New speeding and drinking laws.
09-24-2010, 09:20 AM
#31
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I do think that most of you guys are responsible drivers but what about those who aren't? Where do you draw the line, and how do you pick them out? 
As for me I usually just go with the flow of traffic.
As for me I usually just go with the flow of traffic.
09-24-2010, 02:43 PM
#32
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Driving across Port Mann bridge this morning 80k construction zone etc.. I had a minivan blast around me made me look like i was standing still must of been going double speed limit for sure. That must handle good at that speed wet pavement lane change...
09-24-2010, 11:46 PM
#34
I have 27 years of accident free driving with 5 tickets (3 speeding and 2 rolling stops). In all but one, I was guilty and, though a little pissed off, I had to admit that I was guilty. The thing about it was that the cost of those 5 tickets probably only totaled $500 over 27 years. It still stung, but didn't destroy my life.
My beef is that now the fines are so outrageous as to really harm a person's well being. If I had received a $3000 fine when I was 21, I would have had to declare bankruptcy. And much of this is without getting your day in court... I look at my younger nieces and nephews and if they received one of these fines, they and their families would be in serious financial jeopardy. This would literally take food off the table and put their employment in jeopardy. This type of fine has far reaching effects, well beyond just punishing the speeder. Imagine having to have to tell your little girl that you have to live on the street because you don't have money for rent.
I know that somebody is going to say, "well if you can't afford the ticket, then you shouldn't speed", but the penalties are way too extreme. The punishment does not fit the crime. I am a pretty cautious driver, but I have found myself on roads where I was doing well over the speed limit and, as a reasonable person, found the limit to be far too low for the road. I have often found myself on roads posted as 50 kmh and clearly could have handled 70kmh. Am I an "expert"? All I can say is my 27 solid years of accident free driving and million plus miles of driving provides a fair degree of experience. There is no doubt in my mind that the police target these areas because they know that the natural speed is above the posted limit. We, as drivers, are like fish in the proverbial barrel. As far as I am concerned, the problem is that if you are on a road with a speed limit that is 20 km too low, it doesn't take much to pop over the 40 km thresh hold. Everyone is doing 70 and you decide to pass a slow car, so you accelerate to pass and presto, you are now $3000 poorer.
If the police are serious about saving lives, they need to target real high risk areas. Snake Hill in Port Moody is a good example. I have seen countless accidents on this portion of the road, but never see enforcement. Instead the police sit at the end of Barnet Highway pulling dozens of people over in a location I have never seen an accident.
As far as the drinking goes, I feel like I am being made to feel like a criminal for having a drink with dinner. The police are clearly avoiding issuing any guidelines for people to follow, so as to instill so much uncertainty that people will just stop drinking. Noble perhaps, but this is not their business. The Federal Government has deemed that safe legal limit to be anything under .08. As far as I am concerned, you go over this, you deserve to be punished according to what the criminal laws dictate. Now, we seem to have two sets of "criminal" laws. The real ones, and the ones that the province has decided that we, as British Columbian's. need to follow. Essentially, what the BC government is saying is, "we don't like how the federal government is handling the federal affairs, so we are gonna make our own rules to supersede their jurisdiction. This is making a constitutional mockery of the divisions of Federal and provincial powers. This is a dangerous slippery slope that we are on.
I also would like to see that statistics that show that people who fall between .05 and .079 are causing statistically significant increases in accidents. If this is indeed the case, then the correct path to address this issue rests in changing our federal laws.
I am getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really do feel as though we are drifting too far into the realm of a police state. I saw on the news today, that the police in Vancouver are issuing speeding tickets without using radar, laser or clocking. They are actually able to issue tickets based on their own personal estimate of your speed. Things have gone too far...
end rant
My beef is that now the fines are so outrageous as to really harm a person's well being. If I had received a $3000 fine when I was 21, I would have had to declare bankruptcy. And much of this is without getting your day in court... I look at my younger nieces and nephews and if they received one of these fines, they and their families would be in serious financial jeopardy. This would literally take food off the table and put their employment in jeopardy. This type of fine has far reaching effects, well beyond just punishing the speeder. Imagine having to have to tell your little girl that you have to live on the street because you don't have money for rent.
