Toughest state for traffic laws

[Calaber]

Hope this hasn't been dealt with before.

Which state do you think has the most stringent or toughest traffic laws and the harshest penalties?

Being from NSW, I used to think our laws were unfairly harsh compared to other states, particularly in relation to roadworthiness of cars. But nowadays, I'm inclined to think that Victoria is the worst, with their virtually zero tolerance of speeding and various other issues raised in this forum from time to time.

So, which state wins the booby prize for being the worst?

[Stressball]

Yeah I've heard Victoria is the worst, only thing I'd like up here in QLD is the power to weight ratio for P platers instead of having anything with forced induction or over 6 cylinders banned

[vlv8vic]

based on roadworthiness i see SA as the absolute worst. Never seen so many bombs on the road as in that place (more specifically adelaide). Was there for a few days a couple of weeks ago and saw 3 car with windscreens taped on, more smokey exhausts than i could believe and more scrapes and dings than anywhere. That said, i also believe they are the best drivers to be around - more patient and courteous.

[TVR-190]

NSW isnt too bad, its bad in the sense where you have to go to the pits once a year, which is a pain but sorta good on the other hand. my cousin from QLD thinks its good because he says he sees so many unroadworthy cars going around.

[Grennan]

In tems of traffic fines, cameras and what not, Victoria is definatly the worst. Police here will chuck a camera on every intersection if they could, theres a reason Victoria is nicknamed the revenue state.

NSW is pretty good from experience, i mean sure you gotta go get a RWC every year but i would much prefer it that way and there are signs before every speed camera.

Queensland, or as i like to call them, the "Cant Be ****ed" state. I miss living in Queensland. Speed Cameras? What are they? Coppers used to hide cardboard cutouts of police cars in the bushes along the freeway.

[danja]

In tems of traffic fines, cameras and what not, Victoria is definatly the worst. Police here will chuck a camera on every intersection if they could, theres a reason Victoria is nicknamed the revenue state.

NSW is pretty good from experience, i mean sure you gotta go get a RWC every year but i would much prefer it that way and there are signs before every speed camera.

NSW is heading that way. They've recently discovered that every school zone is free ticket to throw up a speed camera. Before they actually had to justify putting one in by showing a history of speed related accidents...

Queensland, or as i like to call them, the "Cant Be ****ed" state. I miss living in Queensland. Speed Cameras? What are they? Coppers used to hide cardboard cutouts of police cars in the bushes along the freeway.

Sounds a lot like Super Troopers

[tanner892]

i just moved up to Qld from Victoria and it's a complete joke, NO SPEED CAMERAS (literally), the drivers r insane, and travelling on the freeway at 130kmh (in 110 zone) is completely normal, speed limits dont exist in Queensland, in Vic u had to watch ur arse and not to mention the amount of booze busses, but i suppose u cant complain

[Stressball]

i just moved up to Qld from Victoria and it's a complete joke, NO SPEED CAMERAS (literally), the drivers r insane, and travelling on the freeway at 130kmh (in 110 zone) is completely normal, speed limits dont exist in Queensland, in Vic u had to watch ur arse and not to mention the amount of booze busses, but i suppose u cant complain

Depends where you live in QLD.

There are the areas where police and camera presence is quite common... Very high traffic flow areas, and very easy to hide the mobile cameras

[Travy]

Victoria is tough...

S.A.. i dont know if its so much the laws.. but the cops pick on modified/turbo cars like you wouldn't believe.. Regency is hell. and mainly the nice ones..
So many pieces of shit driving around adelaide that are obviously not safe and yet they are too bust picking on wrx's and other nice modified cars..
One of the most ridiculous rules there is coilovers are illegal unless welded so they cant be adjusted... WTF

[alien]

Yea Victoria is definatly the worst with cameras and catching people, but hey, that's fine by me, just dont do anything wrong, and like anything else just learn where you CAN speed.

NSW have to have signs in front of the cameras otherwise people can get off the fines, in victoria, you get stung and its "you were speeding, so your own fault. get lost".

[ProphetVX]

i just moved up to Qld from Victoria and it's a complete joke, NO SPEED CAMERAS (literally), the drivers r insane, and travelling on the freeway at 130kmh (in 110 zone) is completely normal, speed limits dont exist in Queensland, in Vic u had to watch ur arse and not to mention the amount of booze busses, but i suppose u cant complain

You clearly haven't driven the gateway just outside Brisbane. I live in NSW, but every time I've driven that stretch of road (at least 10-15 times) I've seen people on the side of the road getting booked.

