Never fib if you get a speeding ticket !
- Thread starter udtrev
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Never fib if you get a speeding ticket !
lol I read that earlier....what a tit!
what a brilliant piece of writing
Was it worth it, 3 years in jail or a £36 fine:chin:. Thats £12 per year, he went to prison for £12 per year. What a foolish old man.
Thing is, the guy was supposedly top of the heap with regards the law. He was numero uno in legal circles. When you are in that kind of spotlight, you have to be squeaky clean else your fall from grace will be heavy.
How could he have thought he could possibly get away with it?
How could he have thought he could possibly get away with it?
Probably because he was at the top of the heap. Some of them start to believe that laws don't actually apply to them and that they are above all that. I suppose it's good to know that in Australia at least they are not.
Because thousands of people a year do. Because no one ever gets hurt by it. Because getting anywhere in Sydney without a car is a right pain in the arse. Because the public transport system in Sydney is rubbish. Because the government down there has made speeding as evil as drink driving in their tiny little governmental minds and is now fining people heavily with serious consequences for very minor speeds.
Consider too that the speed camera in question was on the Spit Bridge which is approached on both sides on a very steep twisting road where gravity alone would push you over the speed limit. The only picture I could find of it was this one at night which doesn't really show the severity of the grade and twists but gives you an idea of what we're talking about. The camera is at the bottom of the hill:
Mostly I feel sad about this. Sad that someone gets put in a position where his life is ruined because of a draconian speed camera policy. Stupid. Had he done this in front a school at lunch or after school, yeah, sure, hammer him hard. But this was just dumb. A minor offense thats trivially easy to commit. Especially when there is a speed camera on every second street set with a hair trigger.
Don't get me wrong, he is entirely at fault for lying and I'm not saying he shouldn't get a smack for it. He should have taken it on the chin and been careful for a few years until his points came back. Or pled to the judge for leniency based on his need to get around for his work and charity work. Plenty of people who lose all their points in Aus are granted a conditional license to drive to and from work functions. That could have been an option. But instead he panicked and lied in a way that thousands of people a year do and thought he'd get away with it. And if he was a normal person he would have. Only he got caught because of who he was. Screwing him over so comprehensively for a relatively minor offense is just stupid.
How dignified is it for a 70 year old living treasure to be in jail or alternately suffering heat stroke in 40+ temperatures waiting for a bus. The whole case was bull****.
Hmm, sorry, I didn't really realise I'd felt that strongly about it until I wrote it down.
Jai - Yes, Clive James is the man. Have you read any of his books? Magic.
