17 November 2009

Police Operation

| Madam Cholet
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On my way to work today – going to the City via Woden – I encountered some kind of police operation. I think it was on Athlon Drive and according to 666 had traffic backed up to Drakeford Drive. Does anyone know what this was for? I purposely went this way as the traffic going from Erindale up to the Gowrie roundabout was chockers as well. They seemed to be clearing things away by the time I got there – two flash police cars and one lane completely blocked off. I figured it must have been important to disrupt traffic at that time in the morning. Just curious to find out.

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benett said :

Could there be a more retarded place to do their ‘RAPID’ ‘revenue quick’ raising crap? I like getting stuck on the Tuggeranong Parkway at 5:15pm on a weekday for 1 hour, whilst the ACT police (or do we really have to call them the AFP) do ‘RAPID’ checks. Nothing is RAPID about sitting on the parkway for 1 hour waiting to have your number-plate checked.

Yes, a quiet street in the middle of the night would be a more “retarded” place to do it. Geez, delays on the parkway during peak hour. What a disaster.

Yes, goody for me indeed; it feels good not to be a whinger. I don’t know where you got your 8 out of 1500 hit rate, but you are wrong.

The 6 or so cars (exaggerated, no doubt) are traffic operations cars specifically assigned to RAPID duties. The other traffic op vehicles do normal patrols. Members from general duties have also been transferred to boost numbers.

Seriously, if this is the biggest issue in your life, then things are pretty good for you. It’s amazing how easily people get worked up. Try driving home in Sydney during peak hour.

Once deadshits start registering their cars, stop driving while unlicenced/suspended/disqualified etc, then these annoying, inconvenient traffic campaigns will end.

Tooks said :

Anna Key said :

To everyone stuck by these operations, it will only be a real issue when they decide to do it on Gunghalin Dve. When its in Tuggers, be grateful the cops are making a handful of crims walk home. So what if you have waited 3 months+ for the specialist appointment which you have now missed, so what if your kids arrived late for exams because the bus spent 40 mins going nowhere. Thank god that dodgy magna is off the road. After all, it MIGHT have run into you

Can I call a waaaambulance for you? Make a complaint to the AFP if you’re that worked up about it. If enough people like yourself make an issue of it, then perhaps they’ll re-think the way they organise these things.

Look, if people are really getting delayed by 40+ mins by these kind of operations regularly, then I think it’s excessive. But I’ve never been delayed by more than a few minutes when going through, even on major arterials during busy times. Maybe I’m just lucky.

Goody for you. Surely the best spot to get a high hit rate would be on the way to the coast on a Friday before a long weekend. Just don’t see how a hit rate of 8 out of 1500 (from memory) is making Canberra a significantly safer place, and whether the success rate would be just as high if the 6 or so police cars were conducting normal patrols.

Yes I may have. The patrol car was there followed by a plain white sedan with a camera housing mounted on the of the passenger door window. Small round cylinder with what looked like a circle of LEDs, around what looked like a lens. It probably was something else.

Tooks said :

I think you’re probably confusing a normal patrol car with the RAPID team. Patrols down there are common.

Im sure they are….we all remember The Blue Oyster Bar….maybe they should arrest all the sicko’s down at kambah pool,so i can finally go for a fish without vomiting!

Buzz2600 said :

They were trying to stop all the illegals coming out of Tuggers valley …. its called Border Protection ;o)

desperate times…somebody must have left the gate open down boganville way,all the kambah karny’s are loose on the streets again!

Could there be a more retarded place to do their ‘RAPID’ ‘revenue quick’ raising crap? I like getting stuck on the Tuggeranong Parkway at 5:15pm on a weekday for 1 hour, whilst the ACT police (or do we really have to call them the AFP) do ‘RAPID’ checks. Nothing is RAPID about sitting on the parkway for 1 hour waiting to have your number-plate checked.

I think you’re probably confusing a normal patrol car with the RAPID team. Patrols down there are common.

