Infringement contesting

[HamaTime™]

How many of you contest certain infringement notices that you receive?

I have contested one and they have said that you are only allowed one letter to prove your point...they didn't even read my second letter.

How many times do you write to try and contest a certain infringement?

[alien]

I contested my first one. Went to court where my barrister then advised me the lawyer who gave me advice was an idiot and it was cheaper to plead guilty. So just got the infringement back.... with no conviction with some great refernces by highly regarded figures. I only said i was contesting it once and that i wanted the matter heard in court.

Second one i didn't bother fighting, i was speeding, got pulled over and accepted it.

[HamaTime™]

I contested my first one. Went to court where my barrister then advised me the lawyer who gave me advice was an idiot and it was cheaper to plead guilty. So just got the infringement back.... with no conviction with some great refernces by highly regarded figures. I only said i was contesting it once and that i wanted the matter heard in court.

Second one i didn't bother fighting, i was speeding, got pulled over and accepted it.

What sort of offence was it? Did they summon you to court or did you take it to court?

I got pulled over for the P1 passenger law, I'm writing my 3rd letter at the moment.

[Secki]

In nsw usually for minor offences you can get off with a letter, but only once every ten years if your record is clean for ten years.

[minux]

I challenged a speeding fine I got, didn't even need to attend court. Apparently I was doing 120 in a 100 zone through a camera just off the westgate bridge outbound. Funnily enough, we had a Hyatt motel checkout receipt, Hyatt hotel carpark pay receipt and a nice cctv camera image of us leaving the car park 2 minutes after the fine occurred. Sadly they didn't want to challenge all this documentation and dropped the fine.

[CoMrAdE MaRx23]

Wow a clean driving record for 10 years! Entire civilizations have risen and fell in less time!

[Cobez]

Challenged a "defect" notice i copped from TMU. My rego sticker read 1350kg, the cars actualy weight is 1610. They said i was a kilowatt or two over the legal limit (i forget how much exactly) so i rang HSV, gave them my VIN etc, they hand wrote me out a letter with all the specs of my specific car on it with the VIN number and correct weight.

then i made my way into Vicroads, showed them all my documentation, they printed me a new rego sticker with the correct weight, then i mailed off the papers the rego sticker came on, a copy of the letter from HSV and the "defect" notice i was issued with a typed and signed letter explaining everything that i typed up, then 2 weeks later i recieved a letter from TMU stating they had withdrawn the fine etc and no further action would be taken.

Bit of fart assing around, but ****ed if i was going to pay a fine of like $400 for a car i was actually allowed to drive.

[immortality]

it's funny really, if oyu are charged with murder or any other serious crime it is upto the police to "prove beyond a reasonble doubt" that you are guilty. with minor infringements it's very much the other way around, you need to prove your innocence. a good majority of the police officers i have come into contact with over the year don't really know the law all that well, almost got arrested for arguing with a police officer issuing me a defect (the only one i've ever had) even though the officer was wrong. i then had to prove otherwise. that cost me. in these cases the police department should be liable for costs incured in "proving your innocence".

i totally agree that the police departments these days have a extremly tough job to do, however working on the assumption that they " get it right" most of the time doesn't stack up. if i said to my boss that i "iget it right" most of the time i would have been fired a long time ago.

[alien]

What sort of offence was it? Did they summon you to court or did you take it to court?

I got pulled over for the P1 passenger law, I'm writing my 3rd letter at the moment.

The offence i challenged was failure to obey traffic signal. It was at a collision scene, cop wasn't bright, there was no way i ran the red light based on how the collision happened in the intersection and photos all proved that. But still the cop saw a VR commodore with a P plate which was only 6 cylinder (instant "hoon") classification. Ignore the 23yo guy driving the S2000 (sporty car) and go for the p plater driving the family car. I reckon he was paid off, but that's another story.

I said i wanted to challenge the fine, summons came in the mail (mind you 8 months later) and court case was held just under 12 months from the collision.

[macca01]

how do u contest infringment notices? im in WA, and got pulled for HOLDING my phone, not using- 3 demerit points and $250 fine

[gopher]

how do u contest infringment notices? im in WA, and got pulled for HOLDING my phone, not using- 3 demerit points and $250 fine

good luck with that.

don't know the law in WA but over here it's an offence to even hold a mobile phone while driving

[alien]

In most states it's illegal to hold a mobile phone, yet it's not illegal to hold and use a CB.... go figure

Yea, there's not really that much chance of contesting that and winning in any circumstances But you can always try, especially if you have a clean driving record. If WA doesn't do a special let you off thing for clean records then you'll have to write a strongly worded letter to the authorities.

[Vt-Brrrlina]

hav a look on the back or the bottom of the infringment itll tell you how to contest it.... however the mobile phone thing... if it goes to court trust me they will check you phoen records to make usre u werent texting or making calls at the time of the offence... and not just evidence on ur phone but actual phone company records

[HamaTime™]

Red Lights, Mobiles and Seat belts you cannot contest. They are blanket offences and immediate penalties apply. you cannot unless you go to court get off or contest them.

Speeding can only be contested if it's under 10 k's over the limit, then again only if you have a clean record for 2 years. However it's bullshit that you can be booked for doing under 10 k's over the limit. Gun innacuracies added with speedo innacuracies...and generally you can't be watching your speedo 100% of the time anyways otherwise you couldn't see anything that's going on around you.

It doesn't say anywhere that you can't contest P1 rules, however I had exceptional circumstances, and I think it's a bullshit rule so I'm contesting it.

