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Why Hire Sunshine Coast Solicitors?

May 15, 2012 – 12:00 pm

1. You’re too close to the action

Love, hate or any powerful emotion it’s very difficult to see the forest for the trees. A seasoned professional family lawyer can help you understand the indifferent way the justice system will see your matter so that the likelihood of arriving at a just outcome is enhanced. A lawyer can help you avoid the pitfalls associated with emotional outbursts you may be tempted to have too.

2. Do you understand what is and isn’t evidence?

In Australia there is much legislation, case law and custom describing what is and is not evidence. If you think you can write down your entire story in an affidavit, swear it in front of a lawyer or Justice of the Peace and hand this up to the court with no dramas, you’re mistaken. Judges have been known to fly into rages when presented with incoherent and confusing material lacking in evidential value, and rightly so. Our justice system is expensive to maintain and overloaded so if you waste a judge’s time through your own ignorance of Australian rules of evidence, you are doing a disservice to the courts, yourself and Australia as a whole.

3. A lawyer may be required by legislation

Some legal documents, such as binding financial agreements (cohabitation agreements and prenuptial agreements and separation agreements) are only ‘binding’ when they are certified by a lawyer who says that they have provided the signatories with independent legal advice. In these situations obviously retaining a lawyer is critical.

4. Errors can be very expensive

In family law cases, the costs of legal ignorance are often far more than financial. If you want to maximise your chances of seeing your children as often as you would like and to ensure the family home remains a safe haven for your children, failing to achieve these aims simply because you didn’t know your legal rights will have ramifications far beyond your bank balance.

5. A lawyer has legal experience

Unless you are a lawyer, you won’t have as much legal experience as your lawyer… this sounds trite and obvious, but it’s true and very important. In Australia lawyers are trained for years before they are even permitted to give legal advice to a client and if you are dealing with a lawyer who has been practicing law for several years, he or she has not only been upgrading legal skills through compulsory continuing legal education but has been on the front line of providing legal advice to a wide variety of people with an array of unique problems.

Are you looking for Sunshine Coast Solicitors? Speak with Carroll Fairon Solicitors for quality legal advice.

Marie Jones | Politics | Comments (0)

Rural Traffic and Speed

May 14, 2012 – 10:41 am

A great deal of information is available about pedestrian survival rates after being struck by a moving vehicle, and traffic calming in construction sectors, school sectors and urbanized areas. One area that is often overlooked is the rural highway. While the threat to pedestrians is definitely either much less or nonexistent in several cases, the danger to drivers is actually increased.

The standard signs like speed limits, advised speed limits for curves and signs warning of snaking roads or animal crossings are required on rural roads, even though they’re undoubtedly ignored at times by some drivers. This is particularly true for drivers who continually travel the same route. This generally increases their speed and lowers the speed awareness over time, just as any task one does continually becomes a more subconscious, by-rote activity rather than one that is actively engaging.

A radar speed sign in a good place along a long road, will bring drivers’ minds back to their speed in comparison to the limit and slow traffic down.

More areas today use technology to help to control traffic. Using a radar speed sign is using technology in a perfect way. Because the signs can be electric, solar, or operated by batteries, you might decide to install one permanently or use the same sign in different locations at different times, as required. The signs can be accessed remotely with the wireless Bluetooth connection, with programming that may be modified on the fly. They may also be used to collect speed information to help decide where the signs are most required.

Among both rural and urban roads, almost 2/3 of the speeding-related deaths are on rural roads. This could be partly to thinner traffic that can mean an accident can occur a while before it’s uncovered and then medical help could be far away. But the terrain of the roads, often with several hills and curves, also contribute. Roll-overs and running off the road are more common on rural roads than urban ones.

A weather-proof and vandal-resistant feedback sign can promote speed awareness 24/7 and help reduce the number of accidents and deaths on your rural highways.

Jessie Mccafferty | Politics | Comments (0)