Gotta love Aussie

cruiseroutfit

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
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My wife and I, along with a couple of good friends spent much of July in Australia this last summer. We had an absolute blast, saw tons of neat things, rallied some rental 4x4's and just absorbed as much as we could.

On the last day we were returning a rental car and I mentioned to the gal "you know I'm amazed at how well behaved all the drivers are yet there are very few cops out on the streets". To which she replied, "thats because they use cameras for everything". I knew we could be in for a treat when we got home :rofl: We had seen the cameras everywhere, kind've unerving in a big brother kind of way. We did our best to stay within the law, we were guests and respected that. I just expected they would still have more police on the streets?

So here we are many months later and the first (and only I hope) ticket arrives in the mail. Sure enough its a speeding ticket, 10 km/h over the speed limit (yes, thats 6 mph). $141 AUD which is $130 US. A Pretty expensive 6 mph over the limit. Like Utah of the past, they consider these 'photo-cops' prima facie evidence. Not only do they have speed cameras everywhere, they have red light cameras, carpool lane cameras, red light cameras, bus lane cameras, even the police cars have vehicle mounted cameras. Not so they can record your reaction when they pull you over, so they can fly past you and take a back and front picture. Seriously. We told that if you do actually get pulled over, it has to be something pretty serious and you can expect to lose your driving privileges on the spot.

So now the ultimate conundrum. Do I ever want to go back to Australia :D

They do have a spot on the form to put the blame on someone else, ie identify the driver as they just issue the ticket to the name on the registration or rental agreement. I could give them John Doe and let them track him down here in the states but I am supposed to sign at the bottom "by virtue of the provisions of the Oaths Act of 1900", can they hold me on that one :p

I'm thankful Utah bagged that crap, I've heard Arizona is going to scrap it too?
 
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Lame :rolleyes: Just for laughs I wonder how much effort would be involved in fighting it? You would probably have to be there in person yet no one was physically there to ticket you while speeding... I wonder.
 
Am I ever glad they didn't have the cameras both times I rented cars in Australia... Had WAY too much fun with the V8 Holden Commodore back in 1985... That trip Avis screwed me over with the conversion rates.
 
I can see the good in cameras. Fewer cops so less dollars spent on traffic, fewer speeders so less accidents. Utah has a speed limit but no one follows it and if you do you are "obstructing traffic". If you don't break the law you won't get a ticket. Since we are system of laws why not follow them? Wouldn't it be nice if all off road vehicles didn't make cut offs etc.. Then those that don't like four wheelers wouldn't have that excuse to close areas and the various government agencies would not have to hire extra people to police them and we would have areas to go to in the future. I know wishful thinking, sour grapes, but it would be great.
 
It was a local tour guide you hired to drive you around. You dont recall his last name but he liked you to call him Mate. :rofl: LOL!
 
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jackjoh said:
I can see the good in cameras. Fewer cops so less dollars spent on traffic, fewer speeders so less accidents. Utah has a speed limit but no one follows it and if you do you are "obstructing traffic". If you don't break the law you won't get a ticket. Since we are system of laws why not follow them? Wouldn't it be nice if all off road vehicles didn't make cut offs etc.. Then those that don't like four wheelers wouldn't have that excuse to close areas and the various government agencies would not have to hire extra people to police them and we would have areas to go to in the future. I know wishful thinking, sour grapes, but it would be great.
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Thank goodness our government has already said they can't put cameras in a Wilderness area. At least when I really need to 'get off the grid' from Big Brother I have millions of acres to do it.

Sure you can get a ticket if you didn't break the law, you are defacto guilty just by owning a vehicles, I'm now defacto guilty just for putting my name on the rental agreement, even though we had 4 drivers in our party. They are very clear to state that their camera is not intended to and may not identify the driver. There is a reason these speed cameras and photo-cops have been tossed out of courts all over the US, including Utah... the remove a crucial part of our justice system. Innocent until proven guilty on my dime & my time. Sadly I don't know that we'll ever be able to prove who was actually behind the wheel.
 
rollover said:
It was a local tour guide you hired to drive you around. You dont recall his last name but he liked you to call him Mate. :rofl: LOL!
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lol I wish it were that easy.

The make you fill out a sworn document stating who the actual driver was (if known). Not just a name, they require an address, given names, suburb, state, postcode, phone, company, dob, licence #, & place of issue. Then you have to sign stating all the information is not false or misleading... or face a $5500 fine :D
 
PBandCJ said:
yeah have you seen "locked-up abroad" cruiseroutfit
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No, should I before I decide to skip this ticket :D

I'm not so much worried about flying in and being arrested, but trying to rent a car or something similar. However you do have to get a travel VISA to enter the country so they might do some checking?
 
Was able to get the pictures. Never going to know who was driving lol (we are in the white car)
 

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All the ones I saw in cali (red light cameras) had 3 cameras and a flash. One at the back that got the licence, one at the front that showed that the car was over the line and that the light was red, and one that showed the drivers face. That is the only way it can be fair IMO. They only took a picture if someone was in the intersection when the light turned red. If you saw the flash you knew you were busted.
 
My boss went to Italy and had a culmination of 7 tickets all totaling over $1500 from neighboring countries. Granted he is the worst driver ever. I hope you don't have more coming.

I experienced the opposite of yourself in Costa Rica. Plenty of cops, they didn't do anything but check if I was a fugitive gringo. Speeding, yeah but the other drivers scared me sometimes so I drove slower most of the time plus pedestrians could cross major highways. I would be going 65mph with people in the median wanting to cross. The horn is used all the time and I would get honked at for obeying the traffic lights. I stopped for a red and I got blasted for stopping, you just have to honk your way through intersections.

I appreciate public transit in these countries with strict driving regulations, not to mention unsafe roadways.

Good luck with the citations!
 
Doesn't seem like much money. You'll want to go back at some point and the hassle/worry will far outweigh the $130 bucks you spend now. If you were driving, and were speeding, pay the ticket.
 
RockMonkey said:
Doesn't seem like much money. You'll want to go back at some point and the hassle/worry will far outweigh the $130 bucks you spend now. If you were driving, and were speeding, pay the ticket.
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I already did ;)

The reality is we will never know who was driving. We rented a half dozen different vehicles, drove thousands of KM's as we toured from town to town... sometimes all in one rig, sometimes in another, often trading off. I'll paid it and am just keeping me fingers crossed that the next ticket comes to a car I didn't rent :D
 
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