risk to other road users.

Yes I would regard 10kmh below the limit as an obstruction in some circumstances as would may other drivers. Could I deal with it and not get angry? Of course. Do I think it demonstrates poor skill on behalf of the slow driver and a probable limited ability to deal with more complex situations like multi lane roundabouts and busy intersections? Absolutely.

The reality is that poorly skilled drivers with limited spatial awareness will continue to kill and maim themselves and others at speeds below the limit. The sooner that this type of behaviour is treated as seriously as drivers who travel too fast for the conditions, the sooner we might start to see fewer casualty crashes. And with that I’m done too.

justin heywood10:00 pm 08 Oct 14

house_husband said :

….It even says the following in the ACT Road Rules “Always drive at a legal speed comfortable for you, your car and your passengers, but at a speed that will not obstruct other road users.” .

I think you need to re-read what you wrote. The above does not even remotely suggest that vehicles should be driven at the maximum allowable speed.

And if you regard a vehicle travelling 10 km below the limit as an ‘obstruction’ to you… Well words fail me. I give up and goodbye

house_husband8:34 pm 08 Oct 14

switch said :

Works for push bikes on our roads. They even get special limits on how close you can get.

I have no problem with push bikes, trucks, tractors, P platers or any other vehicle that is unable to do things like merge at or maintain the posted speed limit. What I have a problem with is that there is an onus on every driver to not act in a way that increases the risk to other road users. If you have a full licence and almost any size car on a good road in clear conditions what possible legitimate reason is there for not merging at the correct speed or driving below the speed limit to the point you are holding up the flow of traffic?

It even says the following in the ACT Road Rules “Always drive at a legal speed comfortable for you, your car and your passengers, but at a speed that will not obstruct other road users.” And the answer that other people should be able to cope with it does not somehow magically absolve the person who is breaking the road rules in the first place.

house_husband said :

Also your argument that a competent driver should be able to deal with this does not take away from the fact that by creating a speed differential the merging driver has increased the risk of an accident to all concerned. Where does it stop? Should slower drivers be allowed to change lanes into faster traffic because alert drivers should be able to apply the brakes in time?

Works for push bikes on our roads. They even get special limits on how close you can get.

justin heywood said :

Well you must really have difficulties then. A significant number of vehicles cannot do 100 km/h. (Buses, trucks, L platers, scooters etc.)

I would say that if a driver cannot handle adjusting their speed to allow traffic to enter, THEY have a problem and should hand their license in forthwith.

There are no autobahns or US style freeways here, and there will ALWAYS be slower traffic. We have to learn to deal with that.

If your vehicle outright can not do the posted speed limit, it is probably not roadworthy and is dangerous. It should not be on the road.

If you do have something that is unable to do the posted speed limit, and insist on being a road hazard by taking it on the road, it is up to you to safely merge into traffic.

The “I’ll be an obstruction and nuisance just because I can” banter is pretty poor, and outright selfish.

house_husband10:13 am 08 Oct 14

justin heywood said :

I would say that if a driver cannot handle adjusting their speed to allow traffic to enter, THEY have a problem and should hand their license in forthwith.

There are no autobahns or US style freeways here, and there will ALWAYS be slower traffic. We have to learn to deal with that.

If you read the ACT road rules there is no onus on existing traffic to adjust their speed to allow for merging traffic that is travelling slower than the posted limit. The merging vehicle is expected to accelerate to near the posted speed limit and enter safely into a gap in traffic. If the merging vehicle is unable to do this then they MUST give way to traffic already on the road they are merging into. So on what basis should a driver hand in their licence when they are following the road rules?

Also your argument that a competent driver should be able to deal with this does not take away from the fact that by creating a speed differential the merging driver has increased the risk of an accident to all concerned. Where does it stop? Should slower drivers be allowed to change lanes into faster traffic because alert drivers should be able to apply the brakes in time?

