Journeyman: Wow, some real high and mighty geeks here...

I think qwerty7's point when he admitted he was over the limit himself was that he acknowledges he's no angel. What he's asking (I think) is 'why do the people who uphold the speeding law break that same law themselves'. Lots of snide replies followed, accusations of hypocrisy etc. Jeez people, calm down.

I don't have a problem with cops doing up to, say, 60kmh without lights and sirens on, as long as there is a good reason for it. Otoh, I would hope that cops would be reasonable about pulling people over for doing 50k+ and that they'd base it on the circumstances. Eg, doing 55kmh in a deserted industrial zone late at night is different from doing 55kmh in a suburban area in the afternoon. Different risk factors there.


Anyway... what I really wanted to say is that you can always complain - or even query - a police officer's behaviour directly with the police themselves. If you don't trust them to investigate their own, go to the IPCA. They have to take every complaint seriously. Case in point - I was turning off the motorway one night and some car barrelled up behind me, sat on my bumper and as soon as the offramp split into two lanes, it caned past me - very close by. That's dickish behaviour from anybody, but as I got to the traffic lights I was pretty surprised to see that there was a cop driving the car! So I emailed the IPCA and said (paraphrasing) "look, I'm not looking to make a big deal but this is pretty dodgy driving from a cop and I'd like it looked into." The end result was a letter from the police explaining that the officer had an unruly fellow in the back seat and was trying to get back to the station as quick as possible and using lights and sirens would have further agitated him. Hey, you know what? Sweet as! I could take it one of two ways - either it's a BS excuse for being a mong, or it's a perfectly legit explanation and I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt (I took the second pov, btw). I still think it's dickish to tailgate someone who is obeying the law, but I accept that sh.t happens in trying circumstances and so as far as I'm concerned, it's all sorted.

I fully expect now that some geeks will sit astride their high horses and lecture me and tell me that the incredible driving skills allow cops to tailgate people and hoon around them and how dare I question the police and I must therefore be anti-police etc. But hey, ya know what? That's the great thing about living in a democratic nation - you get to question the actions of authorities when you don't think they're doing their job. That should not be discouraged.