[88GreenVN]

based on roadworthiness i see SA as the absolute worst. Never seen so many bombs on the road as in that place (more specifically adelaide). Was there for a few days a couple of weeks ago and saw 3 car with windscreens taped on, more smokey exhausts than i could believe and more scrapes and dings than anywhere. That said, i also believe they are the best drivers to be around - more patient and courteous.

Shouldn't talk about my VN like that

If they bring in road worthy's in SA half the cars (or more) would be off the road.

Victoria for the win on toughness

[VN - SS]

QLD isnt too bad lol cops dont care about hoons, basically you do it out of town they leave you alone.

rarely see speed cameras and if there is one by the time they get on their bike or go to drive after the person they are long gone.

only get defected if your REALLY unlucky

like seriously i know people who sit on 160 - 180 all the way from brisbane to gympie after the speed camera near burpengary lol queensland really is the best state!

[danja]

NSW have to have signs in front of the cameras otherwise people can get off the fines, in victoria, you get stung and its "you were speeding, so your own fault. get lost".

Could never quite understand that, if you do get done by a speed camera you bloody well deserve it because aside from the fact you shouldn't have been doing it in the first place, you had enough bloody warning it was coming! (3 warning signs before the camera is the minimum I believe).

I've heard around the campfire it's something to do with privacy laws, but it's still stupid from an enforcement POV. If you were worried there might be an unmarked speed camera anywhere you'd never risk speeding unless you knew the road like the back of your hand.






Holy crap! There's a speed camera on the back of my hand!

[sircruisealotVS]

Just reading through everyones posts and it seems qld has some sort of relaxed reputation. i really dont know where that comes from because the cops up here are brutal. Particularly on the goldy.

there's a crap load of speed cameras and pretty much every fri-sun there are dozens of roadside rbt's everywhere - not random ones, the ones everyone has to go into. even leaving the city most weekend nights there will be these rbt's as you enter the riverside expressway.
i will agree with one point though, no one obeys speed limits here and they all drive like nutters. plenty of shitboxes littered around everywhere too, due to only needing a roady if you change the title on the car or registering after being unregistered.

so qld is by no means the toughest, but it's definately not as relaxed as people are making it out to be.

[VN - SS]

Just reading through everyones posts and it seems qld has some sort of relaxed reputation. i really dont know where that comes from because the cops up here are brutal. Particularly on the goldy.

there's a crap load of speed cameras and pretty much every fri-sun there are dozens of roadside rbt's everywhere - not random ones, the ones everyone has to go into. even leaving the city most weekend nights there will be these rbt's as you enter the riverside expressway.
i will agree with one point though, no one obeys speed limits here and they all drive like nutters. plenty of shitboxes littered around everywhere too, due to only needing a roady if you change the title on the car or registering after being unregistered.

so qld is by no means the toughest, but it's definately not as relaxed as people are making it out to be.

whod wanna live on the goldy anyway? a few mates that moved back here from brizzy reckons cops didnt care there either lol apparently somewhere near brizzy they block off the highway for illegal races.

[MagiTEK]

Far North Queensland (aka Townsville).. Im lucky if i see a cop once a month and a speed trap once every 3 months.. Booze Busses.... Well I saw them on the clubbing strip 4 months back with their new drug van.. First and last time Ive seen them in Townsville in the 2 years Ive lived here. MIND YOU... I travel to the edge of town for work and to the shops and bottle-O and not much else.. So grain of salt.

Went to see the oldies in Rockhampton for Christmas.. One lonely highway patrol on the way down and a 2 town cars in mackay on the way back.......

[AdamOne]

DEFINITELY victoria! without question... no v8, no turbo, no supercharger... not even allowed to drive a parents car if it falls under these catagories. coincidentally victoria also has the stupidest system where you allowed to drive a 190kw high output alloytec in an sv6 but not even an old 253????????? its ridiculous... they shoulda stuck with power to weight in vic

[minux]

Vic wins hands down on traffic offences, but fails big time when punishing REAL criminals.

[Pub247]

qld is the worst for fines when i was there theyre almost double what i got for a couple in vic. i think sunshine/gold coast and brisbane have heaps of cops. If you lived on the sunshine coast when i did defects and fines were handed out like fliers.
Victoria defenitly has more speed cameras and cops than any other state i lived in.

