Complain: Australian police now are too busy collecting money

[Telstra]

by looking for minor traffic offenses and giving huge fines.
I had huge fines for forgetting to pay road registration (only 1 day expired) and for 7km over the speed limit. I made this thread because lots of people feel that the police are too busy looking to fine people and not doing their job which is to catch criminals.

Afew true stories here:
1/ a girl with no license waiting for her bf in a no loading zone, the police made her to move the car, then fine her for driving with no license.

2/ a dj finished work after midnite driving on a bus lane to Turn left, the police stopped him and fined him for driving on a bus lane (there were no traffic after midnight).

3/ They stopped me for holding an apple in the car while driving. They gave me a warning ticket and wrote that i was holding a mobile phone.


Are there any stories about red tapes by the police because they just want to fine people to make money?

 

[andysayshi]

Telstra, driving an unregistered vehicle, even by only one day, means your insurance is null and void. This not only affects you, but anyone you have an accident with. Were you to run over a pedestrian, for example, you may be liable for millions of dollars in compensation, and you would have no insurance to cover it. It would ruin your life, as well as the accident victim's.

That's why the fine for expired registration is so high.

There's another reason why police need to enforce small law offences: it helps catch more serious criminals. Criminals tend to consider themselves above the law, and often don't care about the rules. In my state, NSW, more than half of apprehended serious criminals are caught whilst committing smaller offences. This is a universal rule of policing: proactively pursuing low-level crimes increases the likelihood of catching higher level criminals.

I'm sorry you got fined, but of course there's a way to avoid that: stick to the law.

 

[ravenstar]

A friend of mine got a parking fine at the Dolly Parton concert on Tuesday night for parking in a 2 hour time zone. The parking wardens must have made a fortune that night. Every car along the side of the road had a little yellow envelope on it

 

[herry1]

If you don't want to pay the fine don't do the crine.

 

[Lukeee]

The faster you are moving the longer it is going to take you to stop the car. If your attention is distracted you are not going to stop it at all.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipnJbSnmc24[/ame]

 

[Telstra]

Telstra, driving an unregistered vehicle, even by only one day, means your insurance is null and void. This not only affects you, but anyone you have an accident with. Were you to run over a pedestrian, for example, you may be liable for millions of dollars in compensation, and you would have no insurance to cover it. It would ruin your life, as well as the accident victim's.

That's why the fine for expired registration is so high.

There's another reason why police need to enforce small law offences: it helps catch more serious criminals. Criminals tend to consider themselves above the law, and often don't care about the rules. In my state, NSW, more than half of apprehended serious criminals are caught whilst committing smaller offences. This is a universal rule of policing: proactively pursuing low-level crimes increases the likelihood of catching higher level criminals.

I'm sorry you got fined, but of course there's a way to avoid that: stick to the law.

How about other fines for very minor traffic infringements? They all $320 and over.
I feel sorry for the people who who got their license taken away just because they don't have money to pay the fines.

How about the girl in the loading zone?
Is this fair?

 

[herry1]

How about other fines for very minor traffic infringements? They all $320 and over.
I feel sorry for the people who who got their license taken away just because they don't have money to pay the fines.

How about the girl in the loading zone?
Is this fair?

So she was breaking the law by driving without a license?

 

[Telstra]

So she was breaking the law by driving without a license?

She didn't want to drive because of that but the police made her drive to move the car.
She already told them she don't have the license.


*for people who don't know what a loading zone is,
you can park your car there for 10 minutes or more but for loading unloading your stuff.

 

[herry1]

These are minor crimes so they only attract fimes.

Trouble with is, people break these laws because they're minor ones and then when they're fined they don't think I broke the law and I got caught they think the police is using these laws to make money

So the only answer is prison sentences.

 

[Lefty]

How about other fines for very minor traffic infringements? They all $320 and over.
I feel sorry for the people who who got their license taken away just because they don't have money to pay the fines.

How about the girl in the loading zone?
Is this fair?

The idea of the fines is to get people from infracting the laws they agreed to
when they got their license. Pay up or shut up.

The girl let the boy put her in the ambiguous position. She then violated the
law. Did she ask the officers for assistance in her dilemma? Give All of the
relevant data before asking questions. This issue appears to be between
the boy and the girl.

BTW, was that apple in your hand an ipad or an ipod?

just curious

 

[herry1]

She didn't want to drive because of that but the police made her drive to move the car.
She already told them she don't have the license.


*for people who don't know what a loading zone is,
you can park your car there for 10 minutes or more but for loading unloading your stuff.

So was it the boyfriends car? And if it was why not say it's not my car.

 

[csb999]

Fines . And you can do ? seven years in jail for infringing copyright on a movie and pay several millions for illegally downloading songs , and this is not absurd , our priorities are just fine .

