Drug bus

[EL BURITO]

This evening I was pulled over by the Police drug and Alcohol bus.

Yes, it was just a standard road block, normal orange cones, hidden on a blind section of the road, every one in both directions was being streamed into a single lane.

Ok this is fair enough. here is my issue. of the 4 cars to be pulled over with me were a skyline, Honda CRV and VT SS. the average age of the 4 of us would have been 24 at the highest (some thing sounding a little prejudiced already). During there selection of those to be pulled over they let a few 4WD and small cars thru.

here is my next beef, they did the RBT in the car while in line (witch of course i blew 0)

The officer then asked me to place the car into neutral and told me to get out so another officer could park the car. To this I said NO on the basis I didn't like others driving my car, I was then promptly told I didn't have a option. So reluctantly I got out of the car. (the fact that I had to provide a sample was not the issue i agree with the testing) So proceeded with the officer to the Bus to be swabbed for a sample.

Having to sit out side the bus for 10 min while i waited for the result i froze, Of course the result was negative and i was aloud to go on my way and was walked back to the car.

On returning to the car I found it had been parked more than a car length off the road and as a result issues were had on getting out of the sand :eek:.

So as i got to the side of the rd and indicated to rejoin the traffic coming out of the rd block I then saw another four cars get pulled over all of witch looked young. My mother who was also in the line was let thru with out even a RBT

My issue here is not the tests at all but the fact it seemed that young drivers were being targeted. A broad spectrum of ppl use drugs in the community why is it only the younger drivers being targeted.

And when did I become incapable of parking my own car.
article on drug bus use
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22891703-2761,00.html

Paul If you have a Issue with this post send me a PM

[LITTLE SRI LOVER]

im with you mate there definently got a thing with young drivers
it always happens to me they see me in a nice car and think im a joyrider
they even ask me if its my car thats when i start seeing red once they thort i was hiding something so went through my car after finding nothing i rang my mate (who is highway patrol) and he came down and gave them heaps
they went bright red and i lost count of how meny times they said sorry

[btm]

of course they've got a thing for young drivers... a lot of the time i'm sure its young people who are doing the wrong thing.

How many times do you hear the headline "P Plater caught 3 times over the speed or blood alcohol limit" - almost every day!

if they target younger people now, then hopefully the message gets in their heads and stops them from making stupid mistakes (now or in the future) that can cost them their lives or the innocent people around them

[imay]

My issue here is not the tests at all but the fact it seemed that young drivers were being targeted. A broad spectrum of ppl use drugs in the community why is it only the younger drivers being targeted.


As "old" as this may sound . . . maybe they are just trying to keep you young ones alive. Maybe they figure they might still be able to get through to you guys, and have all but given up on us oldies.

Seriously . . . nothing has changed. When I was late teens/early twenties that's the way things looked to me as well. Sure, I got caught speeding, doing burnouts (wheelies actually), and still to this day don't know how I got home some nights I am now embarrassed to say. Got defected, got pulled over randomly for no reason, got "harrassed and victimised" as an innocent young driver . . . and guess what? I'm still alive! And I put a little bit of that down as thanks to the law enforcers "caring" enough to give me a hard time when I really didn't care and nothing bad was ever going to happen to me.

Trust me. If you live long enough, you just might look back and realise what a dick you have been in your early driving years and thankful that at least someone out there was caring about your welfare on our roads. Take it on the chin and move on. Congraulations on being able to blow and spit 0! Well done and keep it up! Driving a car is still a privilege not a right.

[PaulyJ]

I dont have a problem with the post Laurie. Good discussion actually.

I agree that yes, a broad spectrum of people use drugs, however as pointed out above, its usually younger drivers who are doing so and causing accidents on the road of speeding.

Its not just about them wanting to get younger drivers, but its to create a fear that there is a high possibility of them getting caught if they do drink or do drugs, and drive.

[blueraven]

PWND.... :)

yeh wouldnt expect anything else from the cops. although not letting you park your car is interesting... free opportunity to search your car without consent anyone!..

[Wraith]

As "old" as this may sound . . . maybe they are just trying to keep you young ones alive. Maybe they figure they might still be able to get through to you guys, and have all but given up on us oldies.

Seriously . . . nothing has changed. When I was late teens/early twenties that's the way things looked to me as well. Sure, I got caught speeding, doing burnouts (wheelies actually), and still to this day don't know how I got home some nights I am now embarrassed to say. Got defected, got pulled over randomly for no reason, got "harrassed and victimised" as an innocent young driver . . . and guess what? I'm still alive! And I put a little bit of that down as thanks to the law enforcers "caring" enough to give me a hard time when I really didn't care and nothing bad was ever going to happen to me.

