Moron Motorists #3

[redsonic]

The Sunshine Coast driver I referred to in this post viewtopic.php?p=1571217&hilit=bus#p1571217 who mowed down and killed two young bus mechanics with a cocktail of prescription drugs in her system has been sentenced in court today. She was given what is effectively 2.5 years in jail (6 months already served, parole 2 years from today) and 3 years' licence suspension (actually 5 years, but for 2 of them she'll be in prison). The prosecutor said

[she] had an "appalling" 20-year history of repeated driving infractions, including speeding. The court heard that showed an "entrenched pattern of disregard for road rules.

She showed little remorse, pleading not guilty and;

he [Judge Williamson] said some of Ms Liddicoat's statements about the crash, such as that the two men appeared "out of nowhere" as her car approached the bus, "smack[ed] of trying to lay blame" on the victims.

You would have to be wondering how the families of the young men are feeling tonight after this "justice"



ABC News


Edited to add link to ABC News article

[zebee]

Had a green bike/pedestrian light when I crossed it in heavy traffic conditions this morning - there were cars queued on either side. Some genius in a Honda Civic who was stationary when I got there decided he was perfectly fine to accelerate through the red light while I was directly in front of him, and seemed upset that I was crossing.

was there any kind of turn arrow at the intersection?

I once saw a nasty crash cnr of Canterbury and Beamish when a car in the left lane of Beamish with red gunned into the intersection and took out someone who had the green light on canterbury.

I think what happened was the Beamish guy was watching the Canterbury lights on his left. Which went from green to red. This was because the people on Canterbury on his left had a right turn light into Beamish so the Beamish left lane had a left turn light into Canterbury.

Drongo on Beamish saw the Canterbury lights on his left change, saw the green arrow in front of him, thought "green GO!" not realising it was a left arrow not a full green. Gunned into the intersection and collected a guy crossing him on Canterbury who had the full green light.

Was quite nasty as the Canterbury guy was doing at least 60 (as he had every right to do) and tboned the other, both cars spinning into the stopped traffic on the other side of Beamish.

If your Honda had been watching the cross lights and thought he could go cos they were changing?

[g-boaf]

Unfortunately we seem to have loads of superbike riders who want to treat the local roads most nights as their own race track.

For "safety" reasons (or so they usually claim, because car tyres are apparently noisy) the group must sit at the lights and rev the heck out of the bikes, then when the lights go green it may as well be a motogp race start.

Seriously... Go find a race track - like Sydney Motorsport Park for that matter. Shame there are not more Police resources to stop them, loss of license, loss of motorbike. It's only so long before one of them kills themselves or someone else.

[elantra]

The Sunshine Coast driver I referred to in this post viewtopic.php?p=1571217&hilit=bus#p1571217 who mowed down and killed two young bus mechanics with a cocktail of prescription drugs in her system has been sentenced in court today. She was given what is effectively 2.5 years in jail (6 months already served, parole 2 years from today) and 3 years' licence suspension (actually 5 years, but for 2 of them she'll be in prison). The prosecutor said

[she] had an "appalling" 20-year history of repeated driving infractions, including speeding. The court heard that showed an "entrenched pattern of disregard for road rules.

She showed little remorse, pleading not guilty and;

he [Judge Williamson] said some of Ms Liddicoat's statements about the crash, such as that the two men appeared "out of nowhere" as her car approached the bus, "smack[ed] of trying to lay blame" on the victims.

You would have to be wondering how the families of the young men are feeling tonight after this "justice"



ABC News


Edited to add link to ABC News article

No words would be appropriate for that sentence

[jasonc]

Got the "not enough evidence" letter for this one.

[Mr Purple]

Stupid. Presumably a Camry is a known width, that lane is a known width and given he didn't really leave the lane to pass you it would be pretty easy to work out the actual passing distance there.

Hint. Regardless of the measurements it was 'bugger all'. Impatient prick.

[jasonc]

Incident happened in jindalee. Was handled by lowood police station. What does that tell you

[elantra]

Incident happened in jindalee. Was handled by lowood police station. What does that tell you

I don’t know but I suspect that it has something to do with a mildly dysfunctional system.
Lowood and Jindalee share the same river system but that’s about all.

Perhaps there’s not a lot of law enforcement work currently in Lowood and no one there is on holidays.

Apologies for the digression but that sure is an ugly car. Driving it would put anyone in a bad mood.

[MichaelB]

The above result is why I don’t bother getting cameras. I can’t be bothered if the system isn’t

[jasonc]

The above result is why I don’t bother getting cameras. I can’t be bothered if the system isn’t

eventually, like ever other dodgy system, there will be an enquiry and it will be found that police are systemically lazy and ignorant.