I thought registering bikes was meant to solve all the problems on the road.
Wait – did I get that right?

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

So why don’t we see some road safety campaigns targeting this type of behaviour? Serious question.

It is all too hard, especially when you can take the easy way out and have speed cameras and a long list of people being caught, never mind it isn’t necessarily dangerous. Illegal of course.

dtc said :

Although its then incumbent on the slower driver not to speed up to 100km/h when there is an overtaking lane since you can be booked for speeding while overtaking…

Doesn’t actually apply in multilane roads or overtaking lanes. But certainly does when the overtaking vehicle crosses to the opposing lane to overtake.

Same too with overtaking on the left. Here in Aus it is legal to do this on a multilane road, and of course on a single lane road if the vehicle being overtaken is turning right.

justin heywood10:08 pm 07 Oct 14

watto23 said :

+1 this is a problem. If the traffic is going 100 km/h you need to merge at that speed, not merge at 80km/h. That is one instance where you have to do the speed the traffic is doing.

Well you must really have difficulties then. A significant number of vehicles cannot do 100 km/h. (Buses, trucks, L platers, scooters etc.)

I would say that if a driver cannot handle adjusting their speed to allow traffic to enter, THEY have a problem and should hand their license in forthwith.

There are no autobahns or US style freeways here, and there will ALWAYS be slower traffic. We have to learn to deal with that.

It does constantly amaze me that when people are asked what annoys them the most about other drivers, its ‘driving too slowly in the right hand lane’

ie not going as fast as someone else wants them to go

if this is a courtesy issue, by all means criticise how bad some drivers are at this; but as a speed issue its the same as in this thread – take a breath, put on a podcast or something and relax. Sometimes things are just that way. Think instead the road to BB is 45km longer than the straight line distance (105 vs 148km) ie 33% extra distance! And how much better it would be if Canberra was at Braidwood (or jervis bay, but thats another dream)

Although its then incumbent on the slower driver not to speed up to 100km/h when there is an overtaking lane since you can be booked for speeding while overtaking…

house_husband said :

justin heywood said :

Unless you’re a cardiac surgeon racing to save someone’s life, accept that sometimes you will have to slow down and be tolerant of other drivers of variable skill and comfort levels.

The problem is that there are plenty of drivers out there whose “variable skill” means they are a danger to themselves and others. If you can’t perform basic functions like matching speed when merging, driving with the flow of traffic, judging overtaking distances or giving way at intersections then you shouldn’t be on the road.

+1 this is a problem. If the traffic is going 100 km/h you need to merge at that speed, not merge at 80km/h. That is one instance where you have to do the speed the traffic is doing. However I see people pull out at 70-80 km/h all to often, which is very dangerous. If you can’t merge at the traffic speed you can’t drive properly.

Also roundabouts is give way to vehicles on or entering the roundabout. I see too many roundabouts in Canberra where cars assume they have right or way because they are on the right and zoom into the roundabout, even though the car waiting at the roundabout could enter and thus have right of way before the car on the right who is not slowing down to an appropriate speed to give way. Giving way also means if the car is in the other lane you need to give way to that vehicle, even if you can use the other lane.

Finally people do need to realise 2 drivers can be doing 80km/h according to their speedos, but one is actually doing 70km/h. Yeah getting somewhere 2 minutes quicker is not worth speeding for, but sitting in the right lane and being a do gooder when in fact you might be going slower than your speedometer indicates doesn’t help anyone. yeah they might be speeding and they might be tailgating, but why put yourself at risk? I always keep left on all roads and think I’ve been tailgated a handful of times. It only seems to be an issue for people who sit in the right hand lane.

Southmouth said :

There will always be the moron who will overtake you regardless of your speed but if everyone is overtaking you it’s time to surrender that license

If *everyone* is overtaking you, you are probably doing the posted speed limit in the left hand lane within the ACT.

house_husband said :

It isn’t so much one driver but where a large number of drivers have to deal with a person doing 10kmh+ below the speed limit. Add in some trucks and you have a recipe for disaster. Yes there is an onus on every driver to drive to the conditions but there comes a point where the person who is travelling slower than everyone else has to take some responsibility.