Trust me. If you live long enough, you just might look back and realise what a dick you have been in your early driving years and thankful that at least someone out there was caring about your welfare on our roads. Take it on the chin and move on. Congraulations on being able to blow and spit 0! Well done and keep it up! Driving a car is still a privilege not a right.

Ditto !

Can absolutely and totally relate to the above and being older now, I'm not one bit the fool/dickhead I was as a youngster :o

The majority of bad road incidences involve the 18-25 age group, so there is a reason for the bias on the part of law enforcement towards the younger age group of drivers...

[sooty]

Not being able to park your own car is just plain stupid and rude.

[EL BURITO]

PWND.... :)

yeh wouldnt expect anything else from the cops. although not letting you park your car is interesting... free opportunity to search your car without consent anyone!..
well besides they don't need a warrant to search your car

Radar detector was up, had only just put the screen down as I came towards the road block and had already been questioned once before of the dash lights. SO even thou i was not doing any thing illegal it did make me feel uneasy

[RobCDX]

cops are gonna be cops... what can you do about it?
but you do get a "good" cop every now and then... count ur blessings LOL

[KID_SRi]

although not letting you park your car is interesting... free opportunity to search your car without consent anyone!..

Ya Trained Well Grasshopper ;)

Thats what Melb. Cops do here, When they run a Booze/Drug Bus Aswell.
Normally they have CIB Detectives working in Uniform that pull the same shit, If you look like a Dealer they jump straight on to ya. As Radomly asking to move your car gives them ample time to search your car for Drugs & Drug taking Equipment(I don't have to explain.) Whilst your doing a Drug Swab Test that takes 10mins to get a Result. So if your Guilty of anything, Ya Rooted at this Point.

[RobCDX]

dont they need a warrant to do searches? or am i travelling too straight on the line?

[EL BURITO]

dont they need a warrant to do searches? or am i travelling too straight on the line?
no not for a car on public roads only for private property

[blueraven]

no not for a car on public roads only for private property
they dont need a warrant, but the need "probable cause" to search without a warrant.....which basically means if they ask, and you say no, they say "oooooohhhh hiding something eh?!?!?!...and there you go, probable cause.

of course if they ask if you are hiding something, and you say:

"**** YEH!! an ASSLOAD of DOUGHNutS MOFo!! DIDnt Want U KunTS TO SWIpE MY StASH!!.....


You might have a long night ahead of you :D.

[platypus]

of course they've got a thing for young drivers... a lot of the time i'm sure its young people who are doing the wrong thing.

How many times do you hear the headline "P Plater caught 3 times over the speed or blood alcohol limit" - almost every day!yes but if you only test young people, especially P platers then your going to catch more of them! - i still beleive that amphetamine may cause rage in people, but their attention is high as well... yet people with less than 6/12 vision drive everyday in QLD unchecked (it's my job... trust me)

still remember the fun we had driving mates vectra - never gets pulled up, its too much of an old mans car - not so much these days that they are coming into younger peoples price range....

i also remember getting tailed through 5 corners, by a marked unit then pulling over to let them pass - only then did they decide an RBT would be in order... oh they also did a U turn at a round about to start tailing! - first q they asked - why are you stopping here - "umm because a cop car tailed us through 5 different intersections when we have done nothing wrong?"

[coyotte]

Just get over it, we all will grow up eventually, and the cops will leave you alone when you reach a mature age. (what was your mum following you home for ? checking on you ? dont tell me you still live at home ?)
We all went through it, they are doing it for a reason, just look at the road toll statistics as far as age goes, they dont do it for fun...
If you ever go to the USA, just dont get out of your car if they pull you over or they WILL pull a gun on you, then you will s*** your pant !

[EL BURITO]

Just get over it, we all will grow up eventually, and the cops will leave you alone when you reach a mature age. (what was your mum following you home for ? checking on you ? dont tell me you still live at home ?)

Its not the matter of getting over it, its was bringing it up as a topic of conversation, also raising some flawed parts of there crime control

For your information it was coincidence that my mother was behind me in the road block. As for living at home, yes I do, I also have a Investment property and am not moving out with my partner at this time so its cost effective

[platypus]

get over it?

geez theres a line that will win elections

[Charlatan]

To this I said NO on the basis I didn't like others driving my car

Mate, I'm sure the coppers were having a laugh back at the station about the guy who didnt want anyone to drive his barina. :D Sorry, no offence, I obviously drive one too.

