Police guidelines re uneccesary noise? Worth taking issue to court?

holden#1 · #1 28-08-2005, 12:46 PM

Guys,
Copped fine on mid july this year for "drive vehicle in a way that makes unecessary noise". ($240, no points off) fine was handed out in strange circumstances which has led me to write letter to cops to withdraw fine. has anyone had experience with doing this or taking these sorts of things to court.? would love to hear.

ElDubya · #2 28-08-2005, 02:19 PM

If by "drive vehicle in a way that makes unecessary noise" you mean make the wheels spin, then you have no hope.

Perhaps if you tell us the circumstances surrounding the fine, we may be able to help.

vzdriver · #3 28-08-2005, 02:27 PM

hate to say it, but in this circumstance and any circumstance where the police fine you for this type of inccident, the courts will always favour them, as the police are intrusted and unless you have some really amazing evidence then na no chance
sorry mate, dont want to seem like an asshole, but just telling it how it is..even though sometimes it does seem unfair, you just have to except it

holden#1 · #4 28-08-2005, 03:33 PM

Re: Traffic Infringement Notice

Dear Sir / Madam,

On the 15th of July 2005 at approximately 15.05hrs, I was stopped by a patrol car near the intersection of ... and ... Streets, .... I first noticed patrol car directly behind my vehicle with lights flashing after proceeding through the intersection of ... and ...After pulling over, a Constable... , registration #... , proceeded to approach my vehicle. I was asked ‘Do you realize why you have been stopped?’ to this I replied ‘No. I am not aware of committing any offence’. Constable... then stated ‘I heard a screech coming from your vehicle’. I replied ‘I am most definitely unaware of this’ I then added that ‘a slight noise may have not been noticed by myself as I had radio turned on’ at this Constable... asked me how loud my radio was. I turned ignition switch on; radio came on at which Constable .... agreed it was not excessively loud. (My Rodeo work Ute does not have any high power sound system). Constable ... then replied that ‘I was not directly behind your vehicle – I heard the screech, you must have as well’ In any case, I did not continue to turn this into an argument with the Constable, and in a somewhat confused state was handed the Infringement Notice.

Knowing full well that screeching / squealing noise definitely did not come from my tyres, I decided to go for a drive and try and figure out what this noise could have been. I tried various scenarios i.e different levels of acceleration, braking and cornering and subsequently found that under acceleration the fan belt would at times intermittently emit a squealing / screeching noise.

On the next business day Monday the 18th of July 2005, I took my vehicle to my mechanic,... Mechanical at ..., and requested that he would have a look at fixing my fan belt so there would be no chance of it emitting any noise in future. Would you please find copy of invoice enclosed.

I believe that this Infringement Notice was issued unnecessarily under the circumstances, and ask that you review this case and at your discretion revoke the said infringement notice.

Yours Sincerely,
...

Other factors are:
Cops were 3 cars behind me when lights first went on.
I was in full knowledge of their presence over the past 2k's
I was not operating vehicle in dangerous manner ( no smoke, sliding )

If I was stupid enough to make a public nuisance by doing a burnout with a rodeo work ute on a public road at 3pm friday arvo, i would be more than happy to 'do the crime, pay the fine'.

Be interesting to see how this goes. so far received a letter acknowledging mine.

I understand the point of police having discretionary powers, at least this can be balanced out by taking matters to court. has anyone had any success with doing this?? does anyone know details of what would happen at hearing?

Bec · #5 28-08-2005, 06:13 PM

Good luck, I argued the same with mine a few years ago, as there was no way any noise came from my car...the police knew this too, because 2 weeks later he claimed that it could be heard from 3km away, and said it was sooo loud (he said all this with a satisfied smile on his face). All that came from disputing it was an extra 2 or so months to pay the fine while it was investigated. No harm in trying though.

That fine comes with 2 demerits too, just thought you should know

holden#1 · #6 28-08-2005, 06:24 PM

Bec,

There are two different infringements which can be applied:

1. "Drive Vehicle In A Way That Makes Uneccessary Noise" $240 - No Demerit

2. "Willfully Drive Or Start Motor Vehicle In A Way That Makes Uneccessary Noise" $240 - 2 Demerit Points

When ticket was written constable told me she wasn't too hard on me and had applied the one with no demerit points.

Also, did you end up actually going to court?

fabz · #7 28-08-2005, 07:14 PM

Coppers anything for a bust ha ha maybe it was them pulling outta maccas while stuffin there faces with cheese burgers and the screech was the back end of the cop car scrapin on the drive way outta macca coz plod hasnt seen a gym in 20 yrs, but maybe im over thinking this????????

vlv8vic · #8 28-08-2005, 07:17 PM

sounds like its worth a shot....

holden#1 · #9 28-08-2005, 07:26 PM

i'm hearin ya fellas - there are a few things around that register more than 2 decibels(!) loose fanbelts, normal operation of motor vehicle, even in a trayback rodeo ute, if you drop the clutch a little hard on some surfaces of bitumen you will get this tyre noise, maybe you need traction control as well just in case you get a cramp in your leg as you let clutch out! In these cases the cops need to PROVE THE OFFENCE BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT i.e clouds of smoke, people covering there ears.

Bax · #10 28-08-2005, 08:15 PM

A mate of mine got done a while back for exactly the same kinda thing, we did a u-turn in my car while i was having a few beers one night.

cops were about 400m back parked on the side of the road. by the time we'd done the u-turn they were up our ass and we were on the side of the road. they would of had to take off quite quick to get there.

anyway, he said that he heard tyres squeal but didn't see the car. (i knew my tyres didn't squeal from previous experience) and on the ticket he wrote the car down as being orange.. instead of maroon.

we complained.. got a letter back basically shutting down our letter.. how nice of the corruptus in extremis system.

holden#1 · #11 28-08-2005, 08:23 PM

Any case of getting justice due to the technicality of cops writing down wrong colour on fine? I wish...

I would really like to know what happens when you go to court for this sort of thing.

I have sent letter to cops, but am expecting to get a knockback - probably end up in court i spose.

no reasonable person will argue the point if it is BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT that offence has been commited. what happened to idea that you are innocent until proven guilty?

Bec · #12 28-08-2005, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holden#1

Bec,

There are two different infringements which can be applied:

1. "Drive Vehicle In A Way That Makes Uneccessary Noise" $240 - No Demerit

2. "Willfully Drive Or Start Motor Vehicle In A Way That Makes Uneccessary Noise" $240 - 2 Demerit Points

When ticket was written constable told me she wasn't too hard on me and had applied the one with no demerit points.

Also, did you end up actually going to court?

My bad about the points...my understanding was 1. Drive vehicle in way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke. 2. Start vehicle in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke...both with 2 points. Anyway

I got the points one...I didn't take it to court because
a) I knew I wouldn't win because I was 18 with an old commodore and had a fair few defects beforehand, and
b) I couldn't afford to lose

Have a go by all means, I just don't think you have much chance of getting out of it...especially in Ipswich lol