Tooks “just simply stating that RAPID doesn’t only target people in unregistered cars and that their are other benefits to it. “

Yes you may have a point Tooks. I was wondering why the police would be scanning the Kambah Pools car park in the middle of the day? That got me to thinking about where all the data ends up. Is it shared between agencies? In the future could it be used to target non criminal activities?

By the way, I put in ‘their’ instead of ‘there’ just to test you all……maybe.

Ello Vera said :

You seem to be more threatened by the possibility of burglary or car crashes than the real probabilities warrant. That all comes down to perception of risk and is not worth arguing about. I agree about breath tests: there have been precious few of those in the last 5-10 years. I would much rather see the resources put back into this than the current fetish.

Nope, you’re way off the mark. I’m not threatened by the possibility of burglary or crashes; just simply stating that RAPID doesn’t only target people in unregistered cars and that their are other benefits to it.

I agree there should be a way of running it that doesn’t involve excessive delays to hundreds of people. As I’ve said, I’ve never been delayed for more than a few minutes.

A pet hate of mine is people who don’t maintain cars, drive, drunk, unlicenced, unregistered etc etc, so maybe I’m a bit more tolerant than other people when it comes to this sort of thing.

Anna Key said :

To everyone stuck by these operations, it will only be a real issue when they decide to do it on Gunghalin Dve. When its in Tuggers, be grateful the cops are making a handful of crims walk home. So what if you have waited 3 months+ for the specialist appointment which you have now missed, so what if your kids arrived late for exams because the bus spent 40 mins going nowhere. Thank god that dodgy magna is off the road. After all, it MIGHT have run into you

Can I call a waaaambulance for you? Make a complaint to the AFP if you’re that worked up about it. If enough people like yourself make an issue of it, then perhaps they’ll re-think the way they organise these things.

Look, if people are really getting delayed by 40+ mins by these kind of operations regularly, then I think it’s excessive. But I’ve never been delayed by more than a few minutes when going through, even on major arterials during busy times. Maybe I’m just lucky.

Tooks said :

busgirl said :

I got caught up in that Police Operation today as well…definitely tested the patience…not really an experience I need on my way to a much-earned yoga class…SERENITY NOW!!!

I hope you yelled it out like Frank Costanza, otherwise it doesn’t work 🙂

Is there any other way to ask for serenity now?? 😛

To everyone stuck by these operations, it will only be a real issue when they decide to do it on Gunghalin Dve. When its in Tuggers, be grateful the cops are making a handful of crims walk home. So what if you have waited 3 months+ for the specialist appointment which you have now missed, so what if your kids arrived late for exams because the bus spent 40 mins going nowhere. Thank god that dodgy magna is off the road. After all, it MIGHT have run into you

I never said I’d been pulled over: that’d imply I was guilty of some transgression. No, I am one of the recidivist do-the-right-thingers who they are not looking for.

The first two times were on Sulwood and they were what you call minor delays and, as I said, I was initially sanguine about them. I thought they were, on balance, fair enough. The other two times were not minor delays, were on major roads at peak periods and in my opinion were over the top. I spoke to someone else about yesterday’s and she told me that she saw a number of near misses when people suddenly came upon the traffic snarl.

You seem to be more threatened by the possibility of burglary or car crashes than the real probabilities warrant. That all comes down to perception of risk and is not worth arguing about. I agree about breath tests: there have been precious few of those in the last 5-10 years. I would much rather see the resources put back into this than the current fetish.

p1 said :

I’ve been scanned by the rapid system a couple of times over the last few years, but both of those times didn’t require me to slow down at all. I just drive past a car with a camera thingy, then up the road a bit there were some cops, but they were only waving over the occasional car. I am not sure why they needed to cause a traffic jam like the other day? Perhaps they were RBTing as well?