Its good the cops target the young ones, as you get older you'll realise this is a good thing. young people are generally the ones likely to be doing the wrong thing. Obviously sucks when you are young, but its always been that way.

[jsantos]

yeah i'm not to sure about the whole not letting you drive the car, its a bit late night i might look into that though, i like to know where i really stand with police as i get the impression they exaggerate their powers a bit through intimidation sometimes.

Whilst profiling is certainly a big part of it I think one of the reasons for the letting older people through is that the technology is quite flawed and false positives come up in the first screen more often then they'd like us to know about. Younger people are much less likley to issue formal complaints then older people and if enough people issued formal complaints they'd have to pull the drug buses.

I sort of do object to these tests as well as i find the idea of a stranger swabbing my mouth oddly disturbing. Beyond that from what i've read they will detect for 24 hours things that at least according to the RTA only affect driving for 6 - 8 hours. It's kind of like, "Were you drunk last night, yes? well then i'm hauling you in even though your not actually drunk now"

Maybe i'm just to fond of civil rights and overly paranoid that they seem to be getting more and more trampled every day....

[imay]

I sort of do object to these tests ....

Understand where everyone's objections come from, including the question of civil liberties, however . . . I personally have a really, REALLY strong objection towards, and feel it's an intrusion on MY civil liberties, of the possibility of an alcohol or drug intoxicated irresponsible driver taking out me, my family, or someone close to me, just because they didn't have an objection against driving while intoxicated.
Memo to all state Politicians and Police: Do whatever it takes to get these bastards off our roads, please!

I sincerely hope that no one on this forum loses someone close to an inconsiderate, unremorseful, intoxicated driver . . . yes, it's happened to me, and from this experience I have NO compassion for these offenders. Let the police do their job and make sure you have nothing to lose but the few minutes it takes to confirm you are not in this category of driver.

[Wraith]

Understand where everyone's objections come from, including the question of civil liberties, however . . . I personally have a really, REALLY strong objection towards, and feel it's an intrusion on MY civil liberties, of the possibility of an alcohol or drug intoxicated irresponsible driver taking out me, my family, or someone close to me, just because they didn't have an objection against driving while intoxicated.
Memo to all state Politicians and Police: Do whatever it takes to get these bastards off our roads, please!

I sincerely hope that no one on this forum loses someone close to an inconsiderate, unremorseful, intoxicated driver . . . yes, it's happened to me, and from this experience I have NO compassion for these offenders. Let the police do their job and make sure you have nothing to lose but the few minutes it takes to confirm you are not in this category of driver.

Ditto, once again, could not agree more :clap:

[jsantos]

My arguement would be though that it is more dangerous driving with bald tyres then it is driving 23 hrs after ingesting something that according to the RTA only effects you for 8 (i don't know if this is true or not but the RTA says it is)
And how hard would it be to check each cars tyres that come in for an RBT? Takes an extra 30-60 seconds less time then a drug test.

My complain is A) what i stated before and B) They are wasting our time and money on things that may help and ignoring other easier things. They'll Defect a moded skyline 'cause it has a pod but not a family in a commodore with bald arse tyres and i ask you which car is more likley to cause a crash if both drivers are equally responible on the road.

Whats more then that is they don't test for cocaine? Why bother testing for Speed if not Coke? From what i've read on the two drugs your more likley to be over confident and take excess risk on Coke then you are on speed

Its too much doing stuff for the sake of making it appear as though they are doing stuff and make us feel safer rather then doing real steps to make us actually safe.

[orangepicker]

because my kid drove my vectra to his place of work to check it with tech 2 -like scanner, he had green p plates attached to it.
took it back to me and i drove it down wollongong (unknowingly with plates attached)
i got pulled over by an unmarked commodore
reason was, driving suspiciously (too slow for p plater)must be on drugs or d.u.i.
they were expecting me to speed up like stupid .
so out comes the license and was breathalized
after explaining to them that my son has driven the car not long ago, they let me go with a warning.
warning of what????
because i was on or under the speed limits and on p plates?
what wankers.......

[d.c.]

Whats more then that is they don't test for cocaine? Why bother testing for Speed if not Coke? From what i've read on the two drugs your more likley to be over confident and take excess risk on Coke then you are on speed

Its too much doing stuff for the sake of making it appear as though they are doing stuff and make us feel safer rather then doing real steps to make us actually safe.

