Fascinating article from Cyprus

Read more here Here's one recent visitor to our sunny shores who didn't enjoy their stay and obviously isn't a big fan of speed cameras.

Having lived and worked in four separate countries around the globe I have witnessed the many desperate attempts made by police forces to minimise the risk of traffic accidents.

By far the worst decisions were made by Australia’s state police forces, which have resulted in almost totalitarian police ‘regimes’, terrorising anyone who dares to get on a road. In Australia, the average citizen spends more time worrying about how to get from A to B without copping a heavy fine than actually enjoying the trip. Disputes between the police and shire councils are common in the frenzy to collect the millions of dollars made every year from speeding fines.

‘Multinova’ speed cameras sitting on a tripod every five kilometres or so are everywhere to record violations as low as five kilometres over the limit. The speeding fines that arrive in your mailbox, photograph included, are big enough to drain your entire salary. The demerit points system quickly gobbles up your merit points and the end result is an ever-growing number of otherwise law-abiding citizens turning into “criminals” once the vicious traffic offender cycle kicks in. Here’s how this vicious cycle works:

The first step is the loss of one’s driving licence for around three months, which can often brings the loss of one’s job, which of course brings the loss of one’s income, which finally brings financial debt and ultimate ruin since you can no longer pay your mortgage and other debts. In essence your last five-kilometre over-the-limit offence could cost you your job, house and family, not to mention the financial burden of the fines themselves and the time and money spent in the courts.

It’s no surprise that more and more Australians are choosing to stay indoors than risk any potential road calamity, a traffic accident being the last of their worries! This also suits the police just fine, since they can control the masses much more efficiently if more and more people are thinking twice before driving off in a car.

What was once a traditional pastime to go for a drive around town over the weekend has now become a serious risk of being caught at an imperfect driving moment and ultimately losing everything.(more in article)

Announcement: You heard it here first - our Australian outdoor lifestyle is apparentely being irreversably altered due to SPEEDING FINES. Read the first two highlighted sentences - yes, you read it correctly - social control via SPEEDING FINES. Maybe that will result in LESS CARS on the roads.

Struth! Crikey! Well I'll be fu......anyway there's several more astonishing conclusions mentioned in this article. Ok, obvious one for starters - speeding fine may make you lose everything. How about speeding, causing a accident, and losing everything because you're well, er, DEAD. I ask you to simply disperse and return to your homes, to your homes. Two hundred cars are on their way, filled with soldiers, and we don't know how this is all going to end. So thank you for everything, but please return to your homes. This rather apt quote was nicked from somewhere else.

Very heavy sigh.