GTSTD1

Know how you feel dude, my WIFE puked in my 33 last week end. It's not like I can kick her out and never see her again. Talk about STINK!!! But us husbands get ours in other ways......................................

Sorry its been a while, too busy locking up wife bashers and car thieves. Vange, If BSB was laughable then nah, best ya keep the rest of the songs to yourself. If they let you thru the bretho but looked at your car, don't worry, they'll forget about it in 5 min. Such is the life of a bretho cop. Don't worry about getting me in any trouble, I've deliberately kept my answers aplolitical with only pointers on where the relevant law is, so any interpretation is up to the individual. Matty, You're 100% spot on. Every other state has conmpulsory roadworhtiness on yearly registraion. I've lived in 4 states and SA in the only one without it. Like I mentioned earlier, I only defect cars that are flat out dangerous. If SA adopted this my defect rate would drop dramatically. When I moved back from WA the bloke at regency warned me about my window tint on my Holden Shpincter (It was 5% too dark). Like that's going to be a hazard in snoozy SA traffic! May be he should come to Sydney, then he can whinge. REdgtst, You're obviously not listening. Its all about safety. Not just yours, but those around you.

The above posts raise a good point. IMO, I would love to see advanced driver training compulsory on application for p plates. The training I've had for my job was great. It opens ones eyes as to how dangerous our machines can really be in the hands of a novice. Not pointing any blame, but a recent incident just shows how much you have to be aware of your surroundings....... and BAM, out of nowhere there is some absent minded fool in front of you in a daydream. P.S. Get weel soon Drew. As a side note, a bloke in an RX7 was lucky tonight. His exhaust was less then a finger width from the ground and if I wasn't going to an urgent job I would've had a word. Dangerous.

For starters, exhausts are defected using calibrated noise meters. If a car fails, then it is defected. Same as ride height should be measured. As far as stereos go, it has to be seen by the officer that the noise was likely to disturb people in the vicinity. Firstly we issue a notice that is valid for 6 months that says the noise is to cease. If the noise continues then the driver is reported/arrested and the car impounded for 48 hours. The onus of proof to the contrary falls on the defence. If you desire, it is section 54 of the Summary Offences Act 1953. Impounding offences are listed in section 66. Also, a notice prohibiting sale is also issued. This should answer your question. If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question. P.S. I agree 100% on the roads.

Spotted a black 34 coupe pulling into the Holden factory this morning. Nice to know where your alliances are dude.

Nozila, Honestly, if you see police as low lives then now doubt your local constabulary probably think the same of you. If you are going to drive an import around the parks, they are not targetting you specifically, they're pulling anything over that moves and bonefiding the driver. (High drug area). About number plates, usually the passenger is going nuts putting in regos on the in-car computer and we can check your history from there. Vange, How loud did you have the Backstreet Boys (lmao) playing?? There are now laws regarding car stereo noise, and it's an impoundable offence.

CUBES, Thanks for sharing and/or at least understanding my point of view. Hey guys, I don't write the laws, I just enforce them, WHEN REQUIRED. (Discretion being the better part of valour). If you absolutely must run aftermarket coilovers, at least set them up with the corect stiffness/ride height. And no, my 33 is not completely stock. I've even been questioned on a couple of things by our own traffic department. Naturally I showed them how legal it really was. Moral of the story...... Even though a car can be legal, it will still attract attention. I know I'm reasonable and that's all I ask of the people I speak to.

Madaz, I had a look at my stock blow off and bugger me! It has a mitsubishi symbol!!!! I guess I better defect myself? All kidding aside, if he didn't defect you don't worry. As far as blow offs are concerned, as long as the outlet is plumbed back, no matter what the brand you shouldn't have problem. You might not like the suggestion but paint it matt black so it doesn't stick out like dogs nuts. L3nny, The law would be great if it was 'black and white'. Unfortunately all you get these days is grey area. This is why some of my answers may seem a little ambiguous. I like to supply what information I can without being free legal advice. If someone took my advice as gospel and ended up in the poo, you could imagine the hassles.......don't need em. ADM, You're mostly right. The way this reads, unless you are driving like miss daisy you're pretty much stuffed. It depends on how much the severity can be mitigated in court. There isn't much case law on the topic due to the fact it's new. ax53b70p25, Once your car is defected it is flagged as such on our systems until it is cleared. After that it goes back to normal.