[MichaelB]

The above result is why I don’t bother getting cameras. I can’t be bothered if the system isn’t

eventually, like ever other dodgy system, there will be an enquiry and it will be found that police are systemically lazy and ignorant.

It is something that really disappoints me, as there are some very good cops out there, but the system just doesn't seem to work in our favour.

I get around it by avoiding certain roads at certain times and choose routes carefully.

Doesn't stop the morons though.

Had a classic one the other day - riding along the seafront in Radelaide, and coming up to a roundabout. Can hear a car behind me getting closer, and ensure I have some escape room, but they still decide to pull alongside and squeeze me . But then they slow down to match my speed with the driver slightly ahead of me, so I slow down and shake my head. They then also slow down and yell "But I'm slowing down for YOU"

What the ......

It's a mother and her early teenage son in the front seats (her driving).

I was left speechless ....

Oh, and a Camry driver too .....

[Andy01]

The above result is why I don’t bother getting cameras. I can’t be bothered if the system isn’t

The reason I have front & rear cameras isn't to report dodgy drivers (though I have reported a couple) - it is to avoid the "he said, she said" BS that I experienced when a Ford Territory took me out in 2021. The police arrived on scene after the car had been moved from the impact position (that showed that it was partially on my side of the road) to a nice spot parked hard up against the curb further up the road - I think at the request of ambos who needed space to work on me, I was in the ambulance with them trying to stem the profuse bleeding, so police barely spoke to me, so they based their report entirely on what the driver said. I didn't have cameras at the time, and when I went to see them (police) after getting out of hospital the following week then just brushed me off saying that they had finalised their report and couldn't change it. They told me that I was at fault and even refused to let me see it - I eventually got a copy through my lawyers and it really didn't describe what happened at all. Even the CTP claim didn't get me much because again - it was my word against hers.

My cameras are primarily to avoid that happening again. Hard(er) to argue with video evidence (although lazy police will try).

[elantra]

The reason I have front & rear cameras isn't to report dodgy drivers (though I have reported a couple) - it is to avoid the "he said, she said" BS that I experienced when a Ford Territory took me out in 2021. The police arrived on scene after the car had been moved from the impact position (that showed that it was partially on my side of the road) to a nice spot parked hard up against the curb further up the road - I think at the request of ambos who needed space to work on me, I was in the ambulance with them trying to stem the profuse bleeding, so police barely spoke to me, so they based their report entirely on what the driver said. I didn't have cameras at the time, and when I went to see them (police) after getting out of hospital the following week then just brushed me off saying that they had finalised their report and couldn't change it. They told me that I was at fault and even refused to let me see it - I eventually got a copy through my lawyers and it really didn't describe what happened at all. Even the CTP claim didn't get me much because again - it was my word against hers.

My cameras are primarily to avoid that happening again. Hard(er) to argue with video evidence (although lazy police will try).

That’s really a PP effort on the part of the Police.

I don’t have have (bike) cameras but reading this is making me see the point of it.

I don’t have any car dashcam either but in the car-driving environment I have been thinking similarly.
Particularly the random way that drivers behave at roundabouts !
Especially the ridiculous tiny roundabouts that keep popping up all over the place.
They only work effectively if drivers slow right down to well under 40 km/hr.
I spose you can mitigate the risk (in a car) by stopping or almost stopping but that defeats the purpose of a roundabout and if everyone did that then it becomes a traffic jam

[Scott No Mates]

New baby Tesla SUV flanked by two security Teslas. Note that they take up 4 parking spaces.

[Retrobyte]

From today's ride ...

1. MGIF and then stops for a parking spot with no indicator




2. Stops in the middle of the road to chat with pedestrians

[elantra]

1. MGIF and then stops for a parking spot with no indicator

No indicators ? No problem - it’s a Beemer !

You know what’s worse than a non-indicator are the steering wheel attendants who start to execute their turn and then put the indicator on.

Modern technology sux.

People think that new cars are so clever - adaptive headlight systems that are s’posed to dim the headlights from high beam to low beam when an oncoming vehicle is detected.

It’s a retrograde step in technological history.
I spose there are some adaptive headlights systems that work reasonably well (perhaps on Beemers???) - but most DON’T.

They are way too slow to “dip” the lights.
And worse than this, the morons leave the headlight settings on high beam when they drive around the suburbs, causing gross light pollution.

Which is totally unnecessary because in Australia, most suburban locations have street lighting and a 50 km/hr speed limit so high beam is total overkill.
I think that in some Australian States it’s technically illegal to use high beam in suburban locations but this is the sort of issue that flies under the law-enforcement radar.
Like use of fog lights in clear atmospheric conditions - technically illegal but ubiquitous these days.

