Ask The Copper

[commodore665]

Gee this thread has gone rather quiet. Everyone must all be up to speed.

That has to be a good thing

 

[Eevo]

Serving Police Member, is it true that if you are pulled over by a cop and you havnt done anything wrong that they cant ask to see your licence? they can ask if you have it on you but they cant actually ask to see it.

even if your not hiding anything, it sure does make you look like you are hiding something

 

[Tasmaniak]

Roof mounted spotlights.... What's the laws? Mine are on my four wheel drive. They are independently switched and are also only able to be switched on when on high beam. They also automatically shut off when dipping.

Typical rule of thumb is that I don't use them, however... Give me a loxng straight stretch and they are coming on.

No, I don't have covers for them... Wish I did, make of easier to clean the bugs off.

 

[Tasmaniak]

Oh and I'm trying to make sense of the current mobile device laws.

My car has an active cradle fitted to it. Its permanently fixed into the car and when I get, the phone goes into that and automatically pairs to my bluetooth. What am I and and am I not allowed to do on it?

Can I control my music on it? As in skips songs and find playlists.

Can I dial a number manually that's not in my phone book?

Use it as GPS and input an address?

Send a text message/email?

Browse the internet?

Now.... Before you say "this guys a moron" I'm only guilty of a couple of things up there... Music and manually entering a phone number when voice dialling doesn't work.

But, I'm an accessories fitter and do a lot of fleet work and these are the questions I get asked. Once it used to be easy.... Yes, not safe to do so but.not illegal. Laws are different now and I was hoping you could put them into simple English

 

[Nut Kracker]

Roof mounted spotlights.... What's the laws? Mine are on my four wheel drive. They are independently switched and are also only able to be switched on when on high beam. They also automatically shut off when dipping.

Typical rule of thumb is that I don't use them, however... Give me a loxng straight stretch and they are coming on.

No, I don't have covers for them... Wish I did, make of easier to clean the bugs off.

I heard many years ago (don't really know if it's accurate), that any after market light fitted to the front of a car,
must not be mounted above the factory head lights.

 

[Reaper]

Oh and I'm trying to make sense of the current mobile device laws.

My car has an active cradle fitted to it. Its permanently fixed into the car and when I get, the phone goes into that and automatically pairs to my bluetooth. What am I and and am I not allowed to do on it?

Can I control my music on it? As in skips songs and find playlists.

Can I dial a number manually that's not in my phone book?

Use it as GPS and input an address?

Send a text message/email?

Browse the internet?

Now.... Before you say "this guys a moron" I'm only guilty of a couple of things up there... Music and manually entering a phone number when voice dialling doesn't work.

But, I'm an accessories fitter and do a lot of fleet work and these are the questions I get asked. Once it used to be easy.... Yes, not safe to do so but.not illegal. Laws are different now and I was hoping you could put them into simple English

It would appear no to each of these questions: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/driver-safety/mobile-phones-and-driving. In short if you have to touch the phone *at all* then the answer is no. How that works with tablets without telephone capability I'm not sure although if it has a SIM and 3G/4G capability then it may be deemed as a communication device and covered too.

 

[Tasmaniak]

I heard many years ago (don't really know if it's accurate), that any after market light fitted to the front of a car,
must not be mounted above the factory head lights.

And I've heard so many different things on it...
Not allowed to be higher then 1500mm to the centre of the bulb on a pre'89 vehicle.
No more then two lights showing to the front at anytime
No more then two aftermarket lights showing to the front at anytime
Covers must be on
Covers don't matter
Bulb centres must be a particular distance apart, symmetrical and even height
Must always be an even amount of lights showing.

So confusing. The only thing I stick to are..
All lights must have their own independent switch.
Fog lights will only switch on when the park lights are on and will extinguish with low beam or high beam
"Driving Lights" will switch on with low beam but extinguish with high beam
Spotlights will only come on with high beam and extinguish automatically with any other light.
DRLs will come on with Ignition and extinguish with the park lights. Also, if I'm feeling super nice and the DRLs will be located near the indicators to the extent that it may be difficult to see the indicator with the LED glare, then I'll set it up to switch that particular sides DRL off when the indicators are on. A La Jeep style.

It would appear no to each of these questions: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/driver-safety/mobile-phones-and-driving. In short if you have to touch the phone *at all* then the answer is no. How that works with tablets without telephone capability I'm not sure although if it has a SIM and 3G/4G capability then it may be deemed as a communication device and covered too.