 

[Telstra]

These are minor crimes so they only attract fimes.

Trouble with is, people break these laws because they're minor ones and then when they're fined they don't think I broke the law and I got caught they think the police is using these laws to make money

So the only answer is prison sentences.

A lot of people feel this way. They only follow the law to make money.
In the long run, people won't respect the police because of this.

I use to respect the police.
Now i have second thoughts when they drive near me and might cause accidents because people keep an eye on them more than on the road ...

 

[andysayshi]

How about the girl in the loading zone?
Is this fair?

She should have refused to move the vehicle because she has no license. She could have asked the policeman to move it for her. If they wouldn't do that, at worst the boyfriend would get a fine for parking in a loading zone.

 

[Telstra]

She should have refused to move the vehicle because she has no license. She could have asked the policeman to move it for her. If they wouldn't do that, at worst the boyfriend would get a fine for parking in a loading zone.

She was young and didn't think of that at the time.

Anyway because of tiny infringements and huge fines,
people feel that they are abusing their power which is not a good sign.
(giving fines to meet their quota, the more fines they give, they better their work ethic is? and they get rewards?)

Example:
Occupy wall street, people feel that the police is abusing their power.

 

[Lefty]

She was young and didn't think...

is that an excuse or

the plea in court? As for the police

enforcing ALL the laws, if morons didn't

so flagrantly violate the obvious ones

and flaunt doing so, perhaps the officers

could spend more time on the big jobs.

When people are real children. they are

chastised for bad behavior. Tickets, fines,

visits to the local jail etc are just those

chastisements at the next level. That is

universal.

 

[Sam Blum]

Telstra, are you saying she knew how to drive, even though she had no licence? I guess you also mean she had no learner's permit? Doesn't that suggest that she has a history of driving illegally? She does not sound innocent. Also, police in Australia rarely ask a person to get out of a vehicle. It sounds as though she might have been sitting in the driver's seat already. If she had no licence and was sitting in the passenger's seat, she would surely have had the time to calm down (unless her boyfriend was robbing a bank) and think to mention that she can't drive to the police.

You eating an apple or otherwise is careless and inconsiderate of other people on and near the road. You learn to drive with two hands on the wheel and concentrating on the raod all around yourself for a good reason: The motor vehicle is potentially deadly, as illustrated with frequent deaths on our roads. Show some sense and attend to driving safely. And 7 km over the limit is over the limit. The fine didn't suddenly increase when YOU got caught - if you know that fines exist then the choice to risk other's lives and pay a fine was yours to make.

 

[star-warrior]

Driving a vehicle is a dangerous business. It does require all your attention to manipulate the huge heavy speeding hunk of metal.

Would you do it again?

If not, is that because of the fine, or because you're aware of the law now?

 

[Telstra]

Telstra, are you saying she knew how to drive, even though she had no licence? I guess you also mean she had no learner's permit? Doesn't that suggest that she has a history of driving illegally? She does not sound innocent. Also, police in Australia rarely ask a person to get out of a vehicle. It sounds as though she might have been sitting in the driver's seat already. If she had no licence and was sitting in the passenger's seat, she would surely have had the time to calm down (unless her boyfriend was robbing a bank) and think to mention that she can't drive to the police.

You eating an apple or otherwise is careless and inconsiderate of other people on and near the road. You learn to drive with two hands on the wheel and concentrating on the raod all around yourself for a good reason: The motor vehicle is potentially deadly, as illustrated with frequent deaths on our roads. Show some sense and attend to driving safely. And 7 km over the limit is over the limit. The fine didn't suddenly increase when YOU got caught - if you know that fines exist then the choice to risk other's lives and pay a fine was yours to make.

Anyway, i'm not going to argue with you.
We were sitting at a wedding and discussing how the police is getting tough to raise money to meet their quotas. That is the point, money to meet their quotas which is not a good ethic and we all agreed.
Compare to 5, 10 years ago, the police were more reasonable.

I make this thread so i can hear about other Australians getting fined by the police.
Where are they ?

 

[Lefty]

Anyway, i'm not going to argue with you.
We were sitting at a wedding and discussing how the police is getting tough to raise money to meet their quotas. That is the point, money to meet their quotas which is not a good ethic and we all agreed.
Compare to 5, 10 years ago, the police were more reasonable.

I make this thread so i can hear about other Australians getting fined by the police.
Where are they ?

You were sitting and talking about traffic tickets during a Wedding?
How gauche. A worse violation of Miss Manners Book of Etiquette
then traffic admonishments or your abuse of basic communication
skills for English as a First language practitioners.

Other than Sam, your fellow Ozzies are probably being quiet as they
know and understand right from wrong.

JMHO, and at least as valid as your opinions on America, her politics,
people and law enforcement.