I know that somebody is going to say, "well if you can't afford the ticket, then you shouldn't speed", but the penalties are way too extreme. The punishment does not fit the crime. I am a pretty cautious driver, but I have found myself on roads where I was doing well over the speed limit and, as a reasonable person, found the limit to be far too low for the road. I have often found myself on roads posted as 50 kmh and clearly could have handled 70kmh. Am I an "expert"? All I can say is my 27 solid years of accident free driving and million plus miles of driving provides a fair degree of experience. There is no doubt in my mind that the police target these areas because they know that the natural speed is above the posted limit. We, as drivers, are like fish in the proverbial barrel. As far as I am concerned, the problem is that if you are on a road with a speed limit that is 20 km too low, it doesn't take much to pop over the 40 km thresh hold. Everyone is doing 70 and you decide to pass a slow car, so you accelerate to pass and presto, you are now $3000 poorer.
If the police are serious about saving lives, they need to target real high risk areas. Snake Hill in Port Moody is a good example. I have seen countless accidents on this portion of the road, but never see enforcement. Instead the police sit at the end of Barnet Highway pulling dozens of people over in a location I have never seen an accident.
As far as the drinking goes, I feel like I am being made to feel like a criminal for having a drink with dinner. The police are clearly avoiding issuing any guidelines for people to follow, so as to instill so much uncertainty that people will just stop drinking. Noble perhaps, but this is not their business. The Federal Government has deemed that safe legal limit to be anything under .08. As far as I am concerned, you go over this, you deserve to be punished according to what the criminal laws dictate. Now, we seem to have two sets of "criminal" laws. The real ones, and the ones that the province has decided that we, as British Columbian's. need to follow. Essentially, what the BC government is saying is, "we don't like how the federal government is handling the federal affairs, so we are gonna make our own rules to supersede their jurisdiction. This is making a constitutional mockery of the divisions of Federal and provincial powers. This is a dangerous slippery slope that we are on.
I also would like to see that statistics that show that people who fall between .05 and .079 are causing statistically significant increases in accidents. If this is indeed the case, then the correct path to address this issue rests in changing our federal laws.
I am getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I really do feel as though we are drifting too far into the realm of a police state. I saw on the news today, that the police in Vancouver are issuing speeding tickets without using radar, laser or clocking. They are actually able to issue tickets based on their own personal estimate of your speed. Things have gone too far...
end rant
09-28-2010, 02:45 PM
#35
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Originally Posted by DDonovan,Sep 21 2010, 10:06 PM
^ you don't have to have an accidental 'crash' at the track, just hang outside a pub till about 11, wait for some people to come out and get into thier car, then follow them out to the highway and run into them...,
A lot of good points here. The question is where will this "Cash Grab" go? The experience I've had with Police when it comes to property theft, break ins, and such is they take a report and tell you they don't have the resources to investigate. My wife had her purse stolen at one point and they even had video footage available of the guy trying to buy cigarettes and lotto tickets with her credit card yet I don't think they even bothered watching it. Chances are a lot of these petty crimes are done by repeat offenders if they did invest some resources into it they would end up with a lot less calls.
Maybe it's just perception but the police seem to be doing less and less protecting the public from real threats and more and more money collection. Heck the police force might as well become a private business venture there would be less government wastefulness and it would provide a good investment opportunity. Perhaps if I became a big shareholder it would be in their best interest to just leave me be.
Oh and how quickly we forget Gordon Campbell's drinking & driving back in 2003.
09-28-2010, 04:03 PM
#36
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Todays Province paper two guys on Mount Seymour close to the top of the mountain got caught doing 200KMH in a Ferrari and BMW. RCMP happened to be on patrol up there when he seen them blow past.
09-28-2010, 04:24 PM
#37
Originally Posted by notbadd,Sep 28 2010, 04:03 PM
Todays Province paper two guys on Mount Seymour close to the top of the mountain got caught doing 200KMH in a Ferrari and BMW. RCMP happened to be on patrol up there when he seen them blow past.
IIRC, the story about Europe stemmed from some millionaire being find a huge amount (something like $100000).
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