On the Parkway yesterday people were held up as those of us that turn left onto Sulwood Drive lost our slip lane & quite a few slowed down in case they were going to be flagged in. The only strange thing I noticed was for that whole time we only came to a complete stop for a few seconds at a time. But the traffic light sequence at the Sulwood Dr lights lasts for longer then that. Could someone explain that?

Ello Vera said :

I was initially sanguine about the new police toy but now having been scanned four times in a couple of weeks, I am getting mightily sick of it.

I’ve been scanned by the rapid system a couple of times over the last few years, but both of those times didn’t require me to slow down at all. I just drive past a car with a camera thingy, then up the road a bit there were some cops, but they were only waving over the occasional car. I am not sure why they needed to cause a traffic jam like the other day? Perhaps they were RBTing as well?

Firstly, it isn’t a new toy; it’s been used in the ACT for at least 2 years. You’ve been pulled over 4 times in a couple of weeks? So what? I’ve been scanned by RAPID as well and I believe the minor delay is worth the results of catching people with unregistered and uninsured cars, dangerously unroadworthy cars, people breaching bail (especially recidivist property offenders possibly on their way to burgle houses), crooks with warrants etc.

If you were stopped 4 times in 2 weeks for breath tests, would you be just as critical. You sound like one of these “I want cops to do their jobs, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience me” types.

I was initially sanguine about the new police toy but now having been scanned four times in a couple of weeks, I am getting mightily sick of it.

The amount of accumulated inconvenience to such a vast number of people over time vastly outweighs the benefits of catching a few naughties. There is a limit to the amount of intrusion to lawfully-going-about-your-own-business that should be tolerated for such a minor return and I am somewhat amazed by the air of tolerance in this thread. I doubt whether the acceptance would be as great in other places.

We put up with the odd traffic jam where it has been caused by an accident; that’s part of the deal. But to get this sort of imposed traffic jam so often just so that a few malefactors can be fined, is way out of proportion.

Yesterday I noticed that the waving-you-on cop was scrupulously avoiding any eye contact.

busgirl said :

I got caught up in that Police Operation today as well…definitely tested the patience…not really an experience I need on my way to a much-earned yoga class…SERENITY NOW!!!

I hope you yelled it out like Frank Costanza, otherwise it doesn’t work 🙂

colourful sydney racing identity9:39 am 02 Dec 09

Yep 45 minutes from Woden to Kambah. PLeas, please do this in the mornings not the afternoons. I don’t mind getting delayed in traffic on the way to work, but, the way home? Different story…

I saw the excessive cue, and, thinking maybe an accident, turned of the parkway at hindmarsh and when around. I guess were I listening to 104.7 I might have known what it was, but that is pretty unlikely.

I support the police with this kind of activity, but kinda wish they could attempt it in locations where slightly less people will be inconvenienced. They could make up for the lower capture rates by doing it more often. And to enable this, they could be better funded, or ya’ll could break the law a little less so they aren’t as busy.

I got caught up in that Police Operation today as well…definitely tested the patience…not really an experience I need on my way to a much-earned yoga class…SERENITY NOW!!!

As I mentioned, in a previous RAPID excercise the Police warned motorist of the RAPID set-up. I don’t know if warning was given today, but I foind out the trick.

On 104.7’s traffic reports every time they would say traffic building up due to a Police Operation on Drakeford/Sulwood KAMBAH. They ended the traffic reports for the day with “things clearing up as the Police Operation ends & cars being taken away on tow trucks” I was stopped 5 minutes later on the Parkway just after the Hindmarsh Dr overpass & crawled for 30-40 minutes until I finally reached Sulwood Drive.

To my surprise (not!) the Police were still there pulling people over.

Jim Jones said :

Pedestrians should be registered.

They are. At birth.

Pedestrians should be registered.

And prams…

And wheelchairs, walking frames, crutches and iron lungs.

Pedestrians should be registered.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

dvaey said :

What a stupid sign, what is a driver going to check their speed against?

Those with manual transmissions can easily calculate their required RPM for a range of speeds in each gear (in advance, obviously).

