Going to court for outrageous driving on public roads - Page 2

mons2b · 01-06-2005, 11:22 PM

In New Zealand we like to complain about OUR traffic policing system but even what happens here is not as ANAL as it appears you have to put up with.
Cameras at the bottem of hills and tickets for doing 4-8KM over a limit? I dont know how you guys dont go around smashing speed camera boxes with an iron bar as sometimes happens here... :thebirds: Or throwing them into the sea..
Your state of Victoria seems to be a real POLICE state I wouldnt like living their at all.

mik · 02-06-2005, 12:40 AM

i would pay it and just wear it, and be careful next time ,not worth getting screwed around 1 days pay, good luck

daveinozbikes · 02-06-2005, 01:03 AM

Bummer Jack...spent a couple of weeks in Vic last year and was terrified of the zero tolerance to speed...the cameras give us a fair 10 k"s here....A positive point...the fine only amounts to $2 a year for your lifetime or about 18 cents a month!!!!!

pepsimax · 02-06-2005, 03:24 PM

and by the way,,there is no statute of limitations on fines of any kind,,

you have 21 days to pay the original fine,,if not you will get a reminder and another 21 days,after that any out standing fines will then become first instant warrents,,then if your ever pulled over you'll get stung for every unpaid fine,,or you'll loose your licence until there paid,,they can even deregister your car aswell.

Work Horse · 02-06-2005, 04:09 PM

It's a PITA but I would pay the fine.
Magistrates are very busy people and have little tolerance for people wasting their time.
It's not about what's right or wrong it's about the law. That is all the magistrate has to work with.
If you wish to change the law that is a political decision.
If people think bracksy will be voted out over speeding fines, they are living a cloistered existance (talking on car forums).
People love zero tolerance laws.

gtfpv · 02-06-2005, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Work Horse

It's a PITA but I would pay the fine.
Magistrates are very busy people and have little tolerance for people wasting their time.
It's not about what's right or wrong it's about the law. That is all the magistrate has to work with.
If you wish to change the law that is a political decision.
If people think bracksy will be voted out over speeding fines, they are living a cloistered existance (talking on car forums).
People love zero tolerance laws.

had to reply to this ( majestrates are very busy people ) MUAHAHHAAAHHHAAAHHH, MAN THIS IS ALMOST AS GOOG AS THE INJURY WHILST working on cars thread . is being asleep counted as being busy , or are they asleep from being too busy.

Work Horse · 02-06-2005, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

had to reply to this ( majestrates are very busy people ) MUAHAHHAAAHHHAAAHHH, MAN THIS IS ALMOST AS GOOG AS THE INJURY WHILST working on cars thread . is being asleep counted as being busy , or are they asleep from being too busy.

Appearing before a magistrate on frivolous matters is asking for trouble!
Making him/her stay awake while you go on is down right dangerous :hihi:

Dezza · 02-06-2005, 05:03 PM

It would be good if Bracksy saw some of these replies. In their continuous taxing of innocent motorists, they are destroying the tourism industry of Victoria. Why would people want to come to Victoria if people can be fined for speedo inaccuracy, or for safer overtaking (less time on the wrong side of the road)? The worst things are that it's here to stay. If we vote out Bracksy, I doubt his successor would be more leniant.

olfella · 02-06-2005, 05:28 PM

Jack, I would go for it, otherwise you you will be ****ed off with yourself for not following your own values. I had a similar expeience recently where my young bloke was charged with neg driving. We contested it and the prosecutor folded ssaying they did not have enough evidence. If we had rolled over then he would have had a black mark against him for life. The other thing that got up my nose was the way the case was being driven by the cops.

Basicaly I believe most magistrates are reasonable people and if you present your case and outline the circumstances was beyond your control then I dont think they would convict. You must remember also that the onus of proof is on them so they would have to prove what you did was not reasonable given the circumstaces.

On closing, because we had a win we were awarded costs, so the same can apply in your case I imagine.
Good luck - Eric

Clarke AV · 02-06-2005, 08:42 PM

You got Busted
Bugger.!

MAD · 02-06-2005, 09:38 PM

I cant beleive how many people are in this thread are willing to grab their ankles for braksy.....????

Write a letter explaining the situation, spin some crap about confusion in all the action that was going on, see what happens. If it doesnt work, write another with some extra info...extend the paying period even more...and if that doesnt work and you feel like extending it even more, and making braksy work for it, take it to court... sure you may have to pay the $30 in court fees, but whoopee, you just cost the gov more than that to get your hard earned.

Now dont you think if everyone did this some changes may appear in the system??

