A Question about Demerit points

How long do they last for? 12 mths? 24 mths? Got pinged last night doing 64 in a 50 zone which, in my opinion, is a bit harsh. Asking the cop if it was a slow night, he reply that there were orders from the top to crack down on speeders. Anything over 60 they will bust now.
Sounds like another waste of police resources to me.


*currently has 55 demerit points*

2 years. Sounds like time to be a bit careful.

You asked the cop "is it a slow night?"

ha ha D-man wot a cheeky bugga!

There's nothing harsh about that. You went over the limit (and by quite a bit). You deserve the fine.

JAH, yes I agree. Maestro, in the past the police wouldnt worry too much about speeds under 70. Hence the question. But now they do.
BigKahuna, I wouldnt call 14 km/hr quite a bit over the limit. But your right about the fine. I broke the law and take full responsiblity for it. Heh, the fine is fuck all. Its the demerit points im more concerned about.

The problem is that the 50k limit in town is very arbitrary. At times it is too high, such as driving in the middle of town, and sometimes too low (industrial areas at night).

yeah. about a year ago the LABOUR govt decided that instead of the 15th percentile, they were just gonna ping anyone over 10 km over the limit.

And then they told us that its not revenue gathering... just like speed cameras aren't. despite the fact they haven't affected the road toll.

I agree JAH. This incident occured last night around 10pm on a straight road with low traffic. 64 kms/hr in that driving environment aint dangerous

How much is a ticket like that worth these days? I heard they had gone up again

Well, I got nailed for $80, which is fuck all in my book. I will pay it when Im ready.

wait for a couple of reminder letters, make them work for your hard earn money!

hehe thats the plan, Chris

You get 20 demerits points dman. 100 is lose your licence time. I got snapped once just after an 80k sign, down from 100. Cost me heaps but also 35 demerit points. Had to be especially careful for a while, even though I don't speed. very easy to do over 60k in town.

well i was driving home from mcds on great north road the other week on a sunday morning. i drove down newton road then turned right at that little street that leads down to the dominion road bit. i increased my speed to 70, because thats the limit there. i turned off dominion by d72 (which is just near where i live) then a cop car pulls me over. he told me i was speeding. because apparently it's not a 70k area but a 50. "apparently" the council are too lazy to put the right sign up. he said however that it was 70k right up until where i turned onto dominion road.

however he said he wasnt going to give me a ticket, he was just going to breath test me, because he thought i may have come from k road. i passed the test then went on my merry way.

WELL!!!!!!!!! after that i was quite pissed off that i was pulled over for that. so the next time i drove that route i checked for all the speed limit signs. and you know what i found? on the little road the joins newton road to dominion is a nice big sign that says 70!!!!!!! and about another 50m down the road is another that says, yep 70!!!! fucking prick lied to me just so he could breath test me!

i hate policeman!

Fuckin pigs eh Ren. JAH, yeah I know when you hit 100, you lose your licence. I got hit back in May with 35, now this one, which adds up to 55. So yeah need to be more careful for the next two years :/

The odd speeding ticket/speed camera fine/parking ticket are just one of the costs of driving. You're likely to get a few every so often, just hopefully not too many.

Renn - they can pull you over at any time for a breath test.

well actually he said the reason he pulled me over was initially for my speeding (which i wasnt doing) but he said he was going to let me off because of the missing signs (which he lied about), and he said because i came from the k road area he was going to breathe test me.

breath* woops

'IF YA SEE DA POLICE, WARNA BROTHER'

on way back from Taupo last friday we passed 20, thats 20 police cars.... sure it was labour weekend, but there is plenty else they could be doing...

was doing 130 at one point and saw copper, nailed the brakes and he only shook his finger at me as we passed him. Never have I experienced not being pulled over before!

other than that I got my 3rd ticket in 1 year 11 months and twenty days the other day.. HOW FUCKEN ANNOYING IS THAT?
Does anyone know if they might let you off (losing your licence for excess demerits) if your 3rd and final ticket (equalling 115 points) was about 1 week before the first tickets demerit points came back? (wishful thinking i know)

delay paying it

i had 95 demerit points and got done for ... another 50 but it didnt go to court for 13 months (my lawyer rocked) and by that time i had lost them all. They are only recorded once you admit to it (I think it works for non court fines too)in this case by paying for it and they are for 2 years from when the incident occured. In my case i only had them for 11 months, tho i did learn my lesson and havent got a ticket in 4 years.... Cept a parking ticket the other day that i burned.

haha interesting info bob. Cheers

Dopespot - friend I knew lost his. was 3 days away from expiring. Kinda expected in a fully worked R32 GTR skyline tho....

Hey Bob

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but they have changed that.

The demerit points get recorded on the day of the offense. This was to close the loop hole of proceedings getting dragged out.

I just had a friend that got caught out.

B.

bugger. ah well it worked for me and now im reformed... kinda

Hasent worked for me. Better watch those 45 demerit points I got left very closely :/

Watching out for cops might do you better dman. Anyway i thought you were a cop?

yo d-man i think that its 2 years that the points get reset.
I cant believe they pinged ya at 64, get this my cuz got done at 61 the other day, now that is harsh!!!