Most relaxed state goes to the NT very low finees no points and some decents coppers depending on location i guess

[egorthirty]

Pub24/7 qld is the worst for fines when i was there theyre almost double what i got for a couple in vic. i think sunshine/gold coast and brisbane have heaps of cops. If you lived on the sunshine coast when i did defects and fines were handed out like fliers.
Victoria defenitly has more speed cameras and cops than any other state i lived in.

i second that. the fines in qld are higher in most cases for the same infringement. but because of the 'amount' of cameras in vic you simply get caught more!

and it wont get easier either, word is they're trialing discreet speed cameras built into gutters so most of us wont even know what hit us!

[Jared91]

Western australia for sure. we dont have to put our old rust buckets over the pits every year. just keep paying the rego. i have been driving around the last four months with a crack on my window and im a red p plater been pulled over 8 times and they say just to get it fixed soon! how unfair is that!.

[Zuicider]

Western australia for sure. we dont have to put our old rust buckets over the pits every year. just keep paying the rego. i have been driving around the last four months with a crack on my window and im a red p plater been pulled over 8 times and they say just to get it fixed soon! how unfair is that!.

car rego and the road u usually drive on please

goota love radar detectors no fine in over 3 years now

[Mick1988]

Victoria is the strictest state in my opinion. I think it's all fairly silly though.

Alright, I live in Western Australia and the laws here are fairly relaxed. You can usually sit 5-10k's above the limit and the cops won't bother you. You can legally use a radar detector, no annual pit inspections etc).

Now we have the second highest road toll figures of all the Australian states. But when you look at the deaths, the most common ones are people falling asleep or losing control (due to tiredness) on country roads, and stupidly excessive hooning.

Now the country deaths are so high here because we're the biggest state and all of our cities are reasonable distances apart. We have the most country roads, and in many cases the roads are fairly dodgy here.

There has been talk about banning radar detectors. I don't see how this is going to help because my radar detector has warned me of roadworks and traffic hazards where emergency vehicles have been present more times than it has warned me of radars, and the radars have a clearly visible blue sign near them anyway.

There is talk about lowering speed limits AGAIN. But I'll say this much. People will be pissed off and still drive the same speed they're driving now which will make things more dangerous when you throw some law abiding baby-boomers in the mix.

There is talk about lowering country speed limits from 110 to 100. Wow, great job there. Make people drive for longer and slower so they feel like they're sitting in an armchair with the engine purring and the climate control keeping them comfy. Increase the bloody limits to 140 and people will get where they're going quicker and will need to concentrate more and stay more alert and won't fall asleep.

There is talk about zero tolerance on alcohol. Period. 0.00% for any driver. That's bullshit because so many of us go out and are responsible and drink enough to have a good night but enough to be under 0.05%. Why punish us?

Instead of ruining the roads for people who don't cause a problem, start fixing the roads and making country trips quicker and safer. Increase the limits a bit where the roads are safe enough and make it dual carriageway so trucks and small cars unable to sit on 140kph can stay in the left lane and there is no danger from people trying to overtake because they can just change into the right, cruise past and change left, no hassles.

People who speed and hoon recklessly aren't going to take any notice of the speed limits wether they're 140, 100, 70 or 30. They're still going to be stupid and they're the people who need to be taken off the roads. There is a time and place for things. If you want to give your car a squirt, find a straight road in the country with great visibility and nowhere for anything to run out infront of you from and give it a squirt. Don't bloody do it through medium traffic on arterial roads in the middle of town.

Additionally, the government should focus more on stopping people on country roads and supplying free hot drinks and a portable toilet and biscuits to give people a little break from driving, up the limits a bit, make the roads safer and we won't have an issue.

As for unroadworthy cars, there are enough cops driving around to pull them over and yellow sticker them. Or give citizens the power to write in a letter about an unroadworthy car and have police follow it up. A couple of cars I've seen I would take 5 minutes to write a letter about if it saved me having to take my well-maintained cars over the pits every 12 months.

[zerodown]

You make some good points Mick.

I don't think our authorities quite understand how vast this country is.
100kph out on some dead straight country roads is basically putting people to sleep. The brain just turns off due to the lack of actual driving, your in a mindless stare, same scenery and what seems like walking pace.

I don't think they really give a hoot about saving lives to be honest. Not here in Vic anyway, it's just fine them instead.