Which works fine, as long as your tacho is accurate.

Spideydog said :

OMG ……. “Check your speed” means – Look down at your speedo and CHECK WHAT SPEED YOU ARE DOING. Not ” I have to check my speedo against something, to see if it’s right” Give me strength.

So how come in NSW and Vic, whenever you come upto roadworks or in victorias case when you use major highways there are often ‘speed checks’ which display your current speed and even a smiley/sad-face picture if youre under/over the limit. I always considered that checking your driving speed is something you do every few moments as part of driving, not something worthy of putting up a big 15′ flashing sign to remind drivers what they should already know. To me a big flashing ‘check speed’ sign, means the sign has checked your speed and youre driving above the limit, having come through 3 such devices on my drive from Melbourne yesterday.

Spideydog said :

A serious question dvaey. Do you have some sort of issue with Police or Policing? I have noticed, especially lately, that any policing related threads that come up, you seem to go out of your way to comment and find things wrong with them or what they are doing?

If I had an issue with the police, Id be saying ‘police suck’, rather than writing a paragraph of my opinion of their actions. I often throw my 3 cents in for threads I find interesting, not only policing threads but as I drive for my job, stories about policing our roads are of interest to me.

Spideydog said :

Oh, in relation to being pulled over by the rapid system, depending on how you pay for the rego, it can sometimes take a couple of days for the payment to be processed. I am sure you can do the math from there?

I made a RiotACT post about it, but to answer briefly, I paid the rego at the shopfront when I also got new plates for the vehicle. The RAPID system checked my plates, matched it to the VIN and then did a rego check on the VIN, which hadnt been registered for over 5 years, so the system obviously knew the rego/VIN match. I paid on a friday and was pulled over the following weekend (8 days later). After the officer took all my details he returned to his car and apparently called someone who confirmed that the vehicle was infact registered legally.

indigoid said :

People that paranoid (Mexicans, perhaps?) about speedometer inaccuracy should spend a few beans on a GPS.

If I accidently creep over the speed limit, by following the traffic flow instead of constantly watching my speedo (speed differential is bad enough without taking your eyes off the road too). I do have a GPS which I primarily use as a speedo but Id prefer to know my speedo is calibrated to the ACT govt standard they use for speed-detection, since GPS’s arent infalible.

They did an excellent job on this on Lanyon Drive six months ago. Plain car o the side of the road with camera in front. Everyone slows down so even easier to get plate recognition. Big space just before roundabout and the cops just directed the cars they wanted off the road.

Unregistered, unlicenced, outstanding fines etc – very effective.

Don’t understand what went so badly here.

People that paranoid (Mexicans, perhaps?) about speedometer inaccuracy should spend a few beans on a GPS. I only use my bike’s speedometer now in the tunnels in Sydney. The GPS is much better.

As for the roving vehicle inspectors… Some years ago I parked a borrowed Fiat 131 Mirafiori (RIP) in Dickson while getting some Ali Baba for lunch. At the time it lacked a driver’s window, both side mirrors and had a dysfunctional bonnet latch. When I emerged there was a mobile vehicle inspection vehicle parked on each side of it. I’m still astonished that they failed to defect it. There was certainly plenty obviously wrong with it

colourful sydney racing identity9:03 am 20 Nov 09

Tooks said :

Spideydog said :

dvaey said :

OMG ……. “Check your speed” means – Look down at your speedo and CHECK WHAT SPEED YOU ARE DOING. Not ” I have to check my speedo against something, to see if it’s right” Give me strength.

Lol. I assumed he was taking the piss when he asked about the Check your Speed sign. I guess common sense isn’t as common as it should be.

Ditto!!!

Spideydog said :

dvaey said :

OMG ……. “Check your speed” means – Look down at your speedo and CHECK WHAT SPEED YOU ARE DOING. Not ” I have to check my speedo against something, to see if it’s right” Give me strength.

