Happy Easter to all
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OK this isn't an IT WTF but it's still a pretty damn funny WTF none the less.
Currently while studying CS I work in an internet centre, where just a few moments ago I had a customer in for some photocopying. Aparently he was having trouble getting a visa to visit the US for 3 months because of a previous driving offence (that was waivered) he recieved a few years ago while he was still living in New Zealand. His only way to get past this issue was to send a photocopy of the details of the offence along with his visa application.
So of course i made a second photocopy for everyone here to enjoy. His notice, his reply, and the official reply...
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Come on now. At least find something new. Funny, nonetheless!
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Yes, the hyphen in "high-inflation" [sic] is obviously inappropriate: The phrase is not adjectival at all.
Ticketing somebody for driving at 72 mph on a highway is a WTF as well.
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@Edgar Plonk said:
Ticketing somebody for driving at 72 mph on a highway is a WTF as well.
Not inconceivable that it was a 60mph zone. I dunno what NZ traffic laws are like.
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I can't quite remember the speed zones in NZ while I was there, but it's probable that they're pretty much the same as in Australia.
Knowing the road that this guy was probably on, well, I don't need to guess the speed limit.. it's right there on the ticket :) Although I'm sure this will cause arguments, too, as it's a mass generalisation, but 90-100kph is the general speed limit for a highway, while 100-110kph is the speed limit for freeways / tollways.
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In NZ the speed limit in residential areas is 50 kph and 100 kph for motorways / rural areas. There are also the 70/80/90 limits in certain places.
You can be ticketed for exceding the speed limit by more than 10 kph.
IIRC, recently they introduced a law such that you can be ticketed for driving above 55 kph in a 50 kph area outside a school.
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@paranoidgeek said:
In NZ the speed limit in residential areas is 50 kph and 100 kph for motorways / rural areas. There are also the 70/80/90 limits in certain places.
You can be ticketed for exceding the speed limit by more than 10 kph.
IIRC, recently they introduced a law such that you can be ticketed for driving above 55 kph in a 50 kph area outside a school.So the speed limit is actually 110, then... if you look at it pragmatically.
Here in the States it's pretty much up to the individual officer. If they choose to ticket you for 1 over, that's their prerogative. In some places they won't ticket you for less than 10 over, mainly because the cost (admin. fees, etc.) outweighs the ticket fine. It depends how the fine is calculated. I know of one small town that is known region-wide for being hard-assed when it comes to speeders. They've got one main drag through town (on one of the primary routes to the beach) that is 25 mph the whole way. They put a cop at each end and you'd better be down to 25 mph before you reach the limit sign or you're waved over. I've never gotten a ticket there (though I've driven through the town many times and it is VERY rare not to see a cop at one end or the other), but I've heard it's the town's primary source of revenue. Where I used to live, the fine was calculated by multiplying the amount over by a fixed multiplier, so (just for example's sake) if the multiplier was $10 and you were 5 over, your fine would be $50. Where I live now, the fine is a flat rate based on speed ranges. So 1-9 mph over is around $100, then 10-20 over is $150. Over 20 is $200 plus they can tack on a "reckless endangerment" charge.
School zones are generally enforced more strictly. And the "reckless endangerment" charge is easier to get also - maybe around 10 over.
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Those scans showed up in my inbox a couple of years ago. Nice.
The maximum speed limit in New Zealand is 100km/h, though a good percentage of the population tend to drive open roads at about 110 to 120.
As a nation, we're fairly obsessed over road safety. "The road toll" is a popular phrase on the 6 o'clock news, and every holiday season we get a nightly bodycount, along with a comparison to last year's figures for the same period. Every year the Land Transport Safety Authority spends a couple of million dollars on ads showing people dying horribly in car accidents. It's all a bit morbid, really.
Police can fine you for anything over the speed limit, forty over and you lose your license. Usually they'll let you off with up to ten k's over the limit, though from time to time, when this year's road toll isn't as good as last year's, the government will have them enforce a "zero tolerance policy", where the police will fine you for anything over the limit. IMO, all this does is create a general resentment towards law enforcement. Getting done for 101 kind of sucks.
Interestingly, a technicality means that police officers can't give you a fine unless they're wearing their hat.