+1. If these drivers are so concerned with safety as to slow down so much that traffic is building up behind them, then they should pull over to the side of the road occasionally to let people through – as a matter of safety and courtesy.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back12:01 pm 07 Oct 14

Ghettosmurf87 said :

justin heywood said :

house_husband said :

justin heywood said :

Unless you’re a cardiac surgeon racing to save someone’s life, accept that sometimes you will have to slow down and be tolerant of other drivers of variable skill and comfort levels.

The problem is that there are plenty of drivers out there whose “variable skill” means they are a danger to themselves and others. If you can’t perform basic functions like matching speed when merging, driving with the flow of traffic, judging overtaking distances or giving way at intersections then you shouldn’t be on the road.

When did we reach the stage that the main test of driver skill is speed related?

The main criteria for driving is surely the ability to drive safely.

If a driver is unable to deal with slower traffic in a responsible way, THEY are the unsafe driver, not the person driving 10 km below the limit.

+1 the ability to remain patient and act rationally and safely is surely the key criteria for driving skill, not the ability to sit at exactly the maximum speed limit no matter what.

The number of people unable to remain patient and courteous on the roads is staggerring. Even when traffic is flowing at 10km ABOVE the speed limit on the GDE you still get idiots tailgating and being abusive in the LEFT lane. It’s those morons who are the far greater threat to people remaining safe on our roads than the person doing 80 or even 85 in a 90 zone.

So why don’t we see some road safety campaigns targeting this type of behaviour? Serious question.

Ghettosmurf8711:32 am 07 Oct 14

justin heywood said :

house_husband said :

justin heywood said :

Unless you’re a cardiac surgeon racing to save someone’s life, accept that sometimes you will have to slow down and be tolerant of other drivers of variable skill and comfort levels.

The problem is that there are plenty of drivers out there whose “variable skill” means they are a danger to themselves and others. If you can’t perform basic functions like matching speed when merging, driving with the flow of traffic, judging overtaking distances or giving way at intersections then you shouldn’t be on the road.

When did we reach the stage that the main test of driver skill is speed related?

The main criteria for driving is surely the ability to drive safely.

If a driver is unable to deal with slower traffic in a responsible way, THEY are the unsafe driver, not the person driving 10 km below the limit.

+1 the ability to remain patient and act rationally and safely is surely the key criteria for driving skill, not the ability to sit at exactly the maximum speed limit no matter what.

The number of people unable to remain patient and courteous on the roads is staggerring. Even when traffic is flowing at 10km ABOVE the speed limit on the GDE you still get idiots tailgating and being abusive in the LEFT lane. It’s those morons who are the far greater threat to people remaining safe on our roads than the person doing 80 or even 85 in a 90 zone.

house_husband11:13 am 07 Oct 14

justin heywood said :

When did we reach the stage that the main test of driver skill is speed related?

The main criteria for driving is surely the ability to drive safely.

If a driver is unable to deal with slower traffic in a responsible way, THEY are the unsafe driver, not the person driving 10 km below the limit.

Depending upon the circumstances I disagree. It isn’t so much one driver but where a large number of drivers have to deal with a person doing 10kmh+ below the speed limit. Add in some trucks and you have a recipe for disaster. Yes there is an onus on every driver to drive to the conditions but there comes a point where the person who is travelling slower than everyone else has to take some responsibility.

Also I think we are far too accepting of the “variable skill” of some drivers. For example this morning coming back from the shops I was following a person who was doing 5kmh under the limit. In 4 corners they managed to run wide on 3 of them, either crossing the white line or running over the median strip.