Lol. I assumed he was taking the piss when he asked about the Check your Speed sign. I guess common sense isn’t as common as it should be.

p1 said :

I am interested to know if the ACT gov’t has considered incorporating the RAPID system into the speed camera network? I imagine the majority of unregistered cars would still be in the possession of the most recent owner, meaning a ticket could just be sent, and then someone could chase down the others. Alternately, they could mount the camera sideways on a car, then drive around all the big carparks in ‘berra, and wheel clamp any unreg vehicles they find parked….

The Vehicle Inspectors do this with a bit of a roadworthy check thrown in. They check the label & if it doesnt match or is out of date then the plates are removed from the vehicle.

dvaey said :

One hopes theyve refined the system since they pulled me over twice on the same weekend with RAPID, for unregistered vehicle, 3 days after I registered my new vehicle.

Also one side comment, when they first started doing these computer scan things, they setup a big billboard near the old Kambah High, with a flashing sign saying ‘Check Your Speed’. What a stupid sign, what is a driver going to check their speed against? In Victoria, and NSW to a lesser extent, you have these sort of signs all over the place, but they say ‘check speed’ and then show what your real speed is. If youre going to spend however many hundreds of dollars it cost to put that sign up there, why not put a fully functioning sign, which helps you rather than just scares you into hoping your speedo is correct. This also leads to people who dont trust their speedos, dropping to 10-20km/hr below the limit near speed cameras and other law enforcement/revenue raising activities.

OMG ……. “Check your speed” means – Look down at your speedo and CHECK WHAT SPEED YOU ARE DOING. Not ” I have to check my speedo against something, to see if it’s right” Give me strength.

But thats right, it’s all a conspiracy that police get their jollies in scaring people and to revenue raise (revenue, that Police don’t receive, as it goes to the government)

A serious question dvaey. Do you have some sort of issue with Police or Policing? I have noticed, especially lately, that any policing related threads that come up, you seem to go out of your way to comment and find things wrong with them or what they are doing?

Oh, in relation to being pulled over by the rapid system, depending on how you pay for the rego, it can sometimes take a couple of days for the payment to be processed. I am sure you can do the math from there?

I am interested to know if the ACT gov’t has considered incorporating the RAPID system into the speed camera network? I imagine the majority of unregistered cars would still be in the possession of the most recent owner, meaning a ticket could just be sent, and then someone could chase down the others. Alternately, they could mount the camera sideways on a car, then drive around all the big carparks in ‘berra, and wheel clamp any unreg vehicles they find parked….

Tooks said :

Anna Key said :

Basically the AFP have lost a lot of my support and respect over the past two days.

I’m sure they’ll get over it.

And I’m sure you’d be singing a different tune if one of these unregistered, uninsured cars slammed into you. Who knows, the guy they locked up for breach of bail may have been on his way to burgle houses in your street.

Yep, the AFP should do these on every major road in Canberra every morning and evening and plant a few million trees to offset the carbon emissions.

Anna Key said :

Basically the AFP have lost a lot of my support and respect over the past two days.

I’m sure they’ll get over it.

And I’m sure you’d be singing a different tune if one of these unregistered, uninsured cars slammed into you. Who knows, the guy they locked up for breach of bail may have been on his way to burgle houses in your street.

indigoid said :

Over 9000 thumbs up for Plods tidying up some loose ends in Crime Valley. Want to see more of this! Also want to see many more RBTs. I’ve been RBTed maybe four times in 13 years of driving/riding. Not nearly enough IMHO. Would like to see combined RBT/drug tests too. Do Plods do this already? I haven’t been flagged often enough to find out

well hopefully you get massively inconvenienced and delayed so a handful of dodgy cars get taken off the road. maybe block Hindmarsh Dve eastbound from 7.30 to 11.30. I’m sure there are maybe 10 dodgy cars in Weston Ck.

WTF. Stuck in this for 40 mins. Judging by the number of cars doing u-turns or heading up to Torrens or Fadden, it is really effective.

