Criminals on the Run: Our Encounter with Aussie Country Police
By theprofessionalhobo ~ April 24th, 2009. Filed under: Australia.
Australians in general are a fairly cordial and friendly people. This is especially prevalent in the rural countryside, and even extends to the friendly police force, out to keep the peace and do their jobs.
So I guess I should have expected that with such a friendly disposition in the country, the friendly police force doesn’t exactly have a full work-load on their hands.
Hence, my recent encounter with the Australian police.
It goes something like this:
Nora is driving along, minding her own business and (of course) obeying the speed limit. She is heading home from a lovely dinner at a friend’s house, 10kms away. (This means they are neighbours. In a land where anything under 50kms is considered to be close , 10kms is practically next door).
Nora spies headlights in her rearview mirror. They are approaching very quickly. Too quickly. She is alarmed at the speed with which her rearview mirror is being dominated by bright headlights.
“Meh. No matter. They’ll pass me if they’re in a hurry,” Nora figures.
“Whoops. They’re not passing. They’re flashing.” And in the blink of an eye, Nora goes from her blissful non-speeding after-dinner glow of a state to a shaking, slightly panicky mess.
Knowing that she has done nothing wrong though, Nora keeps her cool. “How can I help you, officer?” are the sweet words that pour from her smiling mug, masking her authority-adverse core.
“Just a routine check. License, please.”
Nora rummages through her purse and produces a license.
“What’s this?”
“Um….My driver’s license.”
“Where is your Victorian license?”
“Um…I’m not from around here. I’m from Canada.” Nora is slightly alarmed that her Canadian accent and Canadian driver’s license did not paint a full enough picture. She hopes that simply being from Canada will pave the way to an imminent release from her current captivity on the side of the road.
The conversation thankfully picks up from here, with some small chatting about Canada and idle conversation about how long she’s here in Australia.
After breathing into a tube to make sure Nora wasn’t drinking (which she wasn’t), it seems that she is all in the clear.
Just one more question.
“So…what are you doing out here at this hour?”
Um…
Nora looks at her watch. It’s 9:35pm.
Really? It’s not even 10pm and I’m a reckless night-crawling brawling brazen Canadian, tearing up the quiet streets of Australia? Really?!
I’d like to say that I gave the slightly misguided police officer a piece of my late-night mind, but I just smiled and said I was on my way home from an evening with friends, all the while wondering what sort of life this guy has outside of work.
But that’s what you get when you live in the country. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t be too loud. Too quiet. Too rambunctious. Too early. Too late. Too…anything.
And for Pete’s sake, don’t go out driving after 9pm and not expect to have to answer for it. I mean, really.
April 24th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
: )
If I told you they probably wouldn’t pull you over if they knew you were female, would that make you feel better or worse?
Random Breath Testing is legal here, despite an uproar when they first brought it in.
April 24th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
@Kazari – It’s the random drug testing (not that I’ve been subjected to it, or am worried about it) that I find truly odd in Victoria.
And heck – I’m even for the Random Breath Testing (they do something similar in Canada) – but more often than not they are set up in strange places and stranger times here in Oz from what I’ve seen. Who is going to be drinking and driving on a small country road at 10….AM?!?! Takes all kinds, I guess!
April 25th, 2009 at 12:13 am
“masking her authority-adverse core”…..must be a Canadian personality trait! Really!
Love your blog.
Jane (in Toronto)
April 25th, 2009 at 3:16 am
Do you need an international license or something like that when over seas?
And there are often times, I wish I could be more frank with people in other countries – but one of my big travelling mottos is: Do not get arrested in a foreign jail. And so I too normally stay quiet.
April 25th, 2009 at 11:21 am
@Jane: Yes, we Canadians tend to smile sweetly but WATCH OUT!
@Previously.bitten: You don’t need to have an international license, but it helps, moreso in non-English-speaking areas. As it happens, we have licenses, but they expired a few months ago. Whoops! Who knew?!
And I too, have a pretty hard-and-fast rule about staying out of foreign jails. Any jails for that matter aren’t exactly appealing, but foreign ones in particular….eeewww!
April 25th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Hi Nora, I got pulled over driving along the Great Ocean Road. I handed him my International license and the officer was cool with that. We all know the International License is nothing more than a little company that verifies your home license but you should get one.
We have had cases where our people have had accidents over seas and their lack of international licenses got them in big trouble with the police.You can rent and operate a vehicle in a foreign country (many) without a “local” license but for the 20 plus dollars it costs it is good to get one.
As a guest with a visa for Oz I doubt that you would require anything more than the International license but you may want to check. My Visa for Oz usually goes for 9 months and all is good with the Int. license.
P.S. The International licenses all expire on Dec. 31 @ midnight on the year they were issued for.
April 26th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
@Keith – Thanks for the tip! I really only figured that the International Licenses were good for renting cars and such in foreign language countries…I’m going to take it more seriously now. Time to get a new one!
April 26th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Hi ive rented numerous cars in australia with my UK (Photocard) licence, the requirements for australia is that if your licence is in a language other than english then you need to get an international one if not its a waste on money
April 27th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Again, you can rent a car with your “home country license” the rental car companies are fine with that. I have rented cars all over the world with my U.S. (State) drivers license but the problem occurs in the unlikely event you get in an accident . The local authorities need to verify that you have a valid licence and yes it is easier to get that information from another commonwealth country but the International Drivers licence simplifies the process further.
Simple solution, ask the local blue shirts what is best. If they say your Canuck licence is all you ever need then save the 20 plus dollars.