The problem of 'Modifier v Police' is nothing new. We just have the unfortunate situation of being able to bolt on a truck load of stuff in our cars instead of just dropping in more cubic inches, and said 'stuff' confuses the crap out of those who don't know much about cars. I try to educate my collegues but how much of it sinks in is anybody's guess. Since the 40's and 50's, guys have been modifying their cars and being hassled by the police. It's not just us import drivers either, there are a ton of other cars that pop up on the radar. Obviously mainly Holden Sphincters. If you don't want to spend $2000 taking your car back to stock every time you go to regency, keep it stock. My 33 susp is stock and it handles just fine. I have a friend with a 180. He had his front so low and stiff with aftermarket shockers that everytime he hit a bump mid corner it near threw him off the road. Now imagine that he was going left around a blind corner, a bump throws him into an oncoming car. It would be a bit more expensive than putting stock shockers back on. And don't say it will never happen. There'd also be the question of whether the insurance company would pay out if the car didn't meet safety requirements.

L3nny, Hoon driving was in the link I posted. Its Part 3, division 4, section 44B. It's actually called 'Misuse of Motor Vehicle'. Hope this helps.

I've said most of my piece on 'Traffic Watch', so I'll make this brief regarding some comments. SAPOL has a lot of different departments looking after different aspects of the law, so please, no more comments as to why we're not out there catching kiddy fiddlers. I'm a general patrol officer and trust me, I'm more interested in catching car thieves than defects. Speaking of thieves, these are the ones who mainly do a runner from us, because they know they'll do jail time. If it's just a defect, infringment notice or court fine it's not worth risking the lives of yourselves, us and the public for something so minor. Besides if it's your car and yes, we can read, we see the rego and catch up with you later. So do us all a favour and pull over. Losing your licence can be a good reminder to take it easy, but better that then losing your life. Traffic carry a ton of books with them on all the ins and outs of road law, but there not mechanics. Like I mentioned in the above post, all they need is a suspicion to defect a car. Then they pass it on to the mechanics (Regency) to ensure that it complies with regulations. If it's a minor defect, it can be cleared at a police station.

Woah, I didn't think I'd get this much reaction. Sorry I haven't posted for a few days, been too busy trying to catch little turds trying to steal cars. I'll start by saying, no we don't have any directives to target certain cars. There are some out there who do, the reasons for which elude me. Section 160 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 spells out the law for defecting cars. Basically we have to form a suspicion that the car does not comply with safety standards/ design rules. As most of us would be the kind to look after our pride and joy, it's more likely the smoky old Gemini that I'm interested in. If your interested in a bit of bed time reading check out; http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Catalog/le.../1961.50.un.htm With these hoon laws, if you're doing burnouts, drifting, racing etc on the streets, then your asking to be pinched. I know I'm goin to sound like a cop here, but the streets are there for the use of everybody and it's just too bloody dangerous. Tell you what, next time I have to unwrap a 17 year old kid and his dad's car from a stoby pole, I'll give whoever is interested a call and they can come and check out the scene for them selves. Just bring a few barf bags and don't stop at Maccas on the way, you'd be wasting your money. If you'r e lucky enough to be pinched BEFORE you hit the pole, expect to have your car impounded for two days. Once you get to court, the max penalty is a $1275 fine. If you have prior convictions then the magistrate can further impound you car. I forget how many, but if you have mulitple convictions in a certain amount of time, you can lose your car FOR GOOD. (Although you can buy it back at auction). I don't think this has happened yet, as the laws have only been around for a short time. Anyway, hope that anwers a few questions. Gotta go catch more five finger discounters.

I've been sitting on this for a while but it's time I came clean. I am a self confessed Skyline nut AND a police officer ( I know, weird aint it??). Basically I'm sick of seeing us (either police or enthusiasts)as being labelled, because of the attitudes or actions of a few. How does it go?, one bad apple? Works either way. I would much prefer to take the all the smoke belching, brake fading, oil dripping pieces of crap off the road for good than defect ONE Nissan or other import for minor stuff. Mind you, having said that, if it is a totally blatant no-no, then I wouldn't have much of a choice. As far as the law and defects are concerned, forget what some people tell you and look it up for yourself. It's all here on the net. Oh, one more thing. If anyone has a question, don't ask me. In the end it is still up to you to seek professional legal advice.

Hey, As long as wheels and tyres are within the guards, and they are not rubbing (esp. fronts on full lock), then there shouldn't be a problem. That's how I figure it here in SA but it might be different where you are. NB. The max width for any vehicle, IE passenger car is 2.5 metres. If you saw the latest issue of HPI, the huge butt Supra is 2.1m. That's wide enough me thinks.

Tangles. There is no obvious way you'd be defected for a Z32 AFM. Most coppers wouldn't know what an AFM is.