Ask The Copper

[Julie]

To the police on here, this isnt directed squarley at you, but, your collegues need to seriously re-evaluate the way they interact with the younger community. What they did in Penrith, Western Sydney last night was over the top. Sweeping through the carparks defecting everything they could, grounding several cars, including my commodore.

Do the members in your force EVER stop to think..gee we could handle this situation better...maybe the younger generation will begin to dislike us...or is common practice to defect first, ask questions later?

All the young kids with cars that I know grow up with nothing but disrespect and hatred for most of the police force since the ones that deal with them treat them like absoloute crap. Ive always tried dealing with it on a case by case basis ( i.e that cop was an asshole, but doesnt mean they all are) but now, why would anyone bother taking that approach ? Its obvious we are all the same hell bent stupid ass P platers out to cause trouble, isnt it...So why would we act any different towards police officers. It goes both ways guys.

A red sticker was slapped on my window and I was told it was my problem now.

You think that attitude gets respect from the 100 odd people looking on?

Mate did this happen to be on a thurs night @ kk carpark panthers? If so then wtf did you expect? Anyone with half a brain cell knows they when u are in the wrong place @ the wrong time u are asking for trouble. Loitering around there with other p platers just screams defect me.

Its not like this is anything new, hell 13 years ago when I was a kid out there it was the same ****. Everyone going down to the boatramp, then 2 maccas with all the heroes doin laps around maccas then off to devlin for the runs. The cops were always out there in force getting everyone 4 everything they can. My now hubby got defected in his mums new laser, I know someone who got done for not having a washer on his towbar.

The point is they are out there to get p platers away from there. Its not so much that their cars are unroadworthy but the p platers congregating in large groups are a nuisance. I think if you hang around places like this that are targeted by police and get defected then its your own stupid fault.

 

[somerandom]

so a red sticker = tow home ? and a yellow sticker = able to drive around, but get fixed?

yeah?

 

[somerandom]

Unmarked vehicles are getting harder and harder to pick.

don't need to answer if you don't want to give out clues etc

but the only way i can tell by an unmarked car is, it has 3 arials on it, 2 on the rear and 1 on the front (and sometimes in different locations)

also if a cop is off duty, in general .. would it be easy as a cop to identify unmarked cars when they drive past, or whatever.. or do you get informed on a cb or something?

 

[Stupa]

Saw one with 3 across the back window last week

 

[VicCop]

don't need to answer if you don't want to give out clues etc

but the only way i can tell by an unmarked car is, it has 3 arials on it, 2 on the rear and 1 on the front (and sometimes in different locations)

also if a cop is off duty, in general .. would it be easy as a cop to identify unmarked cars when they drive past, or whatever.. or do you get informed on a cb or something?

Can generally pick them when looking closely enough. One came screaming up behind me one night on the freeway and flashed the high beams to get me out of the right lane. I put two and two together (high beam flash and the look of the headlights) and knew what it was. It wasn't until after he passed me decided to put his blueys on

 

[Shounak]

Picking the new unmarked cop cars is damn hard.. I passed a cop car that didn't have lights mounted on the parcel shelves. It had skinny little lights halfway up the rear windscreen and two coppers in it..

Not to mention that impossible to spot cop car I saw. A BA with blue and red flashies in the grilles, nothing inside the car. It was literally impossible to pick. I saw it flashing at a booze bus.

The other cop cars are simple though. Stock VY with silver ceptors and lights mounted at the back, same with BA..

 

[Morgasshk]

lol, i get people pulling out of my way without needing to flick the lights or anything, suite funny when it happens a couple of times in a row...

police have a duty to disperse groups of "car enthusiasts" no matter the age... come on, ANYONE who goes to these things is always excited when a hardcore tough and probably illegal car rumbles up, or a car takes off sideways etc... and all comes down to the peer pressure factor, c'mon mate, do a skid etc... and people do... and therefore to avoid accidents occuring, get moved along... which annoys shite outta me as well, because I love getting together with my mates at local hangouts and checking out the nice cars and chatting with people and all that, but i can also see the sense in it as there is ALWAYS some dickwad ready to do somethign stupid... even pretty organised and professional sort of meets, like Harry's Diner in Brisbane, with a shiteload of older cruisers with their pride and joys and still been 2 major accidents by knobs skidding out of there which killed it for about 6 months each time....

