razor
10-09-2004, 10:51 AM
Sent this morning....
Ms Roberts,
After reading much and hearing much about the new "hoon" laws that you and your government have now implemented in the state of Western Australia, I have some questions that require clarification and some points to bring to your attention:
1) How can you possibly imagine that this law will not encourage people to "do a runner" from the police if they think that their licence plate has not been noted? The consequences of running are no worse then the consequences of stopping - in either case you will possibly have your car impounded and a severe fine issued. In addition, many people will become even more desperate to elude the police if they are on their second or subsequent "strike". You have now created a situation where ordinary citizens will feel they have nothing to lose by running from the police. Is your department willing to publish statistics of the number of high speed chases that occured BEFORE the new laws versus AFTER the new laws? And how will you attempt to justify these new laws when people are dying in these high speed chases?
2) After reading the details for the 6 cars that were confiscated as at Sunday 05/09/2004, it appears that the police are given undue discretionary powers - impounding a vehicle for going 15kph above the posted speed limit (in Canning Vale) is NOT part of the law. However, by attaching a discretionary "reckless" or "dangerous" tag to it (without requiring any sort of justification) the police seem able to simply take your car for 48hrs. In addition, you now have one "strike" against your name. I cannot see how these actions can be justified in any way. A large proportion of the community has received speeding fines for travelling 15kph over the posted limit - are all these people in danger of forfeiting their cars?
3) If your car gets impounded for 3 months, I believe that the owner of the car is liable for the fines + the impound fees? At $50 / day, that works out to around $5,000 for the 90 day period. How many people are NOT going to be able to pay that? Effectively then, they lose their car after the 2nd "offence". Now combined with the above, it's possible for citizens to have their car taken away from them for being caught speeding 15kph over the posted limit twice. This is an absolutely ridiculous situation.
4) In addition, if someone (who has a prior "offense") is caught driving your car, do they impound it for 3 months? So you lose YOUR car for 3 months? Who is liable for the impound fees + fine?
5) If you've lost your car once, do you go back to 1 strike? Or can you lose your next car again after being "busted" once? Are the strikes like demerit points? When do you get them back? Or do you have to drive for the rest of your life in fear of the police taking your vehicle away from you? Are you thus essentially banning these people from ever owning a car that they are not able to forfeit?
Taking into account the above points, it's pretty hard not to believe that this is a blatantly ridiculous law that seriously infringes upon people's civil liberties. Governments spend millions of dollars each year on "speed kills" campaigns (thereby justifying the millions more they reap in speeding fines) but I have never once heard or seen a goverment campaign encourgaing motorists to:
1) Attend driver education classes
2) Buy the best and most expensive tyres and brakes that they can afford - better tyres + brakes = MUCH shorter stopping distances. Are you aware that a retread tyre can take as much as 50% longer to stop then a normal tyre? Why is it considered lawful and acceptable to drive within the speed limit on tyres that blatantly more dangerous then radials?
Obviously the messages above aren't being posted because there is no revenue to be gained from it. I feel very sad to be living in a state where the government slowly erodes our rights and freedoms and forces us to live in fear of losing our possessions as well as our hard-earned incomes. The recent example of older people losing their homes due to their childrens drug cultivation is simply one of the many examples of your government moving far from its "labour" roots.
I will no longer support your government in this coming election or any in the foreseeable future.
Regards,
....
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Ms Roberts,
After reading much and hearing much about the new "hoon" laws that you and your government have now implemented in the state of Western Australia, I have some questions that require clarification and some points to bring to your attention:
1) How can you possibly imagine that this law will not encourage people to "do a runner" from the police if they think that their licence plate has not been noted? The consequences of running are no worse then the consequences of stopping - in either case you will possibly have your car impounded and a severe fine issued. In addition, many people will become even more desperate to elude the police if they are on their second or subsequent "strike". You have now created a situation where ordinary citizens will feel they have nothing to lose by running from the police. Is your department willing to publish statistics of the number of high speed chases that occured BEFORE the new laws versus AFTER the new laws? And how will you attempt to justify these new laws when people are dying in these high speed chases?
2) After reading the details for the 6 cars that were confiscated as at Sunday 05/09/2004, it appears that the police are given undue discretionary powers - impounding a vehicle for going 15kph above the posted speed limit (in Canning Vale) is NOT part of the law. However, by attaching a discretionary "reckless" or "dangerous" tag to it (without requiring any sort of justification) the police seem able to simply take your car for 48hrs. In addition, you now have one "strike" against your name. I cannot see how these actions can be justified in any way. A large proportion of the community has received speeding fines for travelling 15kph over the posted limit - are all these people in danger of forfeiting their cars?
3) If your car gets impounded for 3 months, I believe that the owner of the car is liable for the fines + the impound fees? At $50 / day, that works out to around $5,000 for the 90 day period. How many people are NOT going to be able to pay that? Effectively then, they lose their car after the 2nd "offence". Now combined with the above, it's possible for citizens to have their car taken away from them for being caught speeding 15kph over the posted limit twice. This is an absolutely ridiculous situation.
4) In addition, if someone (who has a prior "offense") is caught driving your car, do they impound it for 3 months? So you lose YOUR car for 3 months? Who is liable for the impound fees + fine?
5) If you've lost your car once, do you go back to 1 strike? Or can you lose your next car again after being "busted" once? Are the strikes like demerit points? When do you get them back? Or do you have to drive for the rest of your life in fear of the police taking your vehicle away from you? Are you thus essentially banning these people from ever owning a car that they are not able to forfeit?
Taking into account the above points, it's pretty hard not to believe that this is a blatantly ridiculous law that seriously infringes upon people's civil liberties. Governments spend millions of dollars each year on "speed kills" campaigns (thereby justifying the millions more they reap in speeding fines) but I have never once heard or seen a goverment campaign encourgaing motorists to:
1) Attend driver education classes
2) Buy the best and most expensive tyres and brakes that they can afford - better tyres + brakes = MUCH shorter stopping distances. Are you aware that a retread tyre can take as much as 50% longer to stop then a normal tyre? Why is it considered lawful and acceptable to drive within the speed limit on tyres that blatantly more dangerous then radials?
Obviously the messages above aren't being posted because there is no revenue to be gained from it. I feel very sad to be living in a state where the government slowly erodes our rights and freedoms and forces us to live in fear of losing our possessions as well as our hard-earned incomes. The recent example of older people losing their homes due to their childrens drug cultivation is simply one of the many examples of your government moving far from its "labour" roots.
I will no longer support your government in this coming election or any in the foreseeable future.
Regards,
....
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: