What will you buy?

[VS 5.0]

got no idea how he didn’t kill the battery

Need the engine running to use a/c.

 

[tml678]

Guys, we’ve all done our drivers license tests, both written and practical, and can any of us really say that the testing level is high. It’s set at a very basic level, very basic.

Initial licencing procedures are a completely different different kettle of fish to recertifying a licenced driver who has major medical issues.

there is no way he would still be driving in NSW. In QLD though, I’m not at all surprised. If the story is as he has told it, then Serious questions definitely should be asked of their licensing procedures for people in such a position.

To be clear, that is in no way an attack upon him personally, it is purely an observation from a safety perspective

 

[Forg]

It was a hard look, most of the VF Series II i found in regal peacock were either ex-police or only VF series I.

It wasn't a popular colour. I suspect maybe too close to black for popularity, a lot of people don't want black (for real cleanliness reasons as well as urban mythology about heat) & if you wanted black you'd get black.
Plus they didn't offer it on Redline after MY2014.

Was a bit of a search for me, too. It was THE colour that she wanted, we were buying new, it was mid 2015, and we both wanted a Redline wagon. We found the only new one (it was one of those no-km demo's they register in late December to meet sales targets) in the stock lists of all east-coast Holden dealers (I had to trawl every one, one at a time) ...
I suspect we wouldn't have managed to negotiate as much off the new price had the dealer known he had the only car in the country in the colour we wanted.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Something just does not add up in this whole story. Not sure what it is but something aint right

 

[Holden17]

I

Guys, we’ve all done our drivers license tests, both written and practical, and can any of us really say that the testing level is high. It’s set at a very basic level, very basic. All sorts of both able-bodied and disabled people get their licence as a result, with no ongoing periodic testing (which is the biggest problem).

Heck, I know of able-bodied people that I wouldn’t let push a lawn mower yet they have their drivers license, and some tow At times it’s frightening simply being on the roads, yet for the most part society manages. For the most part.

But what really scares me is the rise of mobile phone use while driving... taking selfies seconds before a fatal crash is the worst I’ve heard of but it’s not an isolated situation. I’m sure there are lots of other non fatal and near misses cases we simply never hear of.

In any case @VFSV6FORME has been checked and recertified to drive so who are we to question specifics and his doctors. I don’t think I want to see the forum degrade to the extent that people are treated in such a way the6 have to prove things. Simply accept what said or disregard it, and let’s move on.

If licensing standards are an issue that bugs you, and poor license standards bug me. Maybe we should all push the powers to be to have 5 yearly retests,. Not age discriminated but from birth to death so to speak. Each 5 years the skills level can be reconsidered and improved in some areas so we all see improvements in road behaviour over time.

As is, at times I feel I’m playing rushin roulette (pun intended) on our roads

I lost all respect for drivers licence tests in QLD about 10yrs ago when they did away with eye tests.

Huh, every k over is a killer but you don’t care if my eyesight is not good enough to read the speedo nor see the dude that steps out in front of me

 

[Big Red VF-SII Go-kart]

Thousands of drivers around Australia drive fine with a disability, some with more than one encumbrance; consider that double and quad amputees also drive with vehicles specifically adapted to their requirements. My brother, in a former life a professional driver with Greyhound, has macular degeneration and brushfield spots, but drives OK (but his rear tyres are bald, and he doesn't care...). FWIW, my binaural sensorineural profound deafness (for 46 years...) has not placed any restriction on my driving capacity or licence, nor has it affected my Heavy Rigid Vehicle licence, which I have held in Victoria since 2014. But there has been a notable faux pas the family is familiar with: in March 2009 I was driving at the posted 100km/h limit in the distant country, oblivious to a patrol car behind me with siren blaring (I must have knocked the mirror as I didn't see his lights...). There was a problem, and I recall: "sir, that Stop sign was 18km back along the road there, and I've been following you visibly, so are you deaf or just ignoring me?" Oh my, Oh my. My retort was slightly cheeky, but factual: "Sorry, I'm not ignoring you Officer, I am deaf!". He thought it was funny, but I sat there mortified. Out came the book...

No such incidents have been recorded more than a decade on. I drive some exxy cars at uni (my supervising professor has a Audi A6, while the research group car is a Tourareg V8 behemoth). I hate suburban driving but relish the long open road. I have 6 days off now before I resume my pedalling...