 

[davey g-force]

lol, i get people pulling out of my way without needing to flick the lights or anything, suite funny when it happens a couple of times in a row...

police have a duty to disperse groups of "car enthusiasts" no matter the age... come on, ANYONE who goes to these things is always excited when a hardcore tough and probably illegal car rumbles up, or a car takes off sideways etc... and all comes down to the peer pressure factor, c'mon mate, do a skid etc... and people do... and therefore to avoid accidents occuring, get moved along... which annoys shite outta me as well, because I love getting together with my mates at local hangouts and checking out the nice cars and chatting with people and all that, but i can also see the sense in it as there is ALWAYS some dickwad ready to do somethign stupid... even pretty organised and professional sort of meets, like Harry's Diner in Brisbane, with a shiteload of older cruisers with their pride and joys and still been 2 major accidents by knobs skidding out of there which killed it for about 6 months each time....

Couldn't have said it better myself! :thumbsup:

I used to love going to these hangouts too (more so when I was younger) but I now understand why cops want to break them up. It's the idiots that wreck it for everyone else...

 

[helly]

From experience, never listen to RTA, always investigate with your local police and lookup state guidelines as well as federal ADR's.

Guys I've been away, back in Sydney changing over my car...

What Minux says here is spot on. While I love the guys from the RTA and value a lot of what they have to say. The RTA and other road Authorities are bound by Organisational Guidelines in relatio to what they will and won't enforce. They will prbably tell you this isn't true, but I know better.

They are told what to enforce and what not to. Police on the other hand have discretion. We decide what and how we will enforce things from the various options given to us by legislation.

These days almost ANY modification is illegal unless it is either enginered or a factory fitment/option. PODS (71db drive by) yeah right! Yeah Yeah, Blah Blah.

If any of you have heard of the ROADS trial you'll know where things are headed. If this goes through, you'll have to have a compliance plate with lots of codes stating what's been modified, and this will show that it is all legit, and it can be checked.

No more, "Officer, like seriously mate, my friends cousins mate, who is this world class engineer did it all for me, it's fully sick..."

Officer say's, "Prove it champ?"

See its not the police officers job to be a mechanical engineer. But it is your job to carry the proof that the vehicle is sound once you start tinkering... That way it doesn't matter how dumb or smart we are, you'll be safe...

BYt the way most cops I know have a lot more knowledge thah me in these areas, and the guys who don't just generally don't hand out defects. Just like Guys in HWP don't charge you with Murder, we leave that to the guys who know what they are on about!

Cheers Guys...

 

[Sabbath']

Just a question in relation to traffic Islands:

On Haverbrack Drive in Mulgrave the council has decided to install S shaped traffic islands to slow traffic coming up and down Haverbrack drive to 50km (the limit) and to hopefully stop people using it as a through road (Cuts from Wellington to Police and invariably the freeway)

These have been put up at T intersections of roads that come off Haverbrack drive. As yet, there has been no attempt to put extra light on these and it is, to be honest a danger because there is little to no warning that they are there, and when you do get there, there is no indication where they start and end, no lights or reflective materials at all.

Thats not my point though. They have a Yellow 20 km/h sign for them. Am i right in assuming that this is an advisory speed limit and does not need to be adhered to (ie, if you go through at 30 and theres a cop with a radar gun and you get clocked doing that you will be done for 10 over the limit?

As they have built them quite wide, if you pick the right line going through there you need only drop your speed to about 45 to get through no troubles. But im worried as the people coming from the feeder roads seem to think that the islands give them the right to just pull out.

So my second question is, if im coming through one of these at close to 50, when there is a 20km yellow sign posted and somebody pulls out from a side road and we collide, who is in the wrong?