[Slippy_Trippy]

Yeah speeding laws ave become much to strict in the under 10kph zone. 3kph Tolerance, are you kidding??? I've had two different highway speed check points tell me my speedo was wrong, by different amounts. They can't even prove all their gear is accurate let alone the average drivers speedo, but anyhow.

I just contested a $113 for driving on shittylink without a pass. We had added the car online but it didn't go through so we called when we recieved the late toll invoice and they said if you add the car again the toll will be added to the account and fines will be dropped. We add the car and I hear nothing for over a month while I continue using citylink with no additional fines and then BAM! Civic Compliance infringment notice. GAH!

[Tsunamix]

I challenged a radar fine in Qld.

Basic scenario - me driving a 2.5L 1989 mitsu magna fwd sedan. I was stuck in the left hand lane, a 4wd in front of me slowed to about 20 klicks to trickle around a corner. I went to changed lanes - had to pause as a renault megane same color as my car came flying through, then changed and accelerated. Got done for 72 in a 60.

The LIDAR includes a distance to detected vehicle record.

I turned up at court, the officer stated that he tagged me as I was changing lanes.

Using maps, satellite images and photos of the scene, I pointed out that i change lanes at a distance of approx 330m (give or take 5m) from the LIDAR. The vehicle that he detected was at a distance of 220M from the LIDAR.

Pretty open and shut really.

Also pointed out that he listed in his report that my vehicle colour was Red. It had been repaitned 6 months before had in Metallic silver. I questioned the opfficer about how he identified the vehile he was targetting. he said I targetted the number plate area. noted the plate and color and pulled you over. When asked what color was the vehicle, he said Red. I pointed out that my vehicle was silver.

Supposedly, Identification of the vehicle is the PRIMARY concern in tehse circumstances. I had my defence prepared by a police prosecutor mate. Should have been open and shut. By law, the magistrate cannot rule agaisnt me if there is even the slighest doubt about the situation.

Except Magistrates are wankers. He ruled against me. Would not allow documentation from substantiating sources in court, ruled that google satellite images and scales are not accurate, and insisted I do my testimony from memory. Of course, the officer was allowed his notes and reports. I was not allowed to present the documents I presented to the traffic superintendent when arranging the challenge as "they are not part of this proceeding". I argued with him about that saying that this is indeed the proceedings, as they relate to the alleged offence. He stated that if they were not presented to the clerk of the courts, they were presented to the Dept of Transport, and therefore relate to the fine, not the offence. I slipped up and said you have got to be joking, the Offence is the reason for the existence of the fine, not the other way round, and got shitty and suggested that if I don't take this matter seriously he would take steps to remind me of the seriousness of the offence.

Classic quote "I'm satisfied with the officers statements, and have no doubt that he identified the correct vehicle".

the law is an ass. No let me rephrase that - The law is an ass for letting unqualified, untrained, ex lawyer wannabes sit in the Magistrates seat. Theres a reason they are called magistrates and not Judges.

[SV62NV]

theres a speedo detector above this hill and it ofcourse measures your speed and if you are going to fast it flashes 'TOO FAST SLOW DOWN'.... i was the only one there and did like 50km in a 100km zone and it goes 'TOO FAST SLOW DOWN'...

You want me to walk past it or something?

[Reaper]

What sort of offence was it? Did they summon you to court or did you take it to court?

I got pulled over for the P1 passenger law, I'm writing my 3rd letter at the moment.

How many people did you have in the car??? I would have thought that was easy to prove/disprove one way or the other. Short of somebody holding a gun to your head, excuses don't get you off most of the time. The magistrate will want to see evidence demonstrating your innocence.

Reaper

[rippen50]

took a train fine to court... got off all of it no court fee's or anything

[vlv8vic]

What sort of offence was it? Did they summon you to court or did you take it to court?

I got pulled over for the P1 passenger law, I'm writing my 3rd letter at the moment.

So were you or weren't you breaking the law? isn't it fairly easy to tell if there were more than the allowed number of passengers in the car? It's not like you are fighting the difference between 100kmh and 104kmh.
They aren't going to read letters all day. If you didn't change their mind in one letter then they won't take the time to read more of them trying to convince them of the same thing. Do it once and do it properly. Post up the letter and I'm sure we'll work out why they didn't like it.
If now you still think you weren't doing the wrong thing seek legal advice.

hav a look on the back or the bottom of the infringment itll tell you how to contest it.... however the mobile phone thing... if it goes to court trust me they will check you phoen records to make usre u werent texting or making calls at the time of the offence... and not just evidence on ur phone but actual phone company records

They wouldn't bother with the phone anyway. Either way it doesn't matter one iota. You can't hold one so records equate to diddly squat.


I've contested a speeding fine on behalf of my partner and she got off. It just wasn't possible given the circumstances that she were doing the claimed speed. A well written letter was all it took. Likewise a bogus insurance claim and fair but wrong parking fine.

[Tsunamix]

You should probably bear in mind is that every offence is an alleged offence until either you pay for it and thereby admitting guilt, or have a magistrate rule against you, finding you guilty.

In any court proceedings as it's an alleged offence, the burden of proof is on the Accuser not the defendant (you).

MANY MANY Magistrates lose site of this very important point of law. Make sure you remind the people you are talking to that they have to PROVE you guilty, you just have to make a magistrate doubt the details.

[VN_chris]

theres a speedo detector above this hill and it ofcourse measures your speed and if you are going to fast it flashes 'TOO FAST SLOW DOWN'.... i was the only one there and did like 50km in a 100km zone and it goes 'TOO FAST SLOW DOWN'...

You want me to walk past it or something?

they had one of those set up near mount ousley public school in Wollongong, my mates and I were testing it out at night to see how high it could go. There good fun.