Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Car magazine funds illegal Melbourne-Sydney experiment - 3AW (blog)

Wheels Magazine has hired a British journalist to drive from Melbourne to Sydney at 130km/hour to make a point.

Police are "dumbfounded" after Wheels Magazine hired a British journalist to drive from Melbourne to Sydney at 130km/hour to make a point about Australia's speed laws.


The journey took less than 6.5 hours and the driver was not booked once for speeding.


Editor Stephen Corby says the magazine is now launching a national campaign to raise the speed limit to 130km/h.


"We did it to show that it could be done and to show that if you did that you'd get to Sydney almost an hour and 20 minutes quicker," he told 3AW Breakfast.


"The speed limits are too low.


"We would have less fatigue on the road.


"It would put us in line with many countries around the world."


Image


A screen shot from the Wheels website.


Mr Corby told 3AW Breakfast the magazine hired the British journalist to avoid any staff losing their license.


"We assumed we would be booked repeatedly ... but we did not get booked once," he said.


"The police haven't called me yet, but I'm hearing a lot of comments that they aren't happy."


The driver slowed down to the legal limits for sections under 110km/h.


Supt. Neville Taylor, of Victoria Police, told Justin Smith he was "really dumbfounded" by the stunt.


"This has been a very irresponsible activity to embark on," Supt. Taylor said.


"To try to put this under the banner of research into road safety, I would hope the whole community would see that this is just completely reckless."


But Supt. Taylor would not entertain retrospective fines.


"We're not embarrassed (that police didn't catch the speeding driver), but it is unfortunate," he said.


"It would be wise for us to focus on the positive things we do."


-with Matt Cram


LISTEN: Stephen Corby with 3AW Breakfast


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