What they don’t tell you is the road toll almost perfectly mirrors the economic situation, if it is up so is the road toll.

The road toll is down when things don’t look so rosy because people economise and travel less resulting with less traffic which reduces risk as a result.

If a driver is speeding does the speed camera stop this?

No, it simply detects the offence.

That driver could be under the influence of something, be upset or whatever but could continue on to have a fatal crash involving other people.

If intercepted by a police officer, the outcome will most likely be positive for the general public.

Drivers simply don’t speed as much as they used to.

If you travel at the speed limit it is now rare that you are overtaken. But go back 20 years and you would be one of the slower ones on the road so drivers have changed their attitudes and that could be attributed to enforcement or simply saving fuel or a better attitude.

Roadside vehicle checks for faults like oil leaks (a risk to all especially motorcycles) bald tyres and the like seem to be of no interest any more to the authorities.

You don’t see the transport inspectors doing safety checks on light vehicles any more so what are the chances now of being detected with a vehicle fault, next to none.

THIS election showed us again how privileged we are to live in a country that has such an open and free democracy.

While the debates can be robust and at times we have to put up with ridiculous insults and name calling, we have come through another election without a shot being fired.

After years of participating in the political arena it still amazes me how many people take our system for granted and don’t or won’t engage in any meaningful way.

At the polling booth during this last election, there were many examples of a lack of general political understanding and worse, apathy.

A few cursory enquiries was all that was needed to confirm that there is little political education taught at our schools.

Why is that?

Do the political class believe there is an advantage for them in creating generation after generation of politically uninformed citizens?

It must be accepted that a politically aware community creates a stronger democracy and higher levels of participation in our system.

Surely it would be in everyone’s interests to teach basic politics of a non-party type during the school years in preparation for the privilege of voting.

EVER tried to explain to a Telstra worker that, no, we do not have an working email address and we have extremely limited access to internet?

First she offers to put net on the home phone. We explain that they could not do that (tried four months ago).

Then she offers to put internet on the mobile. Then it took about five minutes to explain that we have no desire to sit on the roof of the house or spend time sitting in the middle of paddock to surf the web.

It is now the 12^th week waiting for an install. Have sent letters to everyone from the Premier down and not one of them has bothered to reply.

When we finally get connected I will let you know how many politicians sent an email to some one with no internet.