Under our current system of testing and enforcement there is almost zero chance that person will be fined or have their right to drive revoked.

justin heywood10:12 am 07 Oct 14

house_husband said :

justin heywood said :

Unless you’re a cardiac surgeon racing to save someone’s life, accept that sometimes you will have to slow down and be tolerant of other drivers of variable skill and comfort levels.

The problem is that there are plenty of drivers out there whose “variable skill” means they are a danger to themselves and others. If you can’t perform basic functions like matching speed when merging, driving with the flow of traffic, judging overtaking distances or giving way at intersections then you shouldn’t be on the road.

When did we reach the stage that the main test of driver skill is speed related?

The main criteria for driving is surely the ability to drive safely.

If a driver is unable to deal with slower traffic in a responsible way, THEY are the unsafe driver, not the person driving 10 km below the limit.

house_husband8:36 am 07 Oct 14

justin heywood said :

Unless you’re a cardiac surgeon racing to save someone’s life, accept that sometimes you will have to slow down and be tolerant of other drivers of variable skill and comfort levels.

The problem is that there are plenty of drivers out there whose “variable skill” means they are a danger to themselves and others. If you can’t perform basic functions like matching speed when merging, driving with the flow of traffic, judging overtaking distances or giving way at intersections then you shouldn’t be on the road.

justin heywood5:19 pm 06 Oct 14

Southmouth said :

….. this is 2014 and people expect to be able to drive at the posted speed unless there are unusual conditions at play.

There’s your problem right there. “People expect…”, meaning YOU expect to be able to drive at the maximum speed allowable. This will often not be the case when there is a lot of traffic about.

I’m not retired, nor do I knit, but like you I have driven a lot, been in a few prangs (including a fatal) and have learned to become a lot more philosophical about other drivers; i.e. they aren’t all as good as me but I’ll live longer if I just deal with it.

Worst case scenario? I’ll be at the coast 10 minutes later. The world will still turn.

justin heywood said :

Scary that I’m sharing the road with some of the attitudes displayed on this thread.

The scary thing is almost getting wiped out a couple of times a year by someone who can’t judge distance who is overtaking someone who is driving in a way that would irritate all but retired cardigan wearers. They other scary thing is coming across fatalities caused by same, which I do, all too often.

I agree that impatience is the root cause, but this is 2014 and people expect to be able to drive at the posted speed unless there are unusual conditions at play. I don’t believe it’s realistic to think that people are going to get any more patient over time.

There will always be the moron who will overtake you regardless of your speed but if everyone is overtaking you it’s time to surrender that license

Southmouth said :

I agree that there are road conditions that require a speed lower than the posted speed to be safe but this accounts for like 1percent of the occurrences and was obviously not the intent of my comment. The fact is that if you are travelling at a speed below the traffic flow, most people will overtake you and that is serious hazard. Do you do 99 km/h when using an overtaking lane?

Really? In my driving experience the road conditions vary based on a number of factors. Take the summer conga line to the coast for example, with the traffic on there some days 80km/h is about the safest speed, but you still get some who will do absolute and utter silly things endangering themselves and those around to get two cars ahead.

As for you 1% claim I assume you are talking in the city, because sure as shit it isn’t 1% in the country. Most open country roads have a speed limit of 100km/h which just is not safe, yet people see that speed and try to drive at that speed and curse anyone who dares to drive at what is a safe and sensible speed.

justin heywood12:39 pm 06 Oct 14

Scary that I’m sharing the road with some of the attitudes displayed on this thread.

The problem is not people travelling 10 km below the limit or L platers etc. It’s impatience – stemming from an entitlement mentality (eg. that driver is not driving at what I think is the proper speed!).

Unless you’re a cardiac surgeon racing to save someone’s life, accept that sometimes you will have to slow down and be tolerant of other drivers of variable skill and comfort levels.

Too many people think that everyone should behave exactly as they do.

