The Law Police

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Jun 14, 2013
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There's a lot of discriminatory legislation in Victoria that disproportionately effects minority groups and vulnerable people which should probably be amended first. Still waiting for the Drunk in a Public Place law to be repealed, but in fairness to VicGov it was Jenny Mikaka who announced that would happen and her memory clearly isn't the best :$:$:$
Alcohol kills coronavirus, so being drunk in public is a valid health measure. Being drunk at home puts you at risk of a late night shitposting binge on twatter.

Is that good enough justification?
 
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Alcohol kills coronavirus, so being drunk in public is a valid health measure. Being drunk at home puts you at risk of a late night shitposting binge on twatter.

Is that good enough justification?
It's pretty good. But the best way to get out of that fine is probably just say you're not indigenous...
 
There's been an update on the Richard Pusey case today.

Charges dropped due to lack of evidence -

Failing to render assistance after an accident.​
Destruction of evidence.​
Two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.​

Will face trial on charges of -

Possession of a drug of dependence.​
Reckless conduct endangering serious injury (149km/h in a 100km/h zone).​
Reckless conduct endangering death (separate incident - alleged driving at speeds of 300km/h on a public roadway).​
Outraging public decency.​

He was never charged with leaving the scene.

Police opposing bail. Pusey has been in prison for 6 months now on charges that might be negotiated down and result in fines or good behaviour bonds.


so the government has so little on him, they are seeking to abuse their powers and justify locking him up for being guilty of "being a dickhead"

He is a dickhead, he is a danger to the community but he is also a victim of abuse of power



What state is this again?
 
Why would there be a trial for the reckless conduct charges?


The outraging public decency charge - that seems very subjective and looks like something his lawyer will drive a nail through. I can't seem to find it in vic law anywhere.


A trial for a couple fo reckless driving offences seems unnecessary. As for the drug possession charges I thought you can't dispute them if police caught you with drugs. Its just a matter of how much drugs and the penalty imposed, again things you don't need a trial for.


This guy is an absolute scum of the earth but the amount of time and taxpayer money spent on him seems absolutely disproportional to the charges he ia up for. Leave it to a judge to decide an appropriate penalty and move on.

it's a common law concept rather than a statute
 
Aug 21, 2016
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so the government has so little on him, they are seeking to abuse their powers and justify locking him up for being guilty of "being a dickhead"

He is a dickhead, he is a danger to the community but he is also a victim of abuse of power

What state is this again?

When he first went to court in April the traffic charges against him were read by a murder detective!
 
When he first went to court in April the traffic charges against him were read by a murder detective!

On a moral position based on news reports, I'd support jail for the Porsche driver. but not from a legal position.


From a legal process I would seek criminal manslaughter charges, not of the Porsche driver but the Police Commissioner and the Premier.

Why? If a director of a company had a death in the work place, they would face criminal prosecution



No reasonable employer would instruct employees, as a procedure, to pull over drivers on a freeway and stand in harms way. This is no different to lives lost on construction sites




Sadly though, governments are above their own laws
 
Aug 21, 2016
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On a moral position based on news reports, I'd support jail for the Porsche driver. but not from a legal position.

From a legal process I would seek criminal manslaughter charges, not of the Porsche driver but the Police Commissioner and the Premier.

Why? If a director of a company had a death in the work place, they would face criminal prosecution


No reasonable employer would instruct employees, as a procedure, to pull over drivers on a freeway and stand in harms way. This is no different to lives lost on construction sites


Sadly though, governments are above their own laws

It's in the nature of the job that police officers are faced with high risk situations. Having them pull speeding drivers over is not an unreasonable thing of the government to request.
 
On a moral position based on news reports, I'd support jail for the Porsche driver. but not from a legal position.


From a legal process I would seek criminal manslaughter charges, not of the Porsche driver but the Police Commissioner and the Premier.

Why? If a director of a company had a death in the work place, they would face criminal prosecution



No reasonable employer would instruct employees, as a procedure, to pull over drivers on a freeway and stand in harms way. This is no different to lives lost on construction sites




Sadly though, governments are above their own laws

Despite being a dick, the Porche driver was not the most culpable.
That was the high truck driver.
The fact that there are so many of these loonies on the road at the same time is a totally different matter.
 
It's in the nature of the job that police officers are faced with high risk situations. Having them pull speeding drivers over is not an unreasonable thing of the government to request.

The safe thing to do would be to instruct a driver to pull off a motorway before stopping.

We already have a number of laws regarding safe use of motorways and this should be one.

We can hide behind “if not for a drug fkd truck driver” but the reality is there are many drug fkd divers. It is a known and avoidable risk. As such it meets the triggers for criminal charges of the “directors of the dead officers”. That’s the law civilians are held to account.
 
Dec 22, 2009
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This makes sense, sitting around waiting for a tow truck on the freeway seemed an unnecessary risk. Should have either directed the driver to pull over to an off ramp or once he was pulled over get an officer to move the vehicle into a safe position.

I would expect procedure has been revised for future similar incidents.
 
The safe thing to do would be to instruct a driver to pull off a motorway before stopping.

We already have a number of laws regarding safe use of motorways and this should be one.

We can hide behind “if not for a drug fkd truck driver” but the reality is there are many drug fkd divers. It is a known and avoidable risk. As such it meets the triggers for criminal charges of the “directors of the dead officers”. That’s the law civilians are held to account.

I've seen people stop , almost in the middle of the road when the cops flash their lights.

Personally i've been busted speeding once where there was really no-where safe to stop without partly blocking the road . I slowed down , and continued down the road until i could take a left, then parked. The cops didn't seem to be upset with me about it.