What about perscription drugs? How many old people who are up to the eyeballs on pain killers and muscle relaxants are driving around putting my life at risk? I don't see a difference. But this will be the last thing tested for because it has little impact in the press.
"Grandpa tests positive to oxicontin"
No one will want to read that article.

[R3N]

because my kid drove my vectra to his place of work to check it with tech 2 -like scanner, he had green p plates attached to it.
took it back to me and i drove it down wollongong (unknowingly with plates attached)
i got pulled over by an unmarked commodore
reason was, driving suspiciously (too slow for p plater)must be on drugs or d.u.i.
they were expecting me to speed up like stupid .
so out comes the license and was breathalized
after explaining to them that my son has driven the car not long ago, they let me go with a warning.
warning of what????
because i was on or under the speed limits and on p plates?
what wankers.......

don't know if it applies to all states, but here in WA you actually get a fine for driving around with P-plates if you're not a P-plater... go figure

[Vectracious]

What about perscription drugs? How many old people who are up to the eyeballs on pain killers and muscle relaxants are driving around putting my life at risk? I don't see a difference. But this will be the last thing tested for because it has little impact in the press.
"Grandpa tests positive to oxicontin"
No one will want to read that article.

You'd be surprised how little the old people are affected by prescription drugs - generally because they have been on a Serepax a day since 1974. Old people are a danger due to just getting old rather than any major effect from any prescription drugs they might be on.

There's also the fact that with most prescription drugs, theres this wonderful little thing the body does called tolerance, whereby you might be on 200mg of Oxycontin a day, but it doesn't make you sleepy (but still controls the pain).

[Vectracious]

don't know if it applies to all states, but here in WA you actually get a fine for driving around with P-plates if you're not a P-plater... go figure

same in Vic ( I think you loose points too)

[d.c.]

You'd be surprised how little the old people are affected by prescription drugs - generally because they have been on a Serepax a day since 1974. Old people are a danger due to just getting old rather than any major effect from any prescription drugs they might be on.

There's also the fact that with most prescription drugs, theres this wonderful little thing the body does called tolerance, whereby you might be on 200mg of Oxycontin a day, but it doesn't make you sleepy (but still controls the pain).

Claiming your tolerant is no excuse.
"Its ok officer I have been smoking 8 bongs a day for 15 years, I am fine"

I just think they pick the drugs to test for based on how evil they are percieved to be and by the size of the headlines they generate, not by the overall danger to the public.
I guess they have to start somewhere because no one wants to be killed by a drug driver but there is alot of bullshit around this issue.

[platypus]

You'd be surprised how little the old people are affected by prescription drugs - generally because they have been on a Serepax a day since 1974. Old people are a danger due to just getting old rather than any major effect from any prescription drugs they might be on.

There's also the fact that with most prescription drugs, theres this wonderful little thing the body does called tolerance, whereby you might be on 200mg of Oxycontin a day, but it doesn't make you sleepy (but still controls the pain).as i said before cataracts are a bitch - who cares about drugs - altered perceptions, distorted realities - when you can't see a ****ing thing!!!

[Vectracious]

Claiming your tolerant is no excuse.
"Its ok officer I have been smoking 8 bongs a day for 15 years, I am fine"


Marijuana, Ice, amphetamines, ecstasy are a lot different to Benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics. You don't get a rush from your Oxycontin or Panadeine Forte like you would with Heroin. You don't get a high from a Valium either - just sleepy. After a while, the drowsiness ceases to be a problem and people can function - which includes driving a car.

[d.c.]

Marijuana, Ice, amphetamines, ecstasy are a lot different to Benzodiazepines and opioid analgesics. You don't get a rush from your Oxycontin or Panadeine Forte like you would with Heroin. You don't get a high from a Valium either - just sleepy. After a while, the drowsiness ceases to be a problem and people can function - which includes driving a car.

How do we determine when someone has built up a tolerance? People new to these meds would be affected yet they are treated no differently than those who have been on them forever.

There are a lot of people out there abusing Oxycontin to get "high".

[jsantos]

What about perscription drugs? How many old people who are up to the eyeballs on pain killers and muscle relaxants are driving around putting my life at risk? I don't see a difference. But this will be the last thing tested for because it has little impact in the press.
"Grandpa tests positive to oxicontin"
No one will want to read that article.


Good point.

And as for the call on Panadine Forte. People actually do get high on them. I've read of people doing codine extractions to be able to get the codine out of them with out taking the paracetamol that does the kidney\liver damage.

