4 September 2012

Police focussing on your seatbelts

| johnboy
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ACT Policing will be focusing on seatbelts for the month of September as part of its ongoing traffic enforcement campaign.

Every year in Australia more than 20% of all the road fatalities involve a person, including children, not being properly restrained.

Officer-In-Charge of Traffic Operations, Sergeant Rod Anderson said that seat belts saved lives, and that drivers also carried the full responsibility for their passengers wearing seat belts.

“It is an offence to drive while not wearing your seatbelt or to permit passengers of any age to travel in your car without seatbelts,” Sergeant Anderson said.

“Seat belts are a proven safety feature and there’s no excuse for not wearing one. You greatly reduce the chances of being killed or seriously injured in a collision if you’re wearing a seat belt and that belt is properly adjusted.”

ACT Policing statistics show that 562 individuals were given a traffic infringement notice (TIN) for driving without a seatbelt in 2011 (up 96 on 2010).

So far in 2012 there has been 475 TINs issued for individuals driving without a seatbelt in the ACT.

ACT Policing will continue to pay particular attention to the offence of not wearing a seatbelt throughout the month of September.

The fine for not having a seat belt properly fastened is $303 + 3 demerit points.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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To Sergeant Rod Anderson,

1. What is a “traffic enforcement campaign”? Do you mean a “law enforcement campaign” If so why not call it that?

2. Why can’t ACT policing focus on all the road rules all of the time?

Could you give the following some thought PLEASE. At present it would seem that only a few of our many road rules are actually enforced. This causes many drivers to ignore many of the rules because there are no consequences for failing to obey them. Over time they get this real complacent attitude with disregard for all of the road rules. Monthly campaigns will not change the psyche of our drivers. Nor will ignoring the enforcement of all the “other road rules” that are so commonly ignored.

When was the last time one of your officers issued a traffic infringement notice for:
failing to indicate?
using fog lights in clear weather?
shoving their “P” plate up behind the number plate or inside the window where it is not clearly visible?
crossing a solid white line?

The list goes on and on. I see all these offences committed several times daily, and on occasion infront of police cars.

When drivers learn to obey all the rules, the change in attitude will automatically flow to the rules that can have the most devastating impact when they’re broken. It’ll take quite a few years but the sooner you start the sooner it’ll be fixed.

HenryBG said :

c_c said :

Dragon said :

buzz819 said :

HenryBG said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes …..

Obviously NOT a Canberra driver then….

This is exactly why I don’t wear a seatbelt unless I’m on the highway. It just isn’t safe to wear a seatbelt in city traffic, and the supposed benefits it provides are dubious at best.

What suburb in Canberra do you live in Henry?

I want to know his number plate as well so I can avoid him when he’s out on the roads not wearing a seatbelt, drink driving and God knows what else he considers to be “an infringement on his rights.”

Doesn’t have number plates, the numbers on them might distract other drivers in city traffic.

Number plates! More government tyranny. What business is theirs to put a number on my car? Next they’ll be wanting to tattoo a number on my arm – you mark my words.

we’ll mark them on your forearm in ink, shall we?

pikiran_keruh12:37 pm 05 Sep 12

To paraphrase Bill Cosby….
Seatbelts save ambulance drivers having to search for your body after an accident

Dragon said :

I want to know his number plate as well so I can avoid him when he’s out on the roads not wearing a seatbelt, drink driving and God knows what else he considers to be “an infringement on his rights.”

I want to know his numberplate so that I can hit him head on at the maximum possible speed.

HenryBG said :

tommo said :

Claiming that a seat belt inhibits your skills as a driver is a poor excuse for not wearing one. A race driver with a bulky helmet, five point harness, stiff chair and much less room to move than you has far superior skills.

Rubbish, they drive at excessive speed, never indicate on roundabouts, they frequently drive at an unsafe distance from the car in front, often collide with other drivers and they never perform headchecks.

Yes, but your comment on skills seemed to me to be more about vehicle control. At high speeds and unsafe distances they still have better vehicle control whilst having much more restraint than a seatbelt.
Oh, and their collisions could probably be attributed to a lack of being able to do a headcheck, much like the accidents on our roads caused by people who refuse to do proper head checks.

