Top cop nabbed

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by GT Falcon

It failed. By keeping his speeding infringement secret in an attempt to not undermine his road safety messages they failed in their approach. People died on the road.

/Snip

You're argument is about as rediculous as the "cost of inaction is greater than the cost of action" trash spewed out by our PM in his case for AGW action. Lies.

No he is arguing that you can't say what effect on the road safety campaign it would have had if the speeding fine had been made public in late November or early December. People dying on the road does not mean the campaign did not work - nothing will ever prevent all accidents, so it is disingenuous to use that argument.

Personally I don't have any reason to doubt him. I heard him explain it in a radio interview and it is understandable why he did what he did, he even said he knew he would be hammered when it was eventually made public but was willing to wear that rather than risk distracting from the holiday road safety message. Don't forget that he wrote the article in the paper, it was not "uncovered".

He also said that although he was eligible to have the ticket downgraded to a warning due to his clean driving record, he did not seek that due to his position. Yes he 'shouldn't' speed, but he is human after all.

It is arguable what effect it may have had if they came out on the front foot and did and ad along the lines of "they caught me, they will catch you". Perhaps they could use that for the next campaign.

I think some of the problem is the language he has used has been over the top, as if he wants to avoid any criticism that he takes it seriously, but in doing so he has taken it too far. Eg the "I can't remember it, so I must have been tired/not concentrating" - given that he didn't intend to speed there was no conscious action to remember! Not to mention that driving through Tooboorac is not something that sticks in your mind.... (no offence to any residents!).

Then the whole "lucky I didn't crash and die" - I'd say that paying no attention to the speedo, he drove at a speed he was comfortable with, it was hardly an 'excessive' speed. Perhaps an illustration that speed limits in Vic are often on the low side of what is 'safe' or what most people would drive at.

I've driven through Tooboorac plenty of times, and I would say you actually have to consciously stick to the 70 limit - it is not 'natural'.

It is a pretty small town, not much more than a 'dot on the map', and I'd be surprised if there were 100 people in the town. There is a 70km/h speed limit for roughly 1.5km through the town, but the thing is that on one side of the road there is a service road for the few houses and the pub and cafe are set a long way back. On the other side there is a hillside with a handful of rough driveways (being generous) to half a dozen or so houses on very large allotments. It is barely "built-up".

There is frequently a speed camera set up on the southbound side of the road and if you miss that you are either not concentrating or not looking - both applied to Ken Lay.