[am50em]

In NSW high beam used to be illegal in suburban areas but that was changed over 20 years ago. BMW adaptive headlights work very well. On some sections of suburban streets I use high beam due to terrain, inadequate street lighting and cars parked on street even when travelling at 30 km/hr.

[g-boaf]

Latest moron motorist? The Police?

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 8bc69caa35

That's BS - don't block the cycleways or pedestrians paths.

[elantra]

In NSW high beam used to be illegal in suburban areas but that was changed over 20 years ago. BMW adaptive headlights work very well. On some sections of suburban streets I use high beam due to terrain, inadequate street lighting and cars parked on street even when travelling at 30 km/hr.

Yes I have sort of noticed that the BMW headlights systems are friendly to other road users.
(And the latest version of Ford Ranger headlights also)
But I feel that the rest of the automotive mob are pretty dreadful in terms of their adaptive headlights technology
Gets even worse if there after additional aftermarket lights and if it is a high-riding vehicle - as most new vehicles are these days

[DavidS]

Latest moron motorist? The Police?

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 8bc69caa35

That's BS - don't block the cycleways or pedestrians paths.

Wow, I don't care that they are booking cars, but blocking the cycle/pedestrian path? That's ridiculous and I hope they are told to never park across a bike path again and also told they should already know this.

Pathetic behaviour.

DS

[g-boaf]

In NSW high beam used to be illegal in suburban areas but that was changed over 20 years ago. BMW adaptive headlights work very well. On some sections of suburban streets I use high beam due to terrain, inadequate street lighting and cars parked on street even when travelling at 30 km/hr.

Yes I have sort of noticed that the BMW headlights systems are friendly to other road users.
(And the latest version of Ford Ranger headlights also)
But I feel that the rest of the automotive mob are pretty dreadful in terms of their adaptive headlights technology
Gets even worse if there after additional aftermarket lights and if it is a high-riding vehicle - as most new vehicles are these days

Previous gen Range Rover ones also awful. Latest generation seem better. The S-Class and A7/A8 also pretty good.

Most of the high riding crew cab utes are dreadful, you end up blinded by them (and they always tailgate). Need a pop reflector to shine a light on them…

One thing I also like is BMW tail lights, they are the standard for simplicity and clarity. They don’t dazzle but they are very clear. A benchmark.

All that said I really hate the use of high beam on roads with well adequate street lights. It’s just bad behaviour.

[nezumi]

Latest moron motorist? The Police?

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 8bc69caa35

That's BS - don't block the cycleways or pedestrians paths.

That calls for some good ol' fashioned BMX Bandit shenanigans. Bunny hop onto the boot, roll over the roof, off and away!

[Retrobyte]

That calls for some good ol' fashioned BMX Bandit shenanigans. Bunny hop onto the boot, roll over the roof, off and away!

[g-boaf]

https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/c ... al-bayside

Noise camera trials underway. Bet that's going to upset some folk - even here.

It really needs to be rolled out everywhere, currently it is too difficult and bureaucratic to report repeat hoon-driving motor-vehicle noise offenders. They interrupt the work you are trying to do, disrupt meetings and at midnight and 1am they prevent people from sleeping.

[bychosis]

In NSW high beam used to be illegal in suburban areas but that was changed over 20 years ago. BMW adaptive headlights work very well. On some sections of suburban streets I use high beam due to terrain, inadequate street lighting and cars parked on street even when travelling at 30 km/hr.

Yes I have sort of noticed that the BMW headlights systems are friendly to other road users.
(And the latest version of Ford Ranger headlights also)
But I feel that the rest of the automotive mob are pretty dreadful in terms of their adaptive headlights technology
Gets even worse if there after additional aftermarket lights and if it is a high-riding vehicle - as most new vehicles are these days

Previous gen Range Rover ones also awful. Latest generation seem better. The S-Class and A7/A8 also pretty good.

Most of the high riding crew cab utes are dreadful, you end up blinded by them (and they always tailgate). Need a pop reflector to shine a light on them…

One thing I also like is BMW tail lights, they are the standard for simplicity and clarity. They don’t dazzle but they are very clear. A benchmark.

All that said I really hate the use of high beam on roads with well adequate street lights. It’s just bad behaviour.

The auto hi beam on my isuzu works pretty well - under 'normal' circumstances of a vehicle in front. It dips very quickly if the car comes from in front of me but it is pretty ordinary when approaching a T intersection and often shines high beam to the side of cars. I learned this quickly and now manually override it when approaching a roundabout, T etc.