Not sure exactly what it does for them it'd defiantly make you sleepy though and i imagine some kind of opiate like effect?

Fact is, and the thing i am trying to put across. That the human element is a dangerous element that isn't disputed however it's also the hardest to police.

Yet all our laws focus on the human element, the driver.

It would lower the death toll, and be easy to police, and easy to measure. If we started taking more notice of the cars people drove the saftey features of them and the maintaince and condition of the cars.

Rolling an AH astra for example could be a walk a way, at a speed where a 1980's commodore would be fatal.

And yes not everyone can afford a new car etc. etc. We can stop allowing the sale of cars under 3 stars though. That's not unreasonable. We can check tyres at road side stops, not unreasonable. We can offer tax and rego breaks for 5 star cars to make it more affordable.
The difference being these options cost money rather then make money....

[imay]

Also agree with a lot of what you mention here jsantos. We need to get the garbage vehicles off our roads, no argument at all. And I wish it was policed more stringently. How many times a day do you brake suddenly behind a car with no brake lights? See a car with only one headlight? Drive behind a taxi full of paying customers and watch as sparks fly of the steel belts showing through the over-bald tyres? And don't get me started on the poorly maintained trucks that spew diesel soot into my convertible at every set of traffic lights.

But this discussion started out as a bitch against the police and their drug bus and their rights to pull up innocent young drivers and breath and drug test them and insist that the police safely remove their vehicle from the road (still not sure about this bit though, unless it could be suspected the driver was intoxicated). And I still say they should be able to. And I wish they had the powers to test for a wider range drugs in drivers' systems. But until those tests are easily available and easily administered, we will have to be content with the ones they can check for today. The more of these irresponsible, don't-give-a-damn-about-anybody-(including-myself) drivers they get the better.
The downside to some (many?) of these offenders is that the mongrels don't have a licence that can be taken away from them in the first place, because they don't consider it necessary that they obtain one. And if it is taken away, they continue driving anyway. These ones need to have their vehicles immediately confiscated so that they can't re-offend.

By they way: I know of people just like the ones we are talking about in all regards to this topic. Drunks, dope-heads, unlicenced, unroadworthy vehicle drivers . . . the lot!

[Vectracious]

How do we determine when someone has built up a tolerance? People new to these meds would be affected yet they are treated no differently than those who have been on them forever.

There are a lot of people out there abusing Oxycontin to get "high".

There is no way to scientifically determine if someone has built up tolerance. It just occurs when they take medication. People new to taking anything that can cause drowsiness are warned by their doctor and the pharmacist dispensing the medication that this particular medicine can make them drowsy. By law, the pharmacist must put a bit red and white sticker on the medicine explaining that this medication can make them drowsy. This is in addition to the warning printed on the packet by the drug manufacturers about the drowsiness side effect.

It would be interesting to see if there are statistics as to how many accidents were caused by people who were on prescription medication. Too bad that the government would probably just relate it all to speed.

Oxycontin is slow release opiod analgesic. Yes, there are people out there getting "high" on it, but a high from Oxycontin vs a high from Heroin is very different. Abusing prescription medication is seen as a lower risk because you know the stuff you're taking is clean and hasn't been cut with anything or have any impurities. Find some doctor who is overworked (not hard) and a pharmacist who is even more overworked - and you can walk away with a packet for $5 if you have a concession card.

jsantos, people are out there getting high on Nurofen plus (nurofen with codeine) and they are ending up in hospital with perforated guts and kidney failure. Yes, taking the higher strenghts of codeine can have a euphoric effect, but nothing compared to illicit drugs. I was responding to d.c.s initial comment about oldies on muscle relaxants and opioids.

If you take most prescribed medications in appropriate doses, you generally do not get the "high" effects - you get drowsy and thats about it. When doctors prescribe oxycontin for instance, there's a procedure of starting doeses and dose increases. Someone who goes and pops a 80mg tablet straight up is of course going to have a "high" - and at the end of the day that is illicit drug use and can be lumped in with MJ and heroin and what not.

[PaulyJ]

Pete should know all about drugs...

[blueraven]

yeh funny thing about tolerances to drugs...

i can take a pile of sudafed/super drowsy anything, and be alert as hell, wont affect me at all. Give one to my missus and she is out like a light, but she has chronis migraines, and regularly has to take max daily doses of a bunch of things. She can take 8 mercyndol forte with 6 nurofen plus within 3hrs and still be functional... last time i hurt my back i took two of her mercyndols and fell asleep on the floor in the living room :D.

