Liberal candidate for Flinders in 164km/h shame
Nov 8th, 2009 by admin
A LIBERAL Party candidate has been banned from driving for travelling at 54km/h over the speed limit – and a road safety group says he should not be allowed to contest the March elections.
The Pedestrian Council of Australia’s call came after Peter Treloar, candidate for the West Coast seat of Flinders, vowed to continue campaigning despite clocking 164km/h in a 110km/h zone last month.
Pedestrian Council chairman Harold Scruby said the Liberal Party’s support for Mr Treloar also smacked of hypocrisy, given that it demanded Labor MP Tom Koutsantonis resign as Road Safety Minister after the Sunday Mail revealed he was a serial traffic offender.
Police using a mobile radar caught Mr Treloar on October 22, 10km south of Streaky Bay. He incurred a $594 fine and instant six-month licence ban.
Mr Scruby said Mr Treloar’s excessive speed was life-threatening and “extremely irresponsible and he should be in jail”.
“If you run amok with a knife or gun you get locked up, but it seems running amok with a life-threatening weapon like a car is no big deal according to the law, even though more people are killed by cars than guns or knives,” said Mr Scruby, a member of the Federal Transport Department’s National Road Safety Strategy Panel.
“We will be writing to Premier Mike Rann to amend the laws, so anyone guilty of a high-range speeding offence within the past five years should be barred from standing for Parliament.”
Mr Treloar, 48, told the Sunday Mail he had paid the penalty for the excessive speeding offence, and the party “had been very supportive” in his decision to continue standing for the seat now held by Liberal MP Liz Penfold, who is retiring at the next election in March.
“There is no excuse for the speeding, I apologise and accept my punishment,” said Mr Treloar, who also admitted an unspecified number of past speeding convictions.
The farmer, from Edillilie, near Port Lincoln, did not expect a backlash from voters over the speeding incident. They “will judge me on my merits as a candidate”.