From Vic Roads. ( interestingly in NSW they changed this for high speed roads , since everyone suddenly braking to 40 can also cause issues ).
-----------------------
Passing law enforcement and emergency vehicles
The 40km flashing lights rule was introduced to improve safety for our emergency and enforcement workers.

You must slow down to a speed that would enable you to stop safely when approaching and passing enforcement, emergency or escort vehicles that are stationary or moving slowly (less than 10km/h)*, and have either:

  • Red and blue flashing lights
  • Magenta (purple flashing lights)
  • An alarm sounding.
You must not exceed 40km/h when passing the vehicle and not increase your speed until a safe distance from the scene (more on this below).

The new road rule does not apply to vehicles on the opposite side of a divided road (separated by a median strip) from an emergency or enforcement vehicle scene.

* A fire truck extinguishing roadside spot fires is an example of a slow moving emergency vehicle.
--------------------

In the UK and Wales i noticed that a lot of "Emergency lanes " were now being used as an extra travelling lane during peak traffic conditions.
 
Dec 22, 2009
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Just reading the 40km/h law I see it has been changed on high speed roads that you must slow down gradually and avoid sudden braking. So common sense in terms of that it isn't absolutely essential you slow to 40 on a freeway when you see emergency vehicle lights but you must slow down gradually.
 
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Just reading the 40km/h law I see it has been changed on high speed roads that you must slow down gradually and avoid sudden braking. So common sense in terms of that it isn't absolutely essential you slow to 40 on a freeway when you see emergency vehicle lights but you must slow down gradually.

NSW has scrapped the 40km/h rule for roads where the speed limit is over 90km/h after concerns were raised that slowing down from a high speed might cause accidents.

Victoria is having a bob each way. The law is that you have to slow down to 40km/h but the Vicroads 'advice' is that

drivers should slow down safely when they first see flashing lights, taking into account the current road conditions and avoiding sudden braking.​
Reducing speed, even if the vehicle does not get down to 40km/h, will still have safety benefits for law enforcement or emergency workers and will help drivers take evasive action if needed.​

Regardless of Vicroads you can still be fined $777.30 if you don't slow down to 40km/h when passing an emergency vehicle.
 
Dec 22, 2009
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NSW has scrapped the 40km/h rule for roads where the speed limit is over 90km/h after concerns were raised that slowing down from a high speed might cause accidents.

Victoria is having a bob each way. The law is that you have to slow down to 40km/h but the Vicroads 'advice' is that

drivers should slow down safely when they first see flashing lights, taking into account the current road conditions and avoiding sudden braking.​
Reducing speed, even if the vehicle does not get down to 40km/h, will still have safety benefits for law enforcement or emergency workers and will help drivers take evasive action if needed.​

Regardless of Vicroads you can still be fined $777.30 if you don't slow down to 40km/h when passing an emergency vehicle.

I don't see how a fine can stand on a freeway if you slow down in a gradual manner upon seeing emergency lights. The actual law itself implies attaining a speed of 40km/h isn't realistic in some instances on a high speed road and even acknowledges that sudden deceleration should be avoided.

Obviously if you make no attempt to slow down you'll be done and rightly so.



Agree that the 40km/h reference should be removed entirely from the law regarding high speed roads.
 
Aug 21, 2016
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I don't see how a fine can stand on a freeway if you slow down in a gradual manner upon seeing emergency lights. The actual law itself implies attaining a speed of 40km/h isn't realistic in some instances on a high speed road and even acknowledges that sudden deceleration should be avoided.

I don't think the law states this.
 
Dec 22, 2009
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I don't think the law states this.

There's a clear implication in the law that slowing to 40km/h may not be possible in some circumstances.


Reducing speed, even if the vehicle does not get down to 40km/h, will still have safety benefits for law enforcement or emergency workers and will help drivers take evasive action if needed.


Really, Victoria needs to follow NSW and remove the 40km/h requirement completely from the law on high speed motorways (can you imagine the confusion this will cause to NSW residents in Victoria).
 
Aug 21, 2016
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There's a clear implication in the law that slowing to 40km/h may not be possible in some circumstances.

Reducing speed, even if the vehicle does not get down to 40km/h, will still have safety benefits for law enforcement or emergency workers and will help drivers take evasive action if needed.

Really, Victoria needs to follow NSW and remove the 40km/h requirement completely from the law on high speed motorways (can you imagine the confusion this will cause to NSW residents in Victoria).

That was my point. Vicroads are saying that but the legislation doesn't include it.

 
Dec 22, 2009
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Dec 22, 2009
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Pussy released on bail:


About time. The bloke sounds like a complete a-hole but he's done 6 months for what might turn out to be speeding offences.
 
Not good enough that Vicroads has advice that contradicts the written law. That sounds like a legal nightmare.

A WA cop explained you have 200m from a speed sign, to change speed. If this advice is correct and applies to flashing lights, you have 200m from the flashing lights.

A bizarre circumstance if the same rules apply.
 
Dec 22, 2009
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A WA cop explained you have 200m from a speed sign, to change speed. If this advice is correct and applies to flashing lights, you have 200m from the flashing lights.

A bizarre circumstance if the same rules apply.

The 200m isn't the same in Victoria I believe. There's one place where speed cameras like to sit in my local area literally 50m past a 70km/h speed limit sign (previous zone 60km/h).
 
Not good enough that Vicroads has advice that contradicts the written law. That sounds like a legal nightmare.

Not enough of one to get the trucky off.
But yeah, the people who make our laws are crap at making them. The more vagaries there are the more the lawyers love it.
 
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