Yeah bob, im usually careful but lately my standards have slipped. I was under the impression that my cop social club card would give me some benefits
Nanz, check my first post. Cops are cracking down now :/

Pah. I have never been pulled over ....i never travel over 60 in a 50km zone when i know there are police present or are unsure certain roads and points are far more prone ...and certain times of the day. Rush hour seems to have WAY more cops about on the Northern motorway to Orewa ...so is the Orewa link road at all times(i have seen over 20 people pulled over on it)

I try to stay at about 110 on the motorway

And good on them for pulling people over. Speeding is dangerous ...even though we all do it

Exeeding the speed limit is not half as bad as it is represented by the police (backed up by statistics). Its just the easiest thing to pick on. We had a spait of burglaries (15 in 2 weeks) on our street and the only time a police car turned up was when people tried to break down the door of an old couple's house while they were inside (the couple moved out over safety concerns not long after).

I have lost my license 2 times for too many demerit points...

Know what I learnt? I'm not responsible enough to own a fast car so I sold my beloved GTX and bought a 1.3L Barina. Easy! Actually I still got two speeding tickets in that so sold it and now just taxi - even easier!

OMFG man... madness

heh when i started getting too many tickets i bought a V8 holden and a motorbike, it worked. Speeding in the V8 cost too much money in gas and i never got caught on the bike as cops just wouldnt bother.

Haha!

Trapper: The losing the license twice or the 1.3L Barina?!

haha insane bob. Itchy, thats hardcase

Speed cameras prove that speeding is safe. They've got thousands of photos (possibly millions) of people speeding and not one is having an accident. If they did their research properly the speed limit would be increased.

As for the risks of speeding, it is more dangerous to speed because of unexpected things happening, mechanical failure, other drivers etc. Speeding gives you less time to react and the impact will be worse. I do agree they overstate the danger, but people who speed understate the danger as well.

the road toll is now the lowest that it has been for ages. this is directly attributable to an improvement in the roads, the crackdown on drunk driving, and the fact that in all areas of the country except auckland, the average speed has reduced. less speed = less accident and less serious injuries.

it is actually time that we all accepted this. and i count myself in this, having got my first ever speeding ticket just before labour w/e, for going 117 in a 100k zone...

Isn't it weird how all the latest drink driving campaign adverts show what are basically innocent people getting nailed?

A couple of guys on the way to a party after having one beer, Some guy the morning after he has been out on the piss. It is ridiculous, if this is how they are increasing the number of 'drunk drivers' caught then it is a complete crock of shite...

Only get demerits if pulled over, not speed cameras, as can't prove who was driving the car.. I got a speed camera fine in a rental the other week $170 agghhhh!

They are pointing out that you don't have to be pissed to be over the limit. They are trying to target all drink drivers.

jah, yea but that just shows that the limit is way too low. You have got way more chance of crashing while using a cell phone than after 1 or 2 beers...

at what point does natural abilities, tiredness, talking on a cell phone have a bigger effect than one beer?

I havent ever driven drunk or probably even over the limit but this is ridiculous. And the assertion that the average speed has come down could mean nothing in real terms. It could be that the people who drive below the speed limit are even slower and the speeders are the same. The number of times i see people in the fast lane doing 80 or so seems to have increased so maybe its immigrants who are still getting used to driving.

The focus on speeding has another draw back. People think as long as they dont speed they are safe drivers never mind the fact that the dont indicate etc. There are people i know that i wll never drive with, they scare me even tho they dont speed. Others who do speed (120) on the open road but are more alert and in my view safer.

Very true. I had someone tell me once that he reckoned he was the only person to get in trouble for going too slow, as if that was ridiculous. My view is that it is too, firstly that he never got a ticket and secondly that it is uncommon.

having said that NZ drivers are shocking at overtaking, especially on passing lanes. The worst is when they try and do it right at the end. Now I judge if I think they can get throught in time safely. If not, I'll stay in the passing lane so they end up with no chance. Had too many dangerous situations to rely on other drivers being safe.

I confess i do talk on the phone while i'm driving :/

Is it true that the revenue from speeding fines goes straight to Wellington?

Why cant the revenue be put into a fund for improving roads in the area that the person was speeding????

Different government department Totall. Transit NZ is seperate from NZ Police. Plus its revenue that the govt wastes on crap.

Well that sux. The state of the roads are shocking and just plain dangerous rurally. It bites that some of the money couldnt be used to improve them instead of crap. Specially when they set the damn camera's up at the end of big long straights or in places where sometimes you have to go over 110 to overtake some clown that speeeeeeds up on the straights then slams the brakes on down to 60 for every corner ... lol

I dunno what makes you think those guys going to the party etc are 'innocent' Trapper? Do you really know they only had one beer? And if they did, then they would get off yes? (you dont see them getting prosecuted)...

I think the whole point of the ads is that people might 'innocently' brake the law? they may not be 'bad' people ya know...

I've been tested enough times to know where 'my personal' limit is, and I tell ya 400 / 80 aint too low.