Your views: Autumn 2024
Our readers share their thoughts on road safety, classic cars, wildlife and more.
Views on road safety
I drive a school bus, ride a motorcycle and have had a driving licence for 50 years. I see poor and dangerous driving everywhere. P-platers driving too fast and erratically, drivers not indicating, and tailgating. Authorities need to send out a severe message and follow up with penalties. For example: people caught hooning and speeding should lose their licence and vehicle. I don’t support the premise that older vehicles are unsafe. Any vehicle driven by a thoughtless, inconsiderate, impatient, egotistical driver is unsafe. Motoring standards are slipping and authorities who should be checking are either overworked or non-existent.
Nick Gill
The problems with our poor road safety record are many and various. Too many drivers flout the road rules, from speeding to not signalling, signalling incorrectly, drink and drug driving, failure to give way, and many other infringements. Lowering the speed limits won’t solve these problems, it will only impact on most drivers who obey the speed limits.
Jeff Campbell, Perth
Smoking
Having noticed the frequency of occurrences, have you considered lobbying government to legislate to stop smoking inside vehicles? My reasons for this are threefold. Firstly, igniting and holding a smoking device is a distraction for drivers; secondly, discarding smoking devices out of a vehicle is a bushfire hazard; and thirdly, passive smoking for others inside the vehicle is a health risk. Perhaps authorities should accept dash camera submissions for evidence in the prosecution of offenders.
Brian Hinson
Credit: robbcox
Wildlife tips
After watching you on TV talking about wildlife, I use a roo shooer that’s electrically attached to my car. When switched on it’s effective to around a 1km radius. For over 10 years, it has kept wildlife away. Several of my friends have also found them to be effective.
John
Looking back
I would love to see the Jensen Interceptor 1973 in a future issue of your regular series, In Reverse. The most accessible model for information on current pricing would be the MkIII 1973 version, although they were in production from 1966- 76. Having owned one in the past for almost 20 years I can attest to it being a car which caused a love/hate relationship, but overall, it was great for its era (and the FF, way before Audi’s Quattro, is something else!). You could buy 10 HQ Kingswoods for one 1973 Interceptor when it hit the Australian market!
Terry Lawson
Missing signs
With the new 50km/h zone on Wellington St, Launceston, has anyone else noticed how there are many 50km/h signs through to Grand Central, but nothing in the block past Coles, and the next ones are obscured by trees near Jessups? This means those turning from Canning or Balfour don’t see the signs before the speed camera location. Never near Morty’s or Woollies where they can be seen. Poor form.
Brian Mitchelson
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