[d.c.]

It would be interesting to see if there are statistics as to how many accidents were caused by people who were on prescription medication. Too bad that the government would probably just relate it all to speed.

Now that I agree with, and if they were under 30, inexperience and speed.

[jsantos]

There is no way to scientifically determine if someone has built up tolerance. It just occurs when they take medication. People new to taking anything that can cause drowsiness are warned by their doctor and the pharmacist dispensing the medication that this particular medicine can make them drowsy. By law, the pharmacist must put a bit red and white sticker on the medicine explaining that this medication can make them drowsy. This is in addition to the warning printed on the packet by the drug manufacturers about the drowsiness side effect.

It would be interesting to see if there are statistics as to how many accidents were caused by people who were on prescription medication. Too bad that the government would probably just relate it all to speed.

Oxycontin is slow release opiod analgesic. Yes, there are people out there getting "high" on it, but a high from Oxycontin vs a high from Heroin is very different. Abusing prescription medication is seen as a lower risk because you know the stuff you're taking is clean and hasn't been cut with anything or have any impurities. Find some doctor who is overworked (not hard) and a pharmacist who is even more overworked - and you can walk away with a packet for $5 if you have a concession card.

jsantos, people are out there getting high on Nurofen plus (nurofen with codeine) and they are ending up in hospital with perforated guts and kidney failure. Yes, taking the higher strenghts of codeine can have a euphoric effect, but nothing compared to illicit drugs. I was responding to d.c.s initial comment about oldies on muscle relaxants and opioids.

If you take most prescribed medications in appropriate doses, you generally do not get the "high" effects - you get drowsy and thats about it. When doctors prescribe oxycontin for instance, there's a procedure of starting doeses and dose increases. Someone who goes and pops a 80mg tablet straight up is of course going to have a "high" - and at the end of the day that is illicit drug use and can be lumped in with MJ and heroin and what not.


not meaning to hijack

just curious since you seem to know what you are talking about

is the damage people are doing to themselves due to the codine or the other stuff in them like paracetamol ibprofen etc?

[Vectracious]

not meaning to hijack

just curious since you seem to know what you are talking about

is the damage people are doing to themselves due to the codine or the other stuff in them like paracetamol ibprofen etc?

Its the Paracetamol and Ibuprofen thats the bad stuff

Too much Paracetamol and the Liver can't break it down in time, leading to liver damage and after a certain dose, liver failure.

Ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory is even worse as it affects a number of things in your body, the main ones being your stomach and as a secondary effect, your kidneys.

Taken excessively, both can be quite nasty. The codeine is actually less likely to damage your body in an overdose!

[platypus]

and in all cases mixing pain killers with alcohol can be just as scary whilst still being under the BAC!!!

[NXA-16H]

I dont have a problem with the post Laurie. Good discussion actually.

I agree that yes, a broad spectrum of people use drugs, however as pointed out above, its usually younger drivers who are doing so and causing accidents on the road of speeding.

Its not just about them wanting to get younger drivers, but its to create a fear that there is a high possibility of them getting caught if they do drink or do drugs, and drive.

Well as far as I'm concerned, the problem here is NOT the fact that P-Platers are pulled over - If P-Platers are busted for doing the wrong thing.. C'est la vie.

The PROBLEM is that a certain number of leather-clad Highway Patrol officers (You know the ones; The one who swaggers out of his/her SS-Commodore, kinda cross between the copper from the village People and a Gestapo) get a kick out of intimidating and harrassing P-platers in particular. We all know it happens. And we can all identify them if we put our minds to it.

Most Highway Patrol officers I've known in my driving life are not in the least bit interested in the annual road toll and how to lower it; They are interested in 2 things, and 2 things only:

1. Reaching their monthly quota of speed-busts.
2. disappearing, once that quota is reached.

Ever noticed how, after a long weekend of double demerits, that the roads are virtually devoid of Police? (Highway patrols or mere paddy wagons for that matter)

Blue-Heelers in general are not renowned for actively upholding the law with fairness and impartiality. They like to harrass young drivers (including, but not exclusively P-platers) because younger drivers are neither in the position of social status, nor emotionally and/or psychologically equiped to put a Highway-Copper in his/her place. Let's be honest.

It's interesting to note that, since upgrading from the Barina to the Zafira (which is, after all, a small, family-targeted MPV), I have not been pulled over for anything. Not even for a random breath test.

I do not hold the Police in high esteem. Frankly, they're the pits of the motoring world.

D.