it's been a long time coming...... 360 days in fact

[woody]

But in 5 days I go to the RTA, I ask politely of the person behind the bullet proof glass and get provided with a new drivers license.. :D

Now granted i get/loose 6 points straight off the bat but it's a license.. how precious, how missed, how much i have been taught by the 12 months of driving ban.

For the next three years, if you see a Silver Astra Sri driving at exactly the speed limit - everywhere, you'll know it's me, you can chase me and race me and you'll alwyas win.. because i have learned the value of my license..

Now if we're talking track day!! bring it on!!

[Dee]

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!

go for a long drive in 5 days - take the day off work if necessary...

one fellow from work got his licence back on 10 July and he spent that day at Qld Transport getting it back (lots of hassles cos he's just moved up from NSW) then he spend the 11th July on the road to the Qld - NSW border

[Tfer]

Well done Woody, and great attitude to have mate.... make sure your speedo is calibrated correctly, or use a GPS for the speed reading. :)

And yes indeed.... a license is so very precious, but something most of us (me included) take for granted. :rolleyes:

Thank you for sharing, as you have made me take a long hard look at my license too :cool:

[ZC_74]

I lost mine for three months about 8 or 9 years ago and know how much that hurt. I can only imagine what 12 months was like. All the best.

[poita]

good to hear u got it back
i learnt my lesson wen i was on my P's, lost 7 pts from two speeding fines.
lucky thre is the probation thingy, i was workin away and was driving home (bout 200km's) every weekend.
havent lost any points since then :)

[bornwild]

I have to ask this......WHAT THE HELL did you do to lose it for 12mths?!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

[woody]

I have to ask this......WHAT THE HELL did you do to lose it for 12mths?!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Speeding,

I was travelling along Ryde Road in Pymble (three lane Highway) at about 1am, nothing else on the road, if any of you know the road then you will know that as you passunder the pacific highway the road drops steeply, as i crested the hill i was doing anout 95, as i got to the bottom where the police car spotted me i had accellerated to 145. The speed limit in this zone is 70.

Wasn't trying to go that fast, just wasn't paying enough attention to what i was doing. it's my own fault and it will make me pay more attention to my speedo in future.

[woody]

oh and i get my license back on Monday.. i have all next week off work, monday to drive down through the national parks (down south) and then the rest of the week to cathup with my friends at bunnings and get all the stuff i need to renovate my bathroom!

[oneightoo]

dam woody, that went quick.. well to me it did, to you it would have been like a lifetime.. when i was suspended for 3 months it felt like an eternity..

[woody]

dam woody, that went quick.. well to me it did, to you it would have been like a lifetime.. when i was suspended for 3 months it felt like an eternity..

S'funny my mum came over to my place for lunch on Sunday and said the same thing and you're right.. to everyone else it seems like the year went really quickly.. but to me.. man it was half a lifetime!!!

[btm]

yeah seems very quick to me to - cant imagine what it was like for yourself though!!

glad to see you back on the road... if you're down south and want a cruising partner, you know who to call! :)

[oneightoo]

glad to see you back on the road... if you're down south and want a cruising partner, you know who to call! :)

Ghostbusters??

there'd be a few in the shire who'd go cruising..

[blueraven]

mat ebuy yourself a radar detector.

No they are not a licence to speed, but if you are doing a lazy 10-15kph over by accident (as we all find ourselves from time to time) then if will give you enough time to react and avoid the loss of points. If you are really hammering along they wont warn you in time anyway. I just bought one for this exact reason, funnily enough i have not seen a camera since :). I did however drive my girlfreinds car(sans detector) on the weekend and ended up getting a ticket for 20k over the speedlimit, for a few reasons:
- her car is auto, very smooth and very quiet
- was a freshly laid double lane rd and straight
- i had pulled off the freeway about 2 minutes beforehand and was accustommed to travelling at a faster speed.
- the cop was sitting at the base of a hill.

So i found myself doing over 80 in a 60 (forgot to mention the road had just changed from 70 to 60 as well) completely oblivious that i was speeding, nothing felt dramatic or unsafe, just cruising quietly down a hill taking my dog to the vet. funny thing is since the dog brings new meaning to clumsy and stupid, i drive even slower than normal so as not to throw him around the car.

Oh well.. there goes $250 and 3 points, my fault entirely. I have never been pulled over when i have really been speeding, only ever get caught when i am only just over or not aware that i am even speeding. i hope the radar detector helps.

[Dee]

unfortunately they are illegal everywhere else except WA (AFAIK)

[oneightoo]

radar detectors are illegal in NSW..

in nsw, police radar cannot be at the bottom of a hill..

[EL BURITO]

unfortunately they are illegal everywhere else except WA (AFAIK)
there are options to hide this,

I am not openly surgesting people do illegal things thou

[woody]

radar detectors are illegal in NSW..

in nsw, police radar cannot be at the bottom of a hill..

Yeah try and fight that in court - the guys who caught me were at the bottom of a hill.. i still got banned.

[btm]

Yeah try and fight that in court - the guys who caught me were at the bottom of a hill.. i still got banned.

there was a offical police or rta document pdf posted up on this site somewhere about all the places police radar could not be used... a certain distance from the bottom of a hill was one of those places...

[Jackson]

well there are heaps and heaps of places and in lots of conditions police
radar is proven to give false readings....im sure a huge number of people who happily pay there fines are fined when the radar wasn't used right or something like that.

many people who have too much money fight these things and just about always win.....but they have to spend $$$$ to fight it.

sucks if you ask me they should use them the right way and follow there own rules....they are asking us to so why can't they ?

