I am so sick of people looking for more ways to stop people
doing things that previously common sense dictated were stupid and
life-threatening.
In the 10 days of the year 2012, several things spring to
mind. The first being the incidents on New Years Eve, one resulting in death,
another possible blindness in one eye and another resulting in broken ribs. These
fireworks were illegal. Fireworks in the state of
Victoria have been illegal (note the word
illegal) since 1985.
2003 - Fireworks
Every year, people are warned to avoid ILLEGAL fireworks, they are dangerous
and they cause noise pollution, which in turn frightens animals nearby.
Add to this the risk of scrub/bushfires in the vicinity of
the illegal fireworks and you have a mixed bag that when shaken can cause
death. At about 6minutes after midnight on the 1
st January 2012, the
CFA website listed approx 12 fires that were thought to have occurred after
fireworks were lit. 30 minutes later exactly the same thing happened in
South Australia o the
CFS site.
Now, the most recent event, which will involve more laws
aimed at curtailing the power of the authorities and giving more power to the
hoodlums of
Australia
are police car chases, which most of the time involve stolen vehicles, mostly
male occupants, mostly under the age of 25, and often affected by drugs or
alcohol or both.
QLD
2011 - Editorial - Qld police lose faith in car chase laws
“
Police
Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the average penalty was inadequate.”
“Nineteen people
have been killed and 737 injured during police pursuits since 2000,”
2011 - LNP (Political) CMC highlights Police Upset with Car Chase Penalties
“criminals had a green
light to evade police on our roads under this Labor Government and its
anti-pursuits stand”
NSW
2011- 2 Car Chases, One Car, 100's KM Apart
“RTA checks found the vehicle had a cancelled registration
and was not fitted with number plates.”
2010 - Horror Car Crash Sparks Call for Police Chase Ban
"It almost invites people
to flee and to avoid the police after potentially having committed very serious
crimes,"
2010 - Police Want Tough Law on Car Chases
"Highway
patrol officers have called on the State Government to introduce a mandatory
three-year sentence for people who force the police to pursue them."
VIC
2011 - 19yo Dies in Tree Car Crash After Cobram Police Chase
"It is a concern as to why young people don't want to
pull over,'' Commander De Santo said.
2011- Spikes Fail to Stop High Speed Driver
“but called off the pursuit after the driver turned off the
headlights and the chase was deemed too dangerous.”
2012 - Man Dies adter Police Chase in Stud Road, Dandenong
“Police said they
started a pursuit after trying to stop the allegedly stolen and speeding car in
Stud Rd
about 3.50am.”
Add to the above
with blatant speeding and alcohol and drug impaired driving, again (often but
no always) involving the same gender, age and stereotyped driver. There seem to
be few penalties if ‘Little Johnny’ screws up and kills a couple of mates.
There is little consequence if ‘Little Johnny’ is 23 years and hasn’t held a
full license, since the day he sat his driving test.
Some posts I’ve
written about personal experience/exposure to the youth of today and why I’m
scared for them and why I’m scared for you the road user, the public.
2010 - Why Hasn't he lost his licence yet?
2010 - Youth and Alcohol, are we Killing our Kids
Please add your thoughts.
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