JC said :

Southmouth said :

and making it illegal to be more than 10km BELOW the limit would reduce fatalities for sure. (Although upset some, particularly those who think doing 90 in a 100 makes them safe drivers)

Seriously? That is the dumbest dumbest idea/statement I’ve heard in years. People need to drive to the conditions, that may well be 40km/h (or more) below the speed limit on some roads and some conditions, not some arbitrary figure.

What we do need maybe are some laws like in the UK that, in theory force people to pull over and let others pass when they are holding up traffic driving too slowly.

Though do agree that the fixation with speeding by governments and police is also a crock.

I agree that there are road conditions that require a speed lower than the posted speed to be safe but this accounts for like 1percent of the occurrences and was obviously not the intent of my comment. The fact is that if you are travelling at a speed below the traffic flow, most people will overtake you and that is serious hazard. Do you do 99 km/h when using an overtaking lane?

house_husband8:59 am 06 Oct 14

“Speeding, fatigue and drink-driving are the main causes of road deaths and serious crashes. Plan your trip to meet arrival times without exceeding speed limits”

I would love for Mr Corbell to back this statement up with some actual hard facts. The one thing that our annual report on crashes here in the ACT is completely devoid of is causes and/or contributing factors. Or perhaps they have that information and because it doesn’t suit their revenue raising “speeding is the root of all evil” approach it gets hidden?

Until we have a genuine evidence based approached to road safety it’s all just hyperbole and hot air that will do little to have any real long term impact on reducing casualty crashes.

Southmouth said :

and making it illegal to be more than 10km BELOW the limit would reduce fatalities for sure. (Although upset some, particularly those who think doing 90 in a 100 makes them safe drivers)

Seriously? That is the dumbest dumbest idea/statement I’ve heard in years. People need to drive to the conditions, that may well be 40km/h (or more) below the speed limit on some roads and some conditions, not some arbitrary figure.

What we do need maybe are some laws like in the UK that, in theory force people to pull over and let others pass when they are holding up traffic driving too slowly.

Though do agree that the fixation with speeding by governments and police is also a crock.

Twice in the last couple of months I’ come across serious accidents at the intersection of the Monaro hwy and Old Cooma rd. One was a fatality. Can anyone tell me if this is on the black spot funding list?

I do around 75,000km a year as a combination of work and play kms. I see more than my fair share of craziness. A fair proportion is from people who are discernibly city drivers ( so act plates on the way to the coast or nsw plates with skis on the roof for eg) who are simply not used to judging distances when overtaking on country roads. I fully support double demerit holiday periods but overtaking is the big issue. I’m not sure what can be done but banning L platers on long weekends and making it illegal to be more than 10km BELOW the limit would reduce fatalities for sure. (Although upset some, particularly those who think doing 90 in a 100 makes them safe drivers)

BenjaminRose199110:04 pm 04 Oct 14

The government’s commitment to improving road safety should include making it harder for people not suited for safe driving to get licenses in the first place with harsher penalties for existing drivers (i.e. $1000 for tailgating a vehicle on a road with a speed limit exceeding 80 km/h + loss for 4 demerit points)

This should also include all authorised drivers of ACT government plated vehicles and ACTEW vehicles. Both of which I often see speeding, tailgating, and/or driving erratically obviously under the impression that because they are a government employee that the rules don’t apply.

Is it constitutional to change the laws for holidays?

Yet most of the bad driving i see is people who are either unattentive or just don’t know the rules.
Speeding is just the easy thing to pick on and raises the most revenue.

Double demerit points will apply to speeding offences and increased demerit points will apply to a number of other traffic offences from Friday 3 October to Monday 6 October 2014 inclusive, and are in line with NSW arrangements over this holiday period.

So we’re back to picking and choosing what penalties apply are we? If it’s double demerits, leave it at that. Don’t make some offences double and some less (but still increased).

Yet another sign that the only offence being policed is speeding…. shouldn’t say I’m surprised really.

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