This is the equivalent to the whole class staying behind after school to punish one individual. Basically the AFP have lost a lot of my support and respect over the past two days. Sure an unreg vehicle is serious but is 8 out of 1577 a great return.

A highly visible presence just resulted in quite a few doing a u turn or going through Farrer or Torrens. Only those of us with current rego were stupid enough to spend 40 mins travelling from Mawson to Wanniassa

Rumply said :

I don’t think it is just rubber-necking… pretty sure when I did my licence test there was simulation for stuff on the side of the road like accidents. You were required to slow down as you past things like accidents or the likes, otherwise you failed your test. You never know when some person with concusion may wander out onto the road or a child wanders off. I would rather people slowing down then hitting someone at 80 kmh.

If it was similar to what they were doing on Sulwood Dr, they would have had one lane blocked and an officer controlling the second either instructing the car to pull over or proceed so you were forced to slow to a crawl until mr plod decided to pull or go.

KB1971 said :

greenit said :

The CT article mentions that 8 unregistered vehicles were detected, 5 of which had no compulsory third party insurance. I thought that your couldn’t register a car without ctp, or is it different in other states? Can someone enlighten me?

Your CTP actually runs for 14 days after the registration expires, so basically the article should have said “5 vehicles have been out of registration for longer than 14 days”.

They might have been NSW plates. Jerrabomberra or Queanbeyan, perhaps

georgesgenitals7:11 pm 18 Nov 09

KB1971 said :

indigoid said :

KB1971 said :

There are issues all over Canberra with all types of Civil disobedience, isnt it about time you North Siders got over your inferiority complex?

Actually I’ve lived most of my life in the centre of the universe, ie. Weston Creek. The only thing Belconnen has over Tuggeranong from my point of view is that it is a bit further away 🙂

Doesnt matter where you live, the swiping is old & not warranted.

What? Trolling on the RiotACT? Say it aint so…

greenit said :

The CT article mentions that 8 unregistered vehicles were detected, 5 of which had no compulsory third party insurance. I thought that your couldn’t register a car without ctp, or is it different in other states? Can someone enlighten me?

Your CTP actually runs for 14 days after the registration expires, so basically the article should have said “5 vehicles have been out of registration for longer than 14 days”.

indigoid said :

KB1971 said :

There are issues all over Canberra with all types of Civil disobedience, isnt it about time you North Siders got over your inferiority complex?

Actually I’ve lived most of my life in the centre of the universe, ie. Weston Creek. The only thing Belconnen has over Tuggeranong from my point of view is that it is a bit further away 🙂

Doesnt matter where you live, the swiping is old & not warranted.

greenit said :

The CT article mentions that 8 unregistered vehicles were detected, 5 of which had no compulsory third party insurance. I thought that your couldn’t register a car without ctp, or is it different in other states? Can someone enlighten me?

http://www.treasury.act.gov.au/compulsorytpi/FAQ-A06.shtml

KB1971 said :

There are issues all over Canberra with all types of Civil disobedience, isnt it about time you North Siders got over your inferiority complex?

Actually I’ve lived most of my life in the centre of the universe, ie. Weston Creek. The only thing Belconnen has over Tuggeranong from my point of view is that it is a bit further away 🙂

TP 3000 said :

Since the warning has already gone out over 104.7 News, the Police will be in the same location during afternoon peak. Just attacking southbound lanes at the top of the hill.

Great, maybe the Police should have to run everything they do past the Canberra public, lest someone be held up for 30 seconds.

If you are breaking the law you deserve everything that is thrown at you, and should not be given the chance to avoid the consequences of your actions by being warned that the Police are doing their job at whichever location.

The CT article mentions that 8 unregistered vehicles were detected, 5 of which had no compulsory third party insurance. I thought that your couldn’t register a car without ctp, or is it different in other states? Can someone enlighten me?

