Liz Dobson: Oz visit offers scary view of the future

Australia's drivers are threatened with double demerits on holiday weekends. Photo / Ingram Publishing, Thinkstock

This long weekend means more of us are heading out of town and with zero-tolerance still in play, we'll all be watching our speed - hopefully.

And as most of us drivers will be avoiding clocking up any speeding fines, I reckon I've seen the future - and it doesn't look good.

I was driving around Sydney (no, Aussies weren't the scary future) over Australia Day weekend , and there were motorway signs and TV ads warning that double demerit points would be enforced during the three-day public holiday period.

There was plenty of signage on the freeways (Aussie-speak for motorways) showing the speed - that varied from 60km/h to 80, 90 and 110km/h over a short distance.

Driving my Maserati Ghibli test car on the busy Sunday, when most of Sydney was heading to the beach because of 37C weather, it was interesting to see most were keeping to the speed limit.

But on Australia Day itself, with rain and cooler temperatures, the hoons were out in force and I was overtaken frequently by speedsters.

The New South Wales double demerit system was introduced in 1997, and is in force every public holiday but over summer only from Christmas Eve to January 3.

The double demerit system targets speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and riding without a helmet.

Despite the public backlash to our own zero-speed tolerance over summer, I reckon the New Zealand police could be looking at the double demerit system in the next few years once driver complacency kicks in. You have been warned, fellow drivers!