There is evidence that the local graffiti vandals are on the move.
I am sickened at the thought of this 21st-century infrastructure project being subject to what has occurred along Melbourne railways with no effort taken to stop it.
I hope that someone in authority is able to nip this in the bud.
Please, Benalla community, let’s look after our wonderful new station precinct.
This is criminal behaviour, nothing less.
Richard Driver,
Benalla.
Are you aware of all road rules?
It would appear that some drivers are unaware of the requirements of Road Rule 79(A) — slowing down when an emergency vehicle is stopped with emergency lights on.
Travelling north on the Hume Hwy recently, I gently slowed down to 40km/h because a marked police vehicle with lights on had just pulled over a vehicle ahead of me.
As allowed by the law, once I was out of the immediate zone I began to accelerate back to the 110km/h speed limit.
At the same time, a truck driver behind me passed the police vehicle at the normal 100km/h (for a heavy vehicle) speed limit.
This resulted in a significant speed difference between me and the truck.
I will give the truck driver the benefit of the doubt and ascribe their action to ignorance since the Victorian laws are different to the NSW laws despite the stated aim in this country to have ‘unified’ road rules throughout the nation.
In NSW, the 40km/h mandated speed limit only applies to roads where the speed limit is 80km/h or below.
In speed zones above 80km/h, the driver is merely required to drop to a reasonable speed in the circumstances.
Had I been driving in NSW when this very same type of incident occurred, I likely would have dropped my speed to around 80km/h instead of 40km/h.
At least that would only have been 20km/h slower than the truck behind me instead of 60km/h slower than the truck behind me.
I have always felt that these emergency vehicle laws would create more problems than they solve because of the risks posed by the speed differential resulting from those who slow down versus those who do not.
But at least the NSW version of the law goes to some length to recognise this shortcoming.
Perhaps Victoria should adopt the more sensible NSW laws.
Jonathan Parle,
Benalla.
16°C