Since the warning has already gone out over 104.7 News, the Police will be in the same location during afternoon peak. Just attacking southbound lanes at the top of the hill.

indigoid said :

Over 9000 thumbs up for Plods tidying up some loose ends in Crime Valley.

Funny thing you know, when I was working for the ACT RTA as a vehicle inspector (RUS as it was known then), the most productive spot in the whole of Canberra when conducting roadside inspections was Gininderra Dve between Kingsford Smith Dve & Tillyard Drive. Five vehicles minimum each time. We actually had a stolen car try to run the signal man over during an opertation on this stretch of road.

When we used to combine operations with the Police they always concentrated their efforts on the North Side (actually north of the lake/Belconnen area), south was also targeted but the gravitation always seemed to move north before too long as not much was happening.

Tip operations, Belconnen Tip (when it was open) saw at least 20-30 vehicles grounded for various reasons. Most memorable was one guy with 7 kids in a 5 seat Falcon that was unregistered, un-roadworthy with an unregistered/un-roadworthy trailer attatched. That was the first set of traffic infingements that I actually saw hit the ground before the Officer ripped them off the machine.

There are issues all over Canberra with all types of Civil disobedience, isnt it about time you North Siders got over your inferiority complex?

Thoroughly Smashed1:38 pm 18 Nov 09

dvaey said :

What a stupid sign, what is a driver going to check their speed against?

Those with manual transmissions can easily calculate their required RPM for a range of speeds in each gear (in advance, obviously). It would certainly help the people you refer to below.

dvaey said :

This also leads to people who dont trust their speedos, dropping to 10-20km/hr below the limit near speed cameras and other law enforcement/revenue raising activities.

Canberra Times article said:

The RAPID strike team will continue to focus its efforts on Tuggeranong throughout this month and December.

Gee, thanks CT for that heads-up for Tuggers Crims everywhere. Guess they’ll just catch a bus out of the Valley and focus their property crime activities on Belco or Gungahlin, or simply keep a low profile till January and let their northside brethren do all the criminalising safe in the knowledge that their defective vehicles won’t be targeted for another few months.

Assuming these people are literate or lucid enough to read the paper that is … maybe i give them too much credit

Poor police – they just can’t win. Keeping booking people without rego, though…

Thoroughly Smashed11:42 am 18 Nov 09

Mothy said :

From today’s CT – RAPID checks, and the cops saying that crims apply the early bird gets the worm philosophy too…

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-unapologetic-as-hightech-screening-nabs-naughty-drivers/1680320.aspx

Headline: “Police unapologetic…”. Article begins: “ACT Policing has apologised…”

Whoops.

Holden Caulfield11:34 am 18 Nov 09

Mothy said :

From today’s CT – RAPID checks, and the cops saying that crims apply the early bird gets the worm philosophy too…

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-unapologetic-as-hightech-screening-nabs-naughty-drivers/1680320.aspx

The contradiction of the title and opening sentence from that article made me lolz…

Police unapologetic as high-tech screening nabs naughty drivers
“ACT Policing has apologised for any inconvenience caused by one of its operations during peak hour in Tuggeranong yesterday morning…”

One hopes theyve refined the system since they pulled me over twice on the same weekend with RAPID, for unregistered vehicle, 3 days after I registered my new vehicle.

Also one side comment, when they first started doing these computer scan things, they setup a big billboard near the old Kambah High, with a flashing sign saying ‘Check Your Speed’. What a stupid sign, what is a driver going to check their speed against? In Victoria, and NSW to a lesser extent, you have these sort of signs all over the place, but they say ‘check speed’ and then show what your real speed is. If youre going to spend however many hundreds of dollars it cost to put that sign up there, why not put a fully functioning sign, which helps you rather than just scares you into hoping your speedo is correct. This also leads to people who dont trust their speedos, dropping to 10-20km/hr below the limit near speed cameras and other law enforcement/revenue raising activities.