[Wraith]

Welcome back on the roads Woody - I remember when you first brought this up, 12 months has gone by very quickly :eek:

You just have to be very mindful now to try not to ever speed.......I know that's easier said than done...

[pred8r]

a certain distance from the bottom of a hill was one of those places...

IIRC, in VIC, it has to do with the hill causing the car to accelerate whist descending.

Considering they are not supposed to radar you while in this particular situation, take a copy of the previously mentioned section of the "do's and dont's" radar book to court and ask the officer what method he used to accurately measure; where and how fast you were going and where exactly he was parked.
Take in a couple of A3 pictures of the descent (try and include the skyline, itll prove the downhill part), so he can point to where he was parked and one up the hill, so he can show exactly where you were when he got you.

[CJB]

dam woody, that went quick.. well to me it did, to you it would have been like a lifetime.. when i was suspended for 3 months it felt like an eternity..
I second that one, that 12 months did go quick...

How did you go a year without it?

Again, I cant believe it went so quick.

I currently have a friend who is suspended for 6 months, and it's so far been 3, and I tell ya seeing her all the time it feels everyday of that 3 months, but then at times I think, wow that time went so quick.

YAY for getting it back though.

[Noir]

Time has moved quickly...I still have your video on my Mac. ;)

[bornwild]

there are options to hide this,

I am not openly surgesting people do illegal things thou

The radar detector which can't be detected by any radar detector detectors is one called Bel STI. Costs around $400.

[woody]

there was a offical police or rta document pdf posted up on this site somewhere about all the places police radar could not be used... a certain distance from the bottom of a hill was one of those places...

Yeah i posted it - i still have it.. there are a number of places they are not supposed to be used.. in fact the silver eagle (Radar i was caught with) is noteably unreliable in any area with trees, powerlines, birds, letter boxes, particularly nasty farts etc... however in order to proove this in court you need to be able to provide a copy of the Original manufacturers handbook.. this you have to subpeona from the police as it is not available directly - this i did.. they said they didnt have one to provide.. and the judge threw out my objection.

Spent 2000 on the fine and 4000 on the solicitor...

[woody]

Excerpt from the document "Highway robbery" - submitted to Morris Illema in Novemner 2005:

Even the NSW Police Academy Silver Eagle Program—Radar Operation Manual details a number of circumstances where the radar is not to be used because it cannot give accurate results.

Part 4.1 of the manual explains that “…The radar operator must fully understand this subject so that action can be taken to avoid mistakes due to interference….” Hence, the device relies on the police officer to use the device correctly. Furthermore part 4.2 explains that it is possible for a speed to be displayed in the absence of a target.

Moreover, part 4.3 explains that there are a number of issues that can cause interference and hence incorrect readings. “Large trees, bushes and signs moved by the wind, heavy rain or snow, windblown dust, in fact any particulate matter in the air … It has been found that heavy, driven rain falling non perpendicular to the roadway can add to or subtract from correct patrol speed depending upon the relative direction of the radar… Movement constant enough to produce a frequency change equal to or greater than the threshold could produce a speed reading… Man made interference is by far the most troublesome ad constitutes the largest category. Large advertising signs if rotating or swinging may reflect the beam. Large broad bladed fans may also reflect sufficient energy to cause a speed reading. Electronic emissions from fluorescent lights, power transformers, x-ray and medical diathermy machines, high voltage transmission lines with leaky insulators, radio transmitters, mobile phones, automobile inverters, etc may in some circumstances cause a speed reading or a reduction in effective range. “ The document even concedes that it is possible for a bird flying in close proximity to the radar to cause a reading.

The main circumstances where the radar is being used, against guidelines and therefore, deeming law abiding motorists as criminals, are:

Police car coming around a corner whilst taking a reading
Large vehicle in between police radar and target vehicle
Other vehicles on the road at detection time
Other reflective surfaces (including signposts, other vehicles, billboards, etc)
Electrical equipment giving off electro-magnetic radiation
The manual also explains the requirements for a valid speed check.

Visual observation and estimation of the target’s speed
Observe the numerals in the patrol and target displays
Clear, constant (if appropriate) tone
Correlation between patrol speed and checked speedometer
Duration of the check (steps 2,3 and 4) must not be less than 3 seconds
Minimum of 200 metres between targets of similar size.

[woody]

3 days to go.. can anyone say EXCITED!!!!

[Tfer]

3 days to go.. can anyone say EXCITED!!!!

In the form of Big Kev......

I'm excited!!!!! :dance:

Way to go Woody! :cool:

[woody]

love your work Tfer..

[Dee]

and now it's the 13th - was it today Woody?

[btm]

and now it's the 13th - was it today Woody?

he's probabaly still out cruising... somewhere near alice springs by now :p

[Dav SRi]

I haven't lost my licence, though I have lost 13 pts. Being in England for 2 weeks without driving sucks either alone 12 months. But I am going to Ireland for the weekend then 3 days in London after that.
My Aunty said she will let me drive a woman around next week in her Golf, can't wait :D

[woody]

he's probabaly still out cruising... somewhere near alice springs by now :p

Yeah did go for a bit of a drive, i booked all last week off so i could do a bunch of stuff and of course didn't end up doing any of it !!

Soo good to have my independance back though!