HenryBG said :

tommo said :

Claiming that a seat belt inhibits your skills as a driver is a poor excuse for not wearing one. A race driver with a bulky helmet, five point harness, stiff chair and much less room to move than you has far superior skills.

Rubbish, they drive at excessive speed, never indicate on roundabouts, they frequently drive at an unsafe distance from the car in front, often collide with other drivers and they never perform headchecks.

Ha!

tommo said :

Claiming that a seat belt inhibits your skills as a driver is a poor excuse for not wearing one. A race driver with a bulky helmet, five point harness, stiff chair and much less room to move than you has far superior skills.

Rubbish, they drive at excessive speed, never indicate on roundabouts, they frequently drive at an unsafe distance from the car in front, often collide with other drivers and they never perform headchecks.

c_c said :

Dragon said :

buzz819 said :

HenryBG said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes …..

Obviously NOT a Canberra driver then….

This is exactly why I don’t wear a seatbelt unless I’m on the highway. It just isn’t safe to wear a seatbelt in city traffic, and the supposed benefits it provides are dubious at best.

What suburb in Canberra do you live in Henry?

I want to know his number plate as well so I can avoid him when he’s out on the roads not wearing a seatbelt, drink driving and God knows what else he considers to be “an infringement on his rights.”

Doesn’t have number plates, the numbers on them might distract other drivers in city traffic.

Number plates! More government tyranny. What business is theirs to put a number on my car? Next they’ll be wanting to tattoo a number on my arm – you mark my words.

Dragon said :

buzz819 said :

HenryBG said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes …..

Obviously NOT a Canberra driver then….

This is exactly why I don’t wear a seatbelt unless I’m on the highway. It just isn’t safe to wear a seatbelt in city traffic, and the supposed benefits it provides are dubious at best.

What suburb in Canberra do you live in Henry?

I want to know his number plate as well so I can avoid him when he’s out on the roads not wearing a seatbelt, drink driving and God knows what else he considers to be “an infringement on his rights.”

Doesn’t have number plates, the numbers on them might distract other drivers in city traffic.

buzz819 said :

HenryBG said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes …..

Obviously NOT a Canberra driver then….

This is exactly why I don’t wear a seatbelt unless I’m on the highway. It just isn’t safe to wear a seatbelt in city traffic, and the supposed benefits it provides are dubious at best.

What suburb in Canberra do you live in Henry?

I want to know his number plate as well so I can avoid him when he’s out on the roads not wearing a seatbelt, drink driving and God knows what else he considers to be “an infringement on his rights.”

xperfect_darkx10:50 pm 04 Sep 12

I think we should all stop arguing with Henry and just let Darwin work his magic.

HenryBG said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes …..

Obviously NOT a Canberra driver then….

This is exactly why I don’t wear a seatbelt unless I’m on the highway. It just isn’t safe to wear a seatbelt in city traffic, and the supposed benefits it provides are dubious at best.

What suburb in Canberra do you live in Henry?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd9:31 pm 04 Sep 12

I’m not one to give peeps grief about being overweight or disabled but those are the only two reasons I can think of that wearing a seat belt would restrict your mobility while driving.

Claiming that a seat belt inhibits your skills as a driver is a poor excuse for not wearing one. A race driver with a bulky helmet, five point harness, stiff chair and much less room to move than you has far superior skills.
If you are a safe driver, without rage, who thinks ahead (i.e. not waiting to look over your shoulder in the last second) then you should have no problem with the seat belt catching.

HenryBG said :

Watson said :

Thanks for that! I let my 7yo ride in the front sometimes on drives through the neighbourhood.

I let mine stand on the towbar clinging to the radio aerial.

Watson said :

I don’t get people who don’t wear seatbelts. I basically can’t drive without feeling the pressure of mine.

You see that “pressure”? That “pressure” represents an increased risk of crashing your car. In some circumstances it also represents increased severity of injury resulting from crashes.
Luckily these shades of grey can be ignored because we have a nanny state which liberates us from the onerous task of conducting our own personal risk assessments before deciding on wearing a seatbelt.

