Kerre Woodham: Men behaving badly

God spare me from the whining self-justifications of middle-aged men. It's not all of them of course, and I'm sure that in all other aspects of their life these moaners are pleasant, courteous and mature. But give them a speeding ticket, and they whine like a badly behaved toddler in the sweet section of the supermarket.

There seems to be a common belief among whining self-justifying middle-aged men, or WSJMAM, that the speed limit exists for other people. They don't need one because, unlike the rest of us, these men are brilliant drivers. They have the reflexes of an Olympic athlete, the eyesight of carrot-munching hawks, and the brains of Nasa super-computers.

Their cars are also far superior to anything else on the road. They have cruise control, they have ABS braking systems, and they have power steering.

They offer myriad responses when asked to complete the statement: I shouldn't get a ticket because ... "If I can drive a bloody aeroplane, I can certainly handle a vehicle at high speed on our roads"; "I was forced to overtake on a dangerous stretch of road because the moron in front of me wouldn't pull over or go faster"; "It was a clear day and there was nobody else on the road - why can't I put my foot down?"; "I drive a high-performance vehicle".

Interestingly, whining and self-justifying men span the socio-political spectrum. I also get calls from men complaining that the police target beneficiaries. Last week, I had a bloke complaining bitterly about police writing out tickets for unwarranted and unregistered cars parked outside his children's school. When I ventured to suggest that surely it was a good thing that children weren't travelling in unsafe cars, this WSJMAM told me that it was a poor area with high unemployment and people couldn't afford to warrant their cars. Surely people can't afford to put their kids in danger either.

These men not only have a problem with being pulled up short when they're rolling down the highway. They really don't like the attitude of the officers either. They complain that when they point out to the cops that they are law-abiding citizens, that they pay the taxes that pay police wages, and that the cops should be out catching real criminals, not revenue collecting, the police become quite rude and arrogant. Imagine.

I know that a balance needs to be found between traffic offences and criminal offences. It's appalling that it can take three days to investigate a burglary.

But 10 years ago, halting the carnage on the roads WAS the number one priority. Everyone wanted the police and the Government to do something about the mad drivers creating havoc on our roads. And they have.

The road toll has come down, and while I don't believe that's entirely due to rigorous policing, certainly the highway patrols can take some credit.

Speed was responsible for 35 per cent of fatal crashes in 2003 and I bet every single one of those drivers thought they knew what they were doing, right until they killed someone or found themselves wrapped around the drive shafts of their high performance cars.

So it's up to you really. Don't speed, and the Government won't have revenue to collect and there'll be more police available to attend your burglary. Your choice.