Outrage over dob-a-driver line

An angry victim of anonymous accusations tells motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE the scheme smacks of a totalitarian state


Lotus car importer Roger Phillips arrived at work the other day to find the phone ringing. It was the police, from the *555 dob-in line.

Phillips had been observed by a member of the public doing an estimated 160km/h in an exotic car on the Southern Motorway. What did he have to say for himself, asked the policeman.

Plenty, said Phillips. And he hit the roof. It was the second time he'd been dobbed in.

"The first time, police pulled into my 80-year-old mother's driveway to say her car had been seen passing on a double-yellow line," said Phillips.

"I had her car and I phoned the police to ask what was going on. I went and checked where I was supposed to have committed the offence. There were no double-yellow lines within cooee of the place.

"I asked police for the name of the complainant, but was told that as no action was to be taken, the complainant's name would not be divulged.

"I pointed out that I should have the right to defend myself, and that my mother had been traumatised by the police visit.

"The last time police had driven into her driveway was to tell her of the accidental death of family members."

The mobile *555 line was set up some years ago to report non-emergency traffic problems. Police encouraged its use at the start of the "10-second rule" campaign against smoky vehicles in 2001.

"Although the scheme may be well-intentioned," said Phillips, "it smacks of a totalitarian state, with no right to a defence against the accusation.

"From what I've been told, it is legally unenforceable anyway. It allows those members of the public with an extreme social problem a fleeting moment of power without responsibility. These misfits are aided by a ridiculous bureaucracy hellbent on conformity."

Phillips, who returned to New Zealand in 2001 after 20 years in business overseas, says he has had three minor infringements in 35 years of driving.

"I have never had points taken off my licence and I have held various international competition licences as a professional driver and instructor in the United States, Australia and Europe."

He said his frustration at being dobbed in a second time in three years raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the *555 system.

"It would be nice to know what action I can take to prosecute this member of the public for wrongfully accusing me and wasting police time on this fiction. While the Noble sports car I was driving is capable of travelling at speeds well in excess of the speed limit, at no time had I exceeded the conventional 90/110km/h general traffic flow, apart from overtaking.

"The caller told police I was doing 160km/h on the Manukau motorway. It was 8.15 on a Friday morning ... . Traffic was pretty much bumper-to-bumper.

"The Noble was on dealer plates and the officer told me he had assumed someone could be test-driving the car but had alerted patrols in case it had been stolen. I appreciated that. He said no further action would be taken.

"I am not alone in this situation. The policeman said they receive hundreds of these calls a day. They're just do-gooders wasting everybody's valuable time.

"They should be made accountable and told to mind their own damn business."