Evil_Kitten said :

Yep I don’t understand how people can “forget” to put on their seatbelts either. It just feels weird and wrong. I will sometimes leave mine off to stop at my letterbox and it feels so strange even for that short distance. It makes me worry about so many other aspects of their driving if the simple act of the seatbelt forgets to register in their brain!

Drivers not wearing a seatbelt are more mobile in their seats and therefore more alert and capable of bringing superior skills to their driving.

Other drivers prefer the zombie couch potato feel.

To each his own. Oh, except for government trying to legislate their way into every aspect of our lives.

I can’t say that I’ve ever had a problem being mobile in my seating position while wearing a seatbelt, and I’m the sort of driver who is always moving about in my seat to clear blind spots.

At least the only person likely to suffer the consequences of your actions are you. Except for the emergency services personnel who may be called out to scrape up your earthly remains from the road, after your car spits you out via the windscreen…

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m with HenryBG, the seatbelt can be a problem. Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes only to have the auto-lock on the seatbelt catch me half way, thus straining my neck or hurting my shoulder.
I have also had the unpleasant experience of having this same auto-lock fail in an accident. My face nicely found the steering wheel and my forehead the windscreen. Curse that invention, at least in older cars the seatbelt didn’t have the option of free-wheeling. I note here that I didn’t go hurtling through the windscreen, rather I ended up with the bottom half of my body trying to crumple into the floorpan.
There is one solution here that would in my opinion be the most sensible – 5 point racing harnesses. If it’s good enough for race drivers and good enough for toddlers, why not everybody else??

I agree as well. Volvo drivers are a prime example of people who are made to feel so safe that they ignore the realities of safe driving.

I’m all for bringing back non-safety glass, hard dashboards, etc. Then, when drivers do things wrong, they know it is going to hurt. We are making things so safe that, specially young drivers, feel that there are no consequences for bad driving.

It’s almost as though they can see little difference between video games and the real thing.

So, Henry, you have a couple of us that agree with you on this one.

Paul0075 said :

bigred said :

Still waiting for “no tailgating” month

And for driving with the fog lights turned off in clear conditions month

Exactly. We need a “No Wanker Lights” month

HenryBG said :

Watson said :

Thanks for that! I let my 7yo ride in the front sometimes on drives through the neighbourhood.

I let mine stand on the towbar clinging to the radio aerial.

Watson said :

I don’t get people who don’t wear seatbelts. I basically can’t drive without feeling the pressure of mine.

You see that “pressure”? That “pressure” represents an increased risk of crashing your car. In some circumstances it also represents increased severity of injury resulting from crashes.
Luckily these shades of grey can be ignored because we have a nanny state which liberates us from the onerous task of conducting our own personal risk assessments before deciding on wearing a seatbelt.

Evil_Kitten said :

Yep I don’t understand how people can “forget” to put on their seatbelts either. It just feels weird and wrong. I will sometimes leave mine off to stop at my letterbox and it feels so strange even for that short distance. It makes me worry about so many other aspects of their driving if the simple act of the seatbelt forgets to register in their brain!

Drivers not wearing a seatbelt are more mobile in their seats and therefore more alert and capable of bringing superior skills to their driving.

Other drivers prefer the zombie couch potato feel.

To each his own. Oh, except for government trying to legislate their way into every aspect of our lives.

Seat belts also make it difficult to reach behind the seat to grab that six pack of Bundy & Coke whilst driving…

Mordd said :

But more importantly, we’re up to comment 13 already and no-one has brought up the ‘fpcusing’ vs ‘focussing’ debate yet, is this RiotACT or did I get lost on the way somewhere…. LOL

Need to spell check myself before posting more, grrr, “focusing” sorry not “fpcusing” lol.

I’m still waiting to see a sign one day saying “Police now focusing on catching people breaking the law” or similar lol.

But more importantly, we’re up to comment 13 already and no-one has brought up the ‘fpcusing’ vs ‘focussing’ debate yet, is this RiotACT or did I get lost on the way somewhere…. LOL

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=focusing+vs+focussing

wildturkeycanoe said :

Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes …..

Obviously NOT a Canberra driver then….

This is exactly why I don’t wear a seatbelt unless I’m on the highway. It just isn’t safe to wear a seatbelt in city traffic, and the supposed benefits it provides are dubious at best.