I don’t think it is just rubber-necking… pretty sure when I did my licence test there was simulation for stuff on the side of the road like accidents. You were required to slow down as you past things like accidents or the likes, otherwise you failed your test. You never know when some person with concusion may wander out onto the road or a child wanders off. I would rather people slowing down then hitting someone at 80 kmh.

Over 9000 thumbs up for Plods tidying up some loose ends in Crime Valley. Want to see more of this! Also want to see many more RBTs. I’ve been RBTed maybe four times in 13 years of driving/riding. Not nearly enough IMHO. Would like to see combined RBT/drug tests too. Do Plods do this already? I haven’t been flagged often enough to find out

From today’s CT – RAPID checks, and the cops saying that crims apply the early bird gets the worm philosophy too…

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/police-unapologetic-as-hightech-screening-nabs-naughty-drivers/1680320.aspx

Thoroughly Smashed10:36 am 18 Nov 09

There was plenty of retarded driving on Sulwood Drive that morning. The number of vehicles blocking both directions trying to do a multiple point u-turn only 20m from a roundabout (or having just left one)…

They were trying to stop all the illegals coming out of Tuggers valley …. its called Border Protection ;o)

Great, so you were rubber necking like the rest (majority of them). Its the rubber necking that usually slows down traffic,unless its some clown that wont drive or bunny hop their vehicle onto the curb when they have had an accient at the expence of sharing their anger with drivers who havnt even been involved. Just like the 2km traffic jam on the parkway north bound 2 weeks ago, that was only going at walking pace purely because drivers saw (rubber necking at) blue and reds on the south bound side for some bugger trying to get away from cops in the pine forest. Really, is your Public Service job that boring?!?!?!

Looked like a complete shambles. We saw the traffic wasn’t moving when coming out of Wanniassa and went via Sulwood and Erindale Drives. Like the OP, I assumed it was the standard Athllon rear-ender. It’s quite ridiculous that such an exercise take place in the morning peak time. To make a few hundred people late for work, appointments or school (have exams started yet???). I have no problem with road safety and enforcement activities, but please AFP, show some common sense. A work colleague said it took him over 45 mins to get from Drakeford to Woden.

TP 3000 said :

They were doing their license plate checks. An unmarked car was just past the Athllon Dr/Sulwood Dr roundabout & he had that new computer thing. 4-6 cars were impounded & one middle aged woman didn’t look happy. Of those 4-6 cars 2 were Toyota Camry’s of the exact same body shape.

Sulwood Drive coming from Kambah was quite empty when my bus finally made the intersection, with 3/4 buses visible behind me. Didn’t check Sulwood Drive coming from Wanniassa though.

There are those that wish they did this operation at another time of the day, they did grab some crims who don’t belong on our roads.

They’ve been having a field day on Sulwood Dr doing the same thing around about the same time over the past 2 weeks, there wasn’t too much of a problem traffic wise there. I’m half and half on this, while it’s good that they’re out there doing it, anything that slows down the traffic on Athllon even a little in the morning has the traffic banked back for kms. They must be over close to or over 100 cars off the road by now..

They were doing their license plate checks. An unmarked car was just past the Athllon Dr/Sulwood Dr roundabout & he had that new computer thing. 4-6 cars were impounded & one middle aged woman didn’t look happy. Of those 4-6 cars 2 were Toyota Camry’s of the exact same body shape.

Sulwood Drive coming from Kambah was quite empty when my bus finally made the intersection, with 3/4 buses visible behind me. Didn’t check Sulwood Drive coming from Wanniassa though.

There are those that wish they did this operation at another time of the day, they did grab some crims who don’t belong on our roads.

When I was goind to work about 9amish. The traffic was banked up on Sulwood Dr to the Gaunson Cr roundabout and also to the Red Rooster roundabout on Athllon Dr. I snuck off and did a rat run around to the other side of Sulwood Dr, though I did turn off Sulwood legally unlike the people rallying across country to shortcut it. I would have guessed someone tailended someone as usual, though they have been doing their RAPID detecting in that general area over the past couple of weeks..

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