like some comments on this

crfan there is no doubt the governments have a direct line to our pockets with barely an area to argue and each time there is a defence there is a person who says that we just offend and need to be caught. Even on this forum there are some who say you are at fault if you exceed the speed limit and deserve to be fined.

It is good to see the website owner arguing the point of view. There have been statements about the alcohol and drugs in the bloodstream being very high in accident drivers which I have little doubt. The problem being having to stop and prove the driver may be at fault where is if you insinuate there is a blanket cause there is an easy pointer as the speed is exceeded.

There are definite time during the week that are accident hot times at weekends but they are costly to police then so we are expected to self police on the speed issueRegards

JohnR - Not enough of the right travelling, some here..... some over there.......

I have always believed "speeding" contributed to very few accidents and deaths.

I would never admit on a forum such as this to exceeding the speed limit, but I know a guy :-) who used to drive on open roads in appropriate conditions at more than 180 kph and often at 200 kph very very very often (not in a 4b).

He has never had an accident in 25 years of driving and now doesn't exceed the speed limit because it is too expensive, not because it is too dangerous

Kiddies....do as the nice policeman says...don't follow his example. Lots of speeding fines can keep you out of your chosen career....BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING!!!!

I regularly travel at 160 to 170. I have been doing it for years. But only in the right conditions and right vehicle. I think the overseas research fits and its other countries, not australia, that are making real progress in reduction in the road toll.

In WA last year, the common factor in fatalities was 'older cars'. Makes you wonder does it not. The Gov is more than happy to take our money but a rebate and GST break to help ppl get into newer more crashworthy cars just does not make sense to the pollies.

Sean

I am with Sean on the Older Cars thing. This is something that needs to be addressed.

I am leasing my new Prado on a Salary Sacrifice deal. Instead of it costing me more than $300 a week to run this vehicle I am using a tax break to run it for $200 a week. Still alot of cash I know but that is for a fully maintained and fueled $55k vehicle.

The Govt allows this tax saving because it requires me to do 25,000 kms a year in order to get to the 11% FBT bracket. To do this I am effectively driving a bit further than I might if the tax break was not on offer. This makes up the tax break in extra fuel tax (so the govt gets much the same revenue) and also stimulates the economy with the extra spend on servicing and tyres etc. The benefit to me is I can afford a better 4WD than I could just using my post tax salary.

There are nearly 100,000 salary sacrifice vehicles running around out there now in Australia helping to keep the economy moving. The govt still gets it's tax money by other means (fuel tax, GST) and the automotive industry keeps selling more cars and the national fleet gets younger and younger.

It is not enough!!!

This leasing stuff works well for higher income earners but it does nothing for the people driving around in the old bangers (not just 4bys) These older cars that are past their use by date seem to be the ones that have stacks/get stolen/cause pollution/cost nieve young people money when they buy a bargain only to have to spend $$$ to keep it on the road.

I don't know what the magic solution is but there must be something the govt can do to get them off the road. Buying them back and sending them to the crushers may help but then there would be more demand for quality second hand cars and the prices would go up and low income earners would be priced out. Increasing the tax break at the top end so that more new cars come onto the market would probably only encourage a class war in the short term!

Anyone got any suggestions??????????

StevenLPlaydoe GXL TD Manual
It's on order, Delivery in April '04.
This pic will have to do till then. Can't wait!!!

The biggest problem with high speed driving in 'normal' road cars with 'normal' drivers is the reaction time, then braking distance. The other problem is closing distances on vehicles travelling in the same direction. At high speed you loose all sense of speed after a while and you lapse into comfortable, jeez it happens now, why wouldn't it happen at 200 kp/h.

The two other problems at 200 km/h is tyres, as most tyres aren't intended/designed for that speed. Check you tyres rating with a reputable tyre service, I think you will be surprised, and impact 200k's + 100k's = 300k's, don't need to say much more. Our cars are crashed tested at lower speeds than 100 km/h, some are tested at 100km/h, no locally built and to a major degree, Asian built cars are designed to go that fast, bonnets warp, pressure on glass in enourmous, etc, etc.

Good Luck if you drive that fast, and thats not good luck from the Police, its good luck - I hope you (and others) survive.