At a time when the police and road authorities are making so much noise about speed on the roads, two people deserve to share the Idiot Of The Month award ? both are police officers.
On Easter Tuesday, returning from the National Moke Muster in Shepparton ? we deliberately waited till Tuesday to avoid the mad rush of idiots on the Monday ? I was motoring between Pyalong and Lancefield in Victoria in the mid-afternoon (about 3 o?clock). Approaching a sweeping blind curve over a crest, I was passed by a light, metallic, green Ford BA Falcon, which continued on at an estimated speed of 130-140km/h.
A short time later, I was again passed by a vehicle doing a similar speed (although this one at least passed in a safer location). This one was a dark blue Holden VY Commodore. As it swept past, I noticed emergency lights in the rear parcel shelf and realised it was an un-marked police car. I flashed my lights at him/her to register my annoyance, but with no effect.
Entering Lancefield, the dark blue Commodore turned into the petrol station there. I noticed the metallic green Falcon was also in refuelling, and that it too was an unmarked police car ? three uniformed police in and around it.
As we drove through Romsey, the green Falcon approached from the rear. I made a point of sticking exactly to the speed limit (50km /h) through the township, then accelerated up to 100km/h as soon as permitted. In the 100 zone the Falcon again overtook me at an estimated speed of at least 140km/h and disappeared into the distance.
We turned off that road before seeing the blue Commodore again.
But my point is this ? what gives these police officers the right to drive in such an irresponsible and hypocritical manner, when police are on the TV and radio moaning about the public just not getting the message about speed. These Upholders Of The Right are the same people who would probably book members of the general public for doing as little as 5km/h over the speed limit and lecture them about the dangers of speed on the road.
The TAC tells us that 5km/h makes all the difference, and uses instances of idiots doing excessive speed of 130km/h-plus as justification for the zero tolerance to speeding, while members of the police force are out there providing such a hypocritical example.
People who travel at marginally more than the posted speed limit are made to feel like rampaging murderers, while some of the boys and girls in blue seem to think the laws just don't apply to them.
I'm mad as hell about this.
Watto.