I think thats where I need the clarification. Since once the phone is in the holder, its essentially as solidly mounted as stereo... touchscreen... can do many of the things my phone can including send messages via my phone in a long winded roundabout way. Would that be legal? Because it's not a communication device... it's just connected to one...

Please don't get me wrong, definetly not trying to be a smartarse or prove the law wrong. But these are sorts of questions my customers ask me and I would like to be able to answer them confidently (still always with a disclaimer to verify themselves)

~:EDIT:~

Pulled this from that webpage you linked me to mate which suggests I can actually do a lot of those things provided its in the commercially designed holder fixed to the vehicle. For instance, this is screwed to the dashboard...

These should be deemed illegal in my books. The amount of cars I see going past me with a phone stuck right in front of the driver or in the middle of the windscreen.... with the damn GPS. The bonus of the above cradle is that it will require profesional installation in almost every case which means it SHOULD be placed in a smart location.

Anyway, here is that section from your linked webpage...

Fully licensed car drivers

Using a mobile phone while driving is prohibited, except to make or receive a phone call or to use its audio/music functions provided the phone:

is secured in a commercially designed holder fixed to the vehicle, or
can be operated by the driver without touching any part of the phone, and the phone is not resting on any part of the driver's body.
Using a phone as a navigational device/GPS while driving is prohibited unless it is secured in a commercially designed holder fixed to the vehicle. All other functions (including video calls, texting and emailing) are prohibited.

 

[Tasmaniak]

This is all I can find regarding lights. But doesn't explain how they are to be mounted.

Using fog lights
Front fog lights are designed to better illuminate the road in fog, snowfall, rainstorms or dust clouds. They can be recognised by the low, narrow pattern of light emitted.

Road Rule 217 states that drivers must not use front or rear fog lights unless driving in fog or other hazardous weather conditions that cause reduced visibility. Fog lights cannot be accidentally switched on. They must be switched on separate from the main beam (high beam) and dipped beam (passing) headlights.

Fog lights should only be used in hazardous weather conditions.

Using driving lights
Driving lights are designed to illuminate the road over a long distance for example country areas. They must be wired such that they only switch on with the main beam (high beam) head light. They emit the same lighting pattern as a main beam and are used as a supplementary light.

Road Rule 218 states that drivers must not use the high beam headlights when driving:

less than 200 metres behind a vehicle travelling in the same direction
less than 200 metres from an oncoming vehicle.
Driving lights cannot be accidentally switched on. They can only be switched on with the high beam head lights.

Driving lights should only be used when required over long distances and must not dazzle other vehicles.

Daytime running lights
The increased presence of daytime running lights on modern vehicles has caused some confusion within the community. Due to their outwardly similar appearance some drivers are confusing the functions of daytime running lights, driving lights and fog lights.

The purpose of daytime running lights is to increase the visibility of a vehicle to other road users in daylight conditions. The pattern of light produced by a daytime running light is designed to make the vehicle more conspicuous to all road users around the vehicle without causing unnecessary glare or discomfort.

Conversely, driving lights and fog lights are designed to increase visibility for the driver of the vehicle during night and hazardous conditions respectively, but may cause glare and discomfort for other road users. Fog lights and driving lights must not be used as a substitute for daytime running lights.

The results of European studies have shown that daytime running lights assist road users to easily recognise and identify vehicles. As a result, the European Commission mandated the addition of daytime running lights to new vehicles from 2011. A number of European manufacturers have brought these vehicles to Australia.

However, the merits of daytime running lights are yet to be demonstrated in Australian conditions. As Australia has not followed Europe in mandating daytime running lights, not all new vehicles are equipped with daytime running lights.

Daytime running lights are designed to switch on automatically when the engine starts and switch off automatically when fog lights or headlights are switched on. Some vehicles have the ability to adjust daytime running lights to become part of the headlight system. They produce minimal glare in comparison to driving lights and fog lights when used correctly.

The most commonly seen daytime running lights on Australian roads are made up of LEDs. The use of LEDs consumes less power and therefore also reduces fuel consumption and vehicle emissions when compared to traditional headlights.

 

[Nut Kracker]

Jeez Tas, you have been busy.

 

[Tasmaniak]

I took my happy pill this morning. The amount of work that gets done when I'm in a good mood is incredible.