Articles by Nick Henderson

The State Government is preparing a Bill designed to stop motorists cheating the system and help police identify unlicensed drivers or drivers restricted by a learner or provisional licence.Drivers currently have 48 hours to present their licence to a police station, creating a loophole that can be exploited.RAA traffic and safety manager Rita Excell said drivers could give police a false name under the current system.“People can give false names so we appreciate there are problems with the system now,” she said.“Somebody supposed to be on their P-plates and they are not carrying their provisional licence, they could give someone else's name so there are ways to get around the system.”Only motorists on a restricted licence are now required to carry it with them.Road Safety Minister Carmel Zollo said concern about the rule had led to the proposed law change.She said the new law would prevent people from trying to “cheat the system” and protect other road users from people attempting to drive illegally.The tougher powers were recommended by the Road Safety Advisory Council and will be similar to those operating in NSW, Tasmania and New Zealand.Ms Zollo said Victoria and Queensland were considering similar laws.“It is about helping us reduce serious and repeat traffic offending in our state,” she said.Opposition Road Safety spokesman Stephen Wade attacked the move. “This proposal smacks of revenue raising - not road safety,” he said.“If we could get every one to carry their licence, not one life would be saved."“In the meantime, such a law would penalise law-abiding South Australians going about their daily lives. The onus is on the Government to show how this would help.”Ms Excell supported the Bill but said the Government should provide a phase-in period for motorists to ensure they were not unfairly penalised.The Bill is set to be introduced to Parliament later this year.Ms Zollo also revealed the state's worst drink drivers would be forced to install alcohol interlock devices to regain their licence under a Bill recently approved.The law will impact on people caught drink driving twice in five years or those who record an alcohol reading above 0.15.“Despite all the warnings some South Australians continue to risk their own lives and those of innocent members of the community by drink driving,” she said. “We want to get those people who can't be trusted to do the right thing off the road for longer."“Alcohol interlocks will make it impossible for them to start their car if they register a positive blood alcohol reading.”The drivers will be forced to have the device installed in their car for the same period of time that their licence was disqualified.Road Safety Advisory Council chairman Sir Eric Neal said the device would address behavioural issues as well as protecting other road users.“Preliminary figures from 2007 show nearly all those killed on our roads with a BAC above 0.05 were in fact over 0.15,” he said. Do you agree that the $100 licence crackdown is just another revenue-raising tactic? Do you have any alternative suggestions? 

The car, first produced in 2005, was seen as a measure of whether the plant could produce profitable vehicles, however, bad timing and poor export figures led to unsatisfactory sales results. The V6 four-door 380 was produced as a replacement for the Mitsubishi Magna. At the time of the car's release, car industry experts and economists claimed the success of the 380 would determine the outcome of the company's future in Australia. Australian Institute for Social Research executive director John Spoehr said the 380 was well designed and built - $600 million was spent developing the vehicle - but rising petrol prices and poor exports crippled sales. “Mitsubishi placed a great deal of importance on the 380 as a transition to a more secure future for the Adelaide plant,” he said. “The difficulty for these things is the lead time for establishing a new model is so long that circumstances changed by the time the 380 came on to the market. “Large cars at a time of rising petrol prices were becoming increasingly unpopular in the Australian market.” Mitsubishi sales grew by 20 per cent last year but the 380 bucked the trend selling only 10,942 units, a drop of 11.9 per cent over its 2006 tally. Mr Spoehr said the Japanese company needed to see strong continued sales growth of the 380 to have its “faith” restored in building cars in Australia. “Not being able to secure sufficient export volumes really made it impossible for the 380 to be the leader it needed to restore the faith in the parent company,” he said.