4.9 EF Futura · 03-06-2005, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pepsimax

i don't if it's been mentioned but ask to see the photo,,if there are two vehicles in the photo it has to be thrown away as they can't say which one is speeding and they can't fine both drivers.

Not true anymore. Well, let me qualify that...

In SA, police claim that the way the cameras are setup now, they are able to identify the speeding party in a photo (in some cases). Therefore (in these cases), multiple cars in a photo are no longer means of getting off the hook. Id look into your own state's call on this matter tho.

Statute of limitations do apply to parking and speeding offenses. See here for hansard relating to NSW fines ammendment bill back in 2004 - again, people need to check their own state's call on such matters...

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/pro.../LA20040603035

But IIRC its only the initial action which can be statute-barred... i.e. if they dont issue the original fine within the determined time... once fine has been issued then there is no limitation....

bindi · 03-06-2005, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mons2b

Cameras at the bottem of hills and tickets for doing 4-8KM over a limit? I dont know how you guys dont go around smashing speed camera boxes with an iron bar as sometimes happens here...

There is a camera in Valley Heights, NSW... one night, someone got done so they parked, went back with some petrol and tried to set it alight

As for you Trouty/Jack, DON'T GO THE ANKLE GRAB. Fight fight fight fight fight!!! Bloody buggers, this was an emergency situation and you were shocked, tense, and probably a little shakey from the incident and the fight/flight reflex went into overdrive and you just wanted to get away. This is a normal human subconscious response. Get a doctor to testify to that if you can

Write a letter, a very detailed one, explaining your issue and even on your past history, tell them that this was different, a near-miss/almost-accident.

Goddamn, aren't we allowed to go over the speed limit to avoid stuff like this and get ourselves out of trouble? F*ck that!

ilsautomotive · 03-06-2005, 12:33 PM

Cheers for the responses guys! It's helped me to make an educated decision.

Another miscellaneous point to make, when I got the 64 km/h fine, the alleged 'crime' was "exceeding the speed limit by less than 15 km/h". Since then, I read something about the cops making speeding fines much cheaper and increasing the demerit point loss to combat the consensus that it is revenue raising.

Well, this time it is the same amount of money, a single demerit point lost and the alleged crime is "exceeding the speed limit by less than 10 km/h". That's progress, Bracks-style.

Anyway, I would like to try and fight the charges because I don't care about the $30, and am curious for the experience of going to court. As some have said, I should make a statement because I get seriously peed off when I see those Santa Fe etc speed cameras on the side of the road particularly at peak hour. They are picking on people rushing to work who are paying about 50% tax on the petrol they use to get there, and up to 50% of their income will be taxed too. It's very wrong and it comes down to the government being a big fat money-hungry POS with no idea of efficiency relative to population size.

I'll keep everyone posted.

GhiaEB · 04-06-2005, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casper

Dont pay it, take it to court. You probably wont win but the more people that stop bending over to this joke of a tax the better.
I'm still waiting for my court date over a year since my little run in so this is not going to happen soon anyhow.

BTW, anyone know the statue of limitations on speeding and parking fines?

I'm contesting $1700 of fine (2 X unreg 2 X not displaying p's 2 X dodgey plates 1 X unRW) I admit it's all of me been stupid but still if you don't you never know what can happen... abit $1700 is a bit diff to your fine... and it's been 8 months...

But as caspar said if no one fights fine they'll bend ove every vic...

CHeers

Ben

GhiaEB · 04-06-2005, 12:33 AM

By the way it's early hours in the morning and i'm very ****ed.

Cheers

Ben

Cobalt_bucket · 08-06-2005, 08:56 PM

okay i may sound stupid but how is it that if you have a brand new vehicle and you believe your speedo is out ford tell you that you can have up to a 10% variance on speedo readings yet victoria has a zero tolerance, how do cars pass the ADR's ?????

Casper · 08-06-2005, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobalt_bucket

okay i may sound stupid but how is it that if you have a brand new vehicle and you believe your speedo is out ford tell you that you can have up to a 10% variance on speedo readings yet victoria has a zero tolerance, how do cars pass the ADR's ?????

simple, ADR's only require the speedo to be within 10%. Its the Vic Government that is basically ignoreing the ADR (and the rest of the world) and creating its own "laws" to get more stealth tax.
I personally believe this is, in some way, actually illegal. I think it will eventually be a massive minefield for the government if enough people actually challenge it. I'd love to see it go all the way to the high court of Aust too...I believe the Vic Government would actually lose and be forced to pay a lot of it back.