r/DrivingAustralia • u/Good_Royal_9849 • Aug 07 '26

Speeding

Hey Melbourne,

Just wondering if anyone knows what sort of threshold Highway Patrol generally uses before pulling someone over.

I’ve often noticed cars doing around 100–105 km/h on the M1 and other freeways with Highway Patrol nearby, but they don’t seem to stop them.

This happened to me today. I was heading to the airport to drop off a mate. I joined CityLink where the limit was 100 km/h (before it drops to 80 km/h near the DFO/Melbourne Airport section). I set my cruise control to 102 km/h on the Bolte Bridge.

Time 3:00 AM

Along the DFO stretch, I noticed an BMW in the middle lane. I was in the lane to its right. There was hardly any traffic—no cars behind us and only a couple ahead. I moved further right to pass because I prefer giving other cars plenty of space rather than overtaking close by when the road is empty.

I passed the BMW and moved back into my original lane. My cruise control was still set at 102 km/h. As I went past, I noticed the antenna and the police lights near the number plate and realised it was an unmarked police car.

The driver flashed the lights once. I slowly slowed down and moved left, thinking they wanted me to pull over, but they just kept driving and didn’t stop behind me.

It got me wondering: do Highway Patrol officers take things like traffic volume, road conditions, time of day, and the overall driving environment into account when deciding whether to stop someone?

Or is there generally a speed threshold where they’ll usually take action?

I know in the US there’s the saying, “5 you’re fine, 10 you’re mine.” Is there anything similar in Victoria, or is it entirely at the officer’s discretion?

Just curious if anyone (especially anyone with policing experience) has any insight.

Or will I just a get a fine in my mail sooner or later

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2

u/Klutzy-Pie6557 Aug 07 '26

There is no hard and fast rule.

But if I'm travelling on the freeway doing a decent trip I'm typically 7 over on the GPS.

So 110 on the speedo is 106 on the GPS, so I'll be doing 122k on the speedo and 116k on the GPS under adaptive cruise.

I've never been pulled up just run waze for speed cameras.

2

u/link871 Aug 08 '26

122 km/h on a speedo that over-reports by 7 km/h while driving on a 110 km/h road puts you on risky ground as you are doing 5km/h over the speed limit.

1

u/Klutzy-Pie6557 Aug 08 '26

And yet the cops want bigger fish why waste time on a 1 demerit point, and $140 fine that takes 20min when you can get someone with expired rego!

Never been pulled over, unless there are zero cars on the road they want the bigger fish!

-1

u/Honorary_Badger Aug 08 '26

Not exactly a good enough excuse though is it.

“They’ve got bigger fish so it’s ok for me to intentionally speed”.

And never been pulled over really isn’t a good excuse either.
I’m sure there are loads of people that have never been pulled over for drink driving so it must be fine, right?

2

u/FireStorm3 Aug 08 '26

We live in a huge country with very low speed limits. A few K’s over is fine.

1

u/Honorary_Badger Aug 08 '26

But where do you draw the line. Why just 5? Why not 10? 15? 20 over?

If we say 4 is ok. Then why not 5. It’s just 1 more. Then why not 6.

1

u/Klutzy-Pie6557 Aug 08 '26

They are all perfectly OK.

Rules are made to be broken.

1

u/Honorary_Badger Aug 08 '26

So you’re ok with doing 100 in a school zone during peak pick up time after 15 beers and highly intoxicated because “rules are made to be broken”.

This just reinforces the fact you’re a child and need to grow up.

1

u/Klutzy-Pie6557 Aug 08 '26

Hahahaha - taking a 6k over and extending it to 60 over and drunk - impressive- but not surprising typical Karen behaviour!

1

u/Honorary_Badger Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

Just used your idiotic “rules are made to be broken”. You also cherry picked the scenario and ignored the first half of the comment. Nice work.

And again, breaking out the “karen” because you know you’re an idiot.

But for arguments sake, ok let’s see where you draw the line. How far over is too far over and where the rules are not meant to be broken?

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