After witnessing what speeding and drivers over the legal alcohol limit can do to 'families' my conscience says if other people are speeding they're taking their own risk of getting caught and fined.
They shouldn't be warned about the police presence in the vicinity.
I don't feel sorry for many of those who get caught as a consequence of poor driving decisions. I do a little when signage is confusing and it's tough when the road limit changes suddenly or you aren't paying attention or are just over and get pinged.
I worry if you are busy warning others you really aren't paying attention to your own driving. I would also hate to cause an accident by alerting others to the presence of police and they went on to hurt someone else...I mean I wouldn't really know but it's a risk.
I may not be completely law abiding driver myself (100% of the time ;) and when drivers flash me I automatically check my speedo and touch the brakes. It is natural reaction to slow down not just because of police but they may be warning of another accident or hazard around a bend.
Most of the time I travel within the speed limit. I may sound hypocritical but I try not to speed , sometimes I just creep over the limit a little.
There is feeling that there are gray areas in the battle between law enforcement's technology and safety .The feeling in the community that the allegedly speeding countermeasures - radar traps in concealed places, mobile & fixed cameras are more about revenue raising than saving lives.
Active police presence seems to have diminished. If the revenue from fines went to road improvement & repairs or victims' support instead of the government coffers it would be less controversial. It isn't the fault of police though.
Essentially, the police are there to protect us / our families . If they stop someone who is speeding/drunk maybe they will prevent loss of life or injury to innocent victims often involved in car accident by being just in the wrong place at wrong time, or the driver themselves and their family. A good friend of ours works in Highway patrol as a police officer. I don't envy her job when I hear the stories she tells.
I do flash strangers only if they have forgotten to turn on their headlights at dusk/dark or for cars overtaking & coming straight at me in my lane or a road hazard like water over the road (to slow down).
Flashing means different thing to different people too sometimes it is to warn of road hazards or other driving courtesies.
Very rarely I have flashed my lights for someone in the opposite direction driving recklessly or speeding to prompt them to slow down ONLY if the Police are NOT on the road... to give them a subtle hint.
I digress ...in the early hours of Saturday morning about 12.30am on our way home from the farm and about 8km from home my husband was given a direction to pull over to the left lane (a section of road in between was marked off by orange witches hats/cones) for 'alcohol' breath testing.
The Police officer greeted my husband with " I can tell you haven't been drinking Sir ! "
He still produced the breathing testing device and asked my hub to 'count'.
No problems there.
I was puzzled why the Police officer had said it ...
I asked DH - Ah ha ... DH was towing a car trailer 7m long , behind a Landruiser 5.5m and he didn't knock even one cone over. He eased in between the cones, swiftly too. I hadn't noticed. Lucky it wasn't me ...I may have knocked them all down LOL or NOT if they taken me away.
DH said police officer must not have seen the trailer behind the 4WD (it was dark & night).Usually when he has been towing trailers or caravans they rarely pull him over unless it is in a wide open space because of the tight spots they set up random breath testing in. He definitely doesn't drink & drive anyway.
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