Untimely infringement fine!!

[DanP]

1: my details on the summons were incorrect.

Then the details on your licence must be incorrect. Thats where they get them from.

2: the speed sign clearly stated 60, to which i was told the defalt where no sign is visable is 50. to which i nicely pointed out rule 22 clearly indicates that where a speed limited area finish's it must be indicated.
I can name many major roads in melbourne that are not signposted for over 1500m..

Are you talking about a 60 zone or a 60 area. They are two totally different things. A 60 AREA applies to a network of roads and signs must be established at each entry point to the network of roads. Also END 60 AREA signs must be erected at each exit of the network of roads. A plain 60 sign applies to a length of road (no matter how long or short) and is effective for the entire length of road, until the road ends or a different speed sign overrides it. It does not matter if you get on a road somewhere in the middle and haven't passed a sign. But that's ok, your bluff worked

3: for the operator of the camera to have been able to take my picture he would have had to have been parked at an angle of 81degrees to the curb, and if he had been would not have been able to get that shot of me.
(he had not correctly stated the direction of camera)

How the hell could you possibly know what angle the camera was on? The camers does not point directly forwards so the vehicle does not need to be at an angle. If the vehicle is at an angle to the direction of travel it can only be to your benefit as the camera will receive a reduced reading.

4: I have a clean driving record in 2 countries for the past 22 years.
Well she umd for a while and said they will get back intouch. well a week later i got a letter stating that the case was dismissed.
It is worth checking there photos against the melways for the direction of travel.

Seems to me that you managed to bullshyte your way through this one. I don't really care as I hate cameras anyway.

But in you case just tell them the truth and mention that you had not received the renewal notice and you were on you way to vic roads at the time to pay

Martrix. Write the letter stating that it was an honest mistake and tell them about your good history and ask for a warning in this case. Don't tell them that you didn't receive the notice if you had. They can check with Vic Roads to see if it was sent. It is legislated that if it was sent it is taken to be received. Just remember that they may send the file to the police member for their opinion and if you have told them lies about being on the way to pay it etc and the copper reads that, he will recommend that you wear the fine. So YES, tell the truth. Not some wierd made up version of the truth.

Dan

[Sturdee]

Not quite correct, even if you are driving an unregistered vehicle you can make a claim through TAC, they do not advertise this though.
I spent several years working with TAC and have seen several claims processed, it is also a no fault system so regardless of whether you are right or wrong you can still claim.
Very few recoveries are launched against individuals.
Comprehensive insurance will cover against property damage if the car is unregistered, we drove an unregistered car for 12 months (I thought she paid, she thought I paid until next renewal) and I enquired with RACV as to what would have happened if we had a prang during that time, their response, in writing was that we were covered.

Thanks for the update Iain. The case I knew occurred about 30 years ago and I didn't it was changed.


Peter.

[dazzler]

Hi all,
had a VERY unfortunate run-in with the Law Enforcement today. Driving along minding my own business, when all of a sudden the flashing red and blue light's appear in my rear view mirror, and I am pulled over. No idea why they had pulled me over, wasnt speeding, perfectly roadworthy '96 Toyota.....until they told me my rego had run out 3-days earlier, unbeknowns to me, yes I know my fault! I paid the rego over the phone in front of the officer, but before I had a chance to cough, he had already written out the $511fine!!

Before he left, he basically told me I would have a good chance of getting out of the fine by writing a letter explaining the situation and stating my excellent driving record and 7 year Rating 1 insurance record. Can any one give me some tip's and/or pointer's on writing this get out of jail letter? Has anyone gone through this experience? thanks in advance...

not very happy Jan!

Hi Matrix

If it is an honest case of forgetfullness then I would suggest the following;

Write a polite letter leaving out any attitude about him writing the ticket quickly or the amount and explain that you have a very good record and on this occasion you simply forgot to send in payment. The officer may be asked to give his view on the matter.

Attach a bank statement showing that you did have the funds available at the time and perhaps whatever was going on in your life at the time that may have caused your forgetfullness.

Send it in. If it is rejected ask for the matter to be heard before the court.

Attend court on the day dressed appropriately, explain to the magistrate that you committed the offence and repeat the reasons outlined above.
Perhaps suggest that you feel that the fine is rather high for forgetting something and that you caused no danger to anyone and perhaps he could consider a section 556A which is basically that offence is proven without conviction recorded.

Offer to make a donation to a charitable organisation such as the brain injury foundation or similar. Something to maybe raise a smile on the magistrates bored life on the bench. Remember he hears this a lot.

You would be giving this under oath so ensure that what you say is true. It may have ramifications in the afterlife!!!

good luck and rembember be polite


good luck

dazzler

[craigb]

Bet you never forget to pay your rego again.

[Guy]

Then the details on your licence must be incorrect. Thats where they get them from.
Dan

My address details are on my licence and are 100% correct, the infringement notice and the summons had part of my old address on it and it created a new subburb called "Mal Iris".