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m with HenryBG, the seatbelt can be a problem. Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes only to have the auto-lock on the seatbelt catch me half way, thus straining my neck or hurting my shoulder.
I have also had the unpleasant experience of having this same auto-lock fail in an accident. My face nicely found the steering wheel and my forehead the windscreen. Curse that invention, at least in older cars the seatbelt didn’t have the option of free-wheeling. I note here that I didn’t go hurtling through the windscreen, rather I ended up with the bottom half of my body trying to crumple into the floorpan.
There is one solution here that would in my opinion be the most sensible – 5 point racing harnesses. If it’s good enough for race drivers and good enough for toddlers, why not everybody else??

I can’t see you being able to turn head to check over your shoulder with a 5 point racing harness. Race drivers certainly don’t turn their heads very often.

Woody Mann-Caruso7:09 pm 04 Sep 12

this cannot be true because police in canberra only target speeding and never anything else and besides there arent any police cars on the road and if there were wed all stop speeding because if a policeman sees you you’ll slow down but if a camera sees you you won’t and i took my eyes off the road once to look at my speedo because a camera made me do it and i crashed into a bus full of kindergarteners and they all died

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd6:52 pm 04 Sep 12

HenryBG said :

Watson said :

Thanks for that! I let my 7yo ride in the front sometimes on drives through the neighbourhood.

I let mine stand on the towbar clinging to the radio aerial.

Watson said :

I don’t get people who don’t wear seatbelts. I basically can’t drive without feeling the pressure of mine.

You see that “pressure”? That “pressure” represents an increased risk of crashing your car. In some circumstances it also represents increased severity of injury resulting from crashes.
Luckily these shades of grey can be ignored because we have a nanny state which liberates us from the onerous task of conducting our own personal risk assessments before deciding on wearing a seatbelt.

Evil_Kitten said :

Yep I don’t understand how people can “forget” to put on their seatbelts either. It just feels weird and wrong. I will sometimes leave mine off to stop at my letterbox and it feels so strange even for that short distance. It makes me worry about so many other aspects of their driving if the simple act of the seatbelt forgets to register in their brain!

Drivers not wearing a seatbelt are more mobile in their seats and therefore more alert and capable of bringing superior skills to their driving.

Other drivers prefer the zombie couch potato feel.

To each his own. Oh, except for government trying to legislate their way into every aspect of our lives.

Haha you are such a ridiculous mong.

I agree that peeps shouldn’t be forced to wear seatbelts, but ensure to not make ridiculous claims.

Evil_Kitten said :

What the hell are you on about? Are you being sarcastic or do you honestly think there should be no seatbelt laws? I’m not a fan of nanny state either but seatbelts??? They are kind of a good idea. You should pick your battles.

And true, no seatbelt makes you more mobile in your seat – when you go flying through the windscreen.

+1 Well put. I tried to respond but it was making me too angry to do anything other than insult dear Henry, so i just clicked to a new article.

wildturkeycanoe6:00 pm 04 Sep 12

I’m with HenryBG, the seatbelt can be a problem. Many times I have tried to make a check over my shoulder when changing lanes only to have the auto-lock on the seatbelt catch me half way, thus straining my neck or hurting my shoulder.
I have also had the unpleasant experience of having this same auto-lock fail in an accident. My face nicely found the steering wheel and my forehead the windscreen. Curse that invention, at least in older cars the seatbelt didn’t have the option of free-wheeling. I note here that I didn’t go hurtling through the windscreen, rather I ended up with the bottom half of my body trying to crumple into the floorpan.
There is one solution here that would in my opinion be the most sensible – 5 point racing harnesses. If it’s good enough for race drivers and good enough for toddlers, why not everybody else??

bigred said :

Still waiting for “no tailgating” month

And for driving with the fog lights turned off in clear conditions month

HenryBG said :

Watson said :

Thanks for that! I let my 7yo ride in the front sometimes on drives through the neighbourhood.

I let mine stand on the towbar clinging to the radio aerial.

Watson said :

I don’t get people who don’t wear seatbelts. I basically can’t drive without feeling the pressure of mine.

