From: "Brenton" 
Reply-To: Brenton , Fidonet AVtech Echo
	

G'day folks,

Is it just me, or has our little part of the world, really gone mad lately ?

For the last 20 years, our governments and police have been spending Millions of
dollars attempting to convince us that, " There is no such thing as Safe
Speeding ", while raking in Billions.

As some of you may know, I have been a bit of a speed nut over the years, but I
have recently seen the light.  I have gone over the edge, and now have my CAMS
license, and actually race my car on a racetrack.  This is nothing like driving
fast on public roads, and I have finally seen the stupidity of driving fast on
them.  After screaming down the main straight at Oran Park at over 220kph, and
entering turn one at a little under 200kph, before giving it another blast on
the loud pedal for 5 metres before trying to take turn 2, which is a 90 degree
left hander, at 140kph, the street just doesn't cut it anymore.  To tell you the
honest truth, driving on public roads, now scares me.  At least on a racetrack,
everyone has the same general concept, and fear of self preservation :)

Anyway, there was a gem of an article in the SMH on Monday, which was also run
by a few other outlets.  It was titled ...

"Road spikes unleashed in the pursuit to save lives
By Philip Cornford
The Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday May 28 2003

The first four paragraphs read ...

- ---[quote_mode = ON ]---

John Wai Keung Lau, the latest innocent victim of a high-speed police pursuit in
NSW, didn't have a chance. Like too many others killed in similar circumstances,
he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The 48-year-old family man died in a head-on collision involving a utility whose
driver police wanted to breath-test and who was being chased at speeds up to 110
kmh through residential streets.

It was a tragic outcome to a high-pressure decision all too often made by a
police driver.

Mr Lau was the 50th person to die because of such a pursuit since 1990. Eight
were innocent civilians, one was a policeman.

The rest of the deaths were offenders, most of whom were suspected of traffic
crimes or car theft -- for which the most common penalty is a fine.

- ---[quote_mode = OFF]---

However the bit that really got my attention was ...

- ---[quote_mode = ON]---

"I can't and won't take away from my men the right to decide whether or not to
pursue an offender," says Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, the State Operations
Commander. "I don't believe I can. They are on the spot, they can see what is
happening, it has to be their decision. It's their gut feeling."

- ---[quote_mode = OFF]---

Which was closely followed by ...

- ---[quote_mode = ON]---

"A police car that is involved in a pursuit which ends in a fatality is not
necessarily at fault -- not if they have obeyed safe driving regulations," Mr
Madden says.

- ---[quote_mode = OFF]---

" Safe Speeding ? There's no such thing ! " ... It makes you wonder ...

Cheers, Brenton


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