Australia Traffic Cops

[rex]

Just been watching a program on Australian Traffic Cops here in the UK. Just seen a car get pulled over as another motorist reported them for weaving. The motorist reported that the driver had mover 2 feet over into the other lane. They thought she was drunk driving. The driver passed the breath test. They were still given a ticket fit a 150 Dollar fine.

Is it correct that you can be given a ticket on the day so if another motorist without evidence. If so then this is bonkers

[forzaminardi]

rex said:

Just been watching a program on Australian Traffic Cops here in the UK. Just seen a car get pulled over as another motorist reported them for weaving. The motorist reported that the driver had mover 2 feet over into the other lane. They thought she was drunk driving. The driver passed the breath test. They were still given a ticket fit a 150 Dollar fine.

Is it correct that you can be given a ticket on the day so if another motorist without evidence. If so then this is bonkers

There must have been more going on than the show revealed. The cops would have had to have witnessed the driver doing something silly and/or checking the records revealed some not-very TV-worthy issue. Without seeing it, the "random motorist reported a specific car and driver for a specific thing and the police were on the scene immediately enough to pull them over" sounds a bit reality-TV concocted. Who would do that, how would they make the report, how would that report reach the field, what's the chances of a patrol being close enough?

But to the point - the rules and the enforcers of the rules in Australia are notorious for being pretty much zero-tolerance. There's little margin for error even on cameras - literally 2kph over the limit results in an automatic big fine. I had a spell of getting two camera fines in quick succession for being relatively small amounts over the limit, each one being @$200 iirc.

There's always the exception that proves the rule. At the start of the pandemic I was stopped by a patrol car for going at (apparently) 113kph in a 100kph limit. Amazingly, and according to my friends uniquely, the officer gave me a telling-off and told me to be on my way more slowly. I surmise either:
- He was alone in the patrol car and/or hadn't recorded any evidence.
- It was close to the end of his shift and he couldn't be arsed.
- His eyesight was so bad he mistook me for a 20-something blonde babe as these are apparently the only people who get off speeding fines.