Are you talking about a 60 zone or a 60 area. They are two totally different things. A 60 AREA applies to a network of roads and signs must be established at each entry point to the network of roads. Also END 60 AREA signs must be erected at each exit of the network of roads. A plain 60 sign applies to a length of road (no matter how long or short) and is effective for the entire length of road, until the road ends or a different speed sign overrides it. It does not matter if you get on a road somewhere in the middle and haven't passed a sign. But that's ok, your bluff worked
Dan

I agree with your comments, however where a road terminates at a cross road where all roads have give way signs then all roads out of that intersection must have the speed limit stipulated.

How the hell could you possibly know what angle the camera was on? The camers does not point directly forwards so the vehicle does not need to be at an angle. If the vehicle is at an angle to the direction of travel it can only be to your benefit as the camera will receive a reduced reading.
Dan

If you get a photo from them it has a box that states the direction the camera is facing, on mie it said "N" infact he was pointing nearly to the east. And by doing some maths and using a compass it was easy to work out the angle. Accuracy in records is important whether my estimated angle is +/_ 10% in error the camera operator had written the wrong thing down and is not an accurate account.

[dazzler]

Hi Guy

I am an expert at this. DanP is correct at law.

However I agree totally with the fact that IF the notes the operator made were incorrect then it should be withdrawn.

There is NO place for sloppy work with regard to Radar operation. This is where all the problems with radar have come from....sloppiness.

Now next time you get booked, take it with a smile hey?

cheers

dazzler

[Sir Stinkalot]

How did the police car see your rego details if they were travelling behind you? I read this story yesterday which sparked my interest as I had paid my rego but the sticker was still on the fridge .... never got around to putting it on the car, didn't get caught though. While I was driving today I tried looking at the rego stickers of cars around me ..... it is very difficult to just see the month (6) and impossible to see the date. If your rego expired three days ago it would still be a 6 .... so even if the officer did notice a 6 why would they bother to pull over every car which may still have 4 weeks of rego left to run .....

Are you sure you didn't do something to attract interest that you aren't telling us about? :confused:

[Iain]

It could have been TMU doing a search on a car they were following, a blitz on unreg vehicles or whatever they are doing this week.
Generally though they want a reason to pull you up.
I got pulled up the day I had a new windscreen fitted for no rego label, it was TMU and I told them what had happened and they were quite happy to accept that, after they did a radio check to verify that the car was indeed registered.
TMU can be hard to get on with and once pulled over you are usually relieved of a bit of the hard earned.
To add a bit to that I heard someone having a whinge once for he was towing an unregistered boat trailer, he had a box trailer full of camping gear and a canoe on top.
I spoke to the Sgt in question at a small country town and he recalled the incident, it seems that our friend was pulled over for a roadworthy, along with everyone else travelling the highway that day.
He decided he wasn't happy and gave the coppers a real spray and got himself a ticket.
Theres a moral here somewhere but I'll let Dan run with that one

[Sir Stinkalot]

I did see plenty of unusual police bhaviour this week so perhaps it was the blitz.

For three days they were pulling over peak hour traffic at random, just before the Tulla interchange, and then yesterday on Pascoe Vale road they shut down one lane and diverted it into a carpark for checks.

Makes you wonder where these cars are for the reast of the year .... I spend 2.5hrs a day on the road and can go for weeks without seeing a police car.

[craigb]

Pardon my ignorance, what's a TMU?

[Schtoo]

The colour of the sticker is how you can quickly check wether it's good or not.

Say the 2004-2005 one is red, the 2005-2006 one is blue and has a 5 on it.

If you have a nice big 5 and a red sticker, it's not the right one today, is it?

Still gotta work out how they do it over here yet. I know that getting my license here was easy, while most other guys I know here had to jump through numerous hoops to get theirs.

[Lucas]

Martrix,
thanks, you just reminded me to stick my Rego sticker on
One less reason for them to pull me over

[martrix]

How did the police car see your rego details if they were travelling behind you? I read this story yesterday which sparked my interest as I had paid my rego but the sticker was still on the fridge .... never got around to putting it on the car, didn't get caught though. While I was driving today I tried looking at the rego stickers of cars around me ..... it is very difficult to just see the month (6) and impossible to see the date. If your rego expired three days ago it would still be a 6 .... so even if the officer did notice a 6 why would they bother to pull over every car which may still have 4 weeks of rego left to run .....

Are you sure you didn't do something to attract interest that you aren't telling us about? :confused:

They have high-speed data registrar's in their vehicles', just a matter of typing in rego and bang, they can can tell what you had for lunch!

[Iain]

Pardon my ignorance, what's a TMU?

Traffic Management Unit, formerly known as Traffic Operations Group TOG, high powered marked and unmarked cars, book their own mothers.

[craigb]

Traffic Management Unit, formerly known as Traffic Operations Group TOG, high powered marked and unmarked cars, book their own mothers.

OIC, thanks. Highway Patrol covers it up here