But I digress. My biggest worry with today's drivers, one shared by many, is the profligate use of mobile phones while driving; the message of just how damned dangerous this is doesn't seem to be getting through here anywhere in Victoria, while over the border in Sydney, NSW has cameras that are catching out thousands of drivers texting or playing with their phone while driving, with something like a $1,000 fine and steep demerit points. Victoria needs to introduce something like this (especially since its Forward Budget Estimates rely quite heavily on speed camera, red light camera and fixed/mobile camera revenue). I pass people at speed every single day distracted by their phones, and one woman last week putting her lippy on with the visor down and light illuminating her face — in a 110km/h zone.

 

[Holden17]

Need the engine running to use a/c.

Ok..but then the DVD should not have been working??...or does the car have to be in gear as well to disable the DVD??..either that or it could be that he was just listening to the radio on those occasions.

Sadly he’s not around anymore to ask but Mum was just chuckling a couple of days ago that she could always find the car in the car park because she could hear the aircon whirring away. I must find a DVD and give it a go just for the hang of it...I’m basically looking after the car these days but have never tried a DVD in it.

 

[Holden17]

Thousands of drivers around Australia drive fine with a disability, some with more than one encumbrance; consider that double and quad amputees also drive with vehicles specifically adapted to their requirements. My brother, in a former life a professional driver with Greyhound, has macular degeneration and brushfield spots, but drives OK (but his rear tyres are bald, and he doesn't care...). FWIW, my binaural sensorineural profound deafness (for 46 years...) has not placed any restriction on my driving capacity or licence, nor has it affected my Heavy Rigid Vehicle licence, which I have held in Victoria since 2014. But there has been a notable faux pas the family is familiar with: in March 2009 I was driving at the posted 100km/h limit in the distant country, oblivious to a patrol car behind me with siren blaring (I must have knocked the mirror as I didn't see his lights...). There was a problem, and I recall: "sir, that Stop sign was 18km back along the road there, and I've been following you visibly, so are you deaf or just ignoring me?" Oh my, Oh my. My retort was slightly cheeky, but factual: "Sorry, I'm not ignoring you Officer, I am deaf!". He thought it was funny, but I sat there mortified. Out came the book...

No such incidents have been recorded more than a decade on. I drive some exxy cars at uni (my supervising professor has a Audi A6, while the research group car is a Tourareg V8 behemoth). I hate suburban driving but relish the long open road. I have 6 days off now before I resume my pedalling...

But I digress. My biggest worry with today's drivers, one shared by many, is the profligate use of mobile phones while driving; the message of just how damned dangerous this is doesn't seem to be getting through here anywhere in Victoria, while over the border in Sydney, NSW has cameras that are catching out thousands of drivers texting or playing with their phone while driving, with something like a $1,000 fine and steep demerit points. Victoria needs to introduce something like this (especially since its Forward Budget Estimates rely quite heavily on speed camera, red light camera and fixed/mobile camera revenue). I pass people at speed every single day distracted by their phones, and one woman last week putting her lippy on with the visor down and light illuminating her face — in a 110km/h zone.

The $1000 fine you refer to is in Qld as from about a month ago. I see the media a few days ago saying NSW has just hiked there’s to $344 I think it was...hardly a deterrent compared to Qld.

 

[Lex]

I must find a DVD and give it a go just for the hang of it...I’m basically looking after the car these days but have never tried a DVD in it.

The hand brake needs to be on, for dvd to work.

 

[Skylarking]

My view has always been that one should get a fine with loss of demerit points for any distracted driving (mobile phone, applying makeup, shaving, eating and such). The amount of fine and demerit points can be up for debate but any repeat offending within a given period should result in an immediate confiscation of the distracting device (module phone, lipstick, shaver and such). Maybe then people will wise up and focus on their driving.

Another annoyance is the pathetic legal response to driving while disqualified, I’d give them some jail time, one week the first time, one month for the second, then 2 months for the third, 4 month for the fourth, and so on... If they can’t be trusted to follow the law, they can live in jail...

And why have they (police & courts) settled with on the spot fines (for other offences) for probationary drivers is beyond me. Probationary drivers are, well, on probation. As such, if they offend, they should be in front of a judge and explain why the shouldn’t loose their license. That’s how it used to be back in the day. Now it’s all efficiency and minimising the admin cost of fines to maximise the generated income which the government now seems to rely on.

Ps: we have officially derailed... we’ll at least me... so getting back on track, I’d buy the redline as the caprice is too long. I don’t need the extra legroom since I sit in the front behind the steering wheel