You see that “pressure”? That “pressure” represents an increased risk of crashing your car. In some circumstances it also represents increased severity of injury resulting from crashes.
Luckily these shades of grey can be ignored because we have a nanny state which liberates us from the onerous task of conducting our own personal risk assessments before deciding on wearing a seatbelt.

Evil_Kitten said :

Yep I don’t understand how people can “forget” to put on their seatbelts either. It just feels weird and wrong. I will sometimes leave mine off to stop at my letterbox and it feels so strange even for that short distance. It makes me worry about so many other aspects of their driving if the simple act of the seatbelt forgets to register in their brain!

Drivers not wearing a seatbelt are more mobile in their seats and therefore more alert and capable of bringing superior skills to their driving.

Other drivers prefer the zombie couch potato feel.

To each his own. Oh, except for government trying to legislate their way into every aspect of our lives.

I wish we could get this troll banned from here. His words are killing the brain cells of anyone who reads them.

What the hell are you on about? Are you being sarcastic or do you honestly think there should be no seatbelt laws? I’m not a fan of nanny state either but seatbelts??? They are kind of a good idea. You should pick your battles.

And true, no seatbelt makes you more mobile in your seat – when you go flying through the windscreen.

Watson said :

Thanks for that! I let my 7yo ride in the front sometimes on drives through the neighbourhood.

I let mine stand on the towbar clinging to the radio aerial.

Watson said :

I don’t get people who don’t wear seatbelts. I basically can’t drive without feeling the pressure of mine.

You see that “pressure”? That “pressure” represents an increased risk of crashing your car. In some circumstances it also represents increased severity of injury resulting from crashes.
Luckily these shades of grey can be ignored because we have a nanny state which liberates us from the onerous task of conducting our own personal risk assessments before deciding on wearing a seatbelt.

Evil_Kitten said :

Yep I don’t understand how people can “forget” to put on their seatbelts either. It just feels weird and wrong. I will sometimes leave mine off to stop at my letterbox and it feels so strange even for that short distance. It makes me worry about so many other aspects of their driving if the simple act of the seatbelt forgets to register in their brain!

Drivers not wearing a seatbelt are more mobile in their seats and therefore more alert and capable of bringing superior skills to their driving.

Other drivers prefer the zombie couch potato feel.

To each his own. Oh, except for government trying to legislate their way into every aspect of our lives.

Still waiting for “no tailgating” month

Yep I don’t understand how people can “forget” to put on their seatbelts either. It just feels weird and wrong. I will sometimes leave mine off to stop at my letterbox and it feels so strange even for that short distance. It makes me worry about so many other aspects of their driving if the simple act of the seatbelt forgets to register in their brain!

helium said :

and presumably this one too ?

“drivers who fail to ensure that children under 7 years are properly restrained in an approved child restraint are liable for a fine of $284 and 3 demerit points. Properly fitted restraints improve a child’s chance of surviving a serious crash”

If a vehicle has two or more rows of seats, then children under 4 years must not travel in the front seat.

If a vehicle has two or more rows of seats, then children aged between 4 years and under 7 years must not travel in the front seat unless all other seats are being used by children under 7 years. In this situation, a child may travel in the front seat using an approved booster seat and a properly fastened and adjusted seatbelt.

Thanks for that! I let my 7yo ride in the front sometimes on drives through the neighbourhood. Though I have been told that it is still always safer in the back and airbags are still an issue for kids that size. So on longer trips, she goes in the back.

I don’t get people who don’t wear seatbelts. I basically can’t drive without feeling the pressure of mine. It’s like going out without an essential piece of clothing.

and presumably this one too ?

“drivers who fail to ensure that children under 7 years are properly restrained in an approved child restraint are liable for a fine of $284 and 3 demerit points. Properly fitted restraints improve a child’s chance of surviving a serious crash”

If a vehicle has two or more rows of seats, then children under 4 years must not travel in the front seat.

If a vehicle has two or more rows of seats, then children aged between 4 years and under 7 years must not travel in the front seat unless all other seats are being used by children under 7 years. In this situation, a child may travel in the front seat using an approved booster seat and a properly fastened and adjusted seatbelt.

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