Faulty Speedometers & the law
Hi
Does anyone know where you stand with the law (NSW) if you're pinged for speeding and your speedometer is faulty
I recently drove to melbourne & back and noticed that the tacho reading was a bit higher than usual for 110kph. I switched to the digital readout & found the analog was reading up to 20kph lower than the digital readout (see attached pics). I ended up using my GPS speed reading to make sure what I was seeing was right.
The car is now down at the local Holden dealer getting checked out
Hopefully I don't see any infringement notices coming through in the next couple of weeks.
Almost not here!
If you went through a radar and were over the limit => fine
It's up to as far as the law is concerned regarding accuracy. Lucky you may have found the issue before you got a fine (20k's out is a problem)
White 05 V6 VZ Executive - Thrashed Ex Telstra car
and 3 Dangerous non ABS VN's
i believe this is a road worthyness issue hence your responsible.
6 speed
that would just be a software issue wouldn't it?
Chev badges are an instant fail
Exhaust Guru
It is the owner's responsibility to make sure their car was roadworthy.
Same as an exhaust. If it isn't quiet enough you will get pulled over, you can't use the excuse that it is faulty....
Well that's all they said they did when I got the car back today. Said it was out of date but they couldn't replicate the problem prior to that. If it happens again they said they'll just replace the whole instrument cluster.Originally Posted by ashbox
as above - its your responsibilty to make sure your car is rwc and your speedo is accurate.
you could try and write a letter and explain what happened if you get a fine, but dont expect them to care.
You can use the law "Mistake of fact" At the time of the offence you were using a device (speedo) to tell you how fast you were going.
You were using all the resources available to you at the time to gauge your speed. Your senses, your speedo and other vehicles travelling around you.
Now if your constantly overtaking other vehicles (and at 20 kilometres you would have) then you would have to question your speed.
Depending on your driving experiance, you can normally tell your speeding just by the feel of the vehicle moving.
You have noticed something wrong because of the tacho being higher, so you register that something is wrong.
You have put the vehicle into the repair shop to rectifiy the identified fault.
Now if you can justify your response to an infringement, given all the available resources at your disposal, then you will get off the infringement with "Mistake of fact"
But only if your justification is really good.
20 kilometres over, its going to be a real stretch.
I wouldn't show the judge the "115km/h" photo......... Don't think there are any roads in the eastern states that are over 110km/h
SS.....smokin....!
What a load of crap! In NSW all traffic offences are strict liability meaning there is no mensrea component to them. Hence if you exceed the speed limit you are guilty of an offence, whether you knew you were doing it or not. You might get some leniency from the magistrate but you won't get off.
Even if he does go to court, whats he going to do? Subpeona the person who checked the speedo to give evidence that there was nothing wrong with it when he checked it!!!
Last edited by tigervh; 11-04-2009 at 10:10 PM.
My Garage:
VZ SS 6ltr 6 speed silver
VN 5ltr 5 speed Gold (Ex NSWPF Highway Patrol)
VH EFI 5ltr Supra 5 speed tiger mica
XC Barina SRI 1.8ltr 5 speed silver
Exhaust Guru
Exactly, ignorance is not an excuse. Not knowing about something doesn't make you exempt from the consequences.
so far no speeding fine in the mail...been about a month now. readings still vary by about 5km either way but not as bad as before. anyway, looking to get rid of the car soon & replace it with a 2nd hand Monaro CV8-Z
Correct, there is no need to prove that the person knew that they were speeding. The offence of speed can be committed and you are guilty even if you thought that you were not.
Strange thing is that a non working speedo is not defectable!
I didnt say that we had to prove if the offending driver knew he was speeding, just that the offending driver has to prove to the magistrates court that he was not.
As my last post said 20 kilometres over the speed limit, I seriously doubt he could prove he was not.
Exhaust Guru
It is in WA.
As the previous posters have said you are responsible for the road worthiness of your vehicle and that includes the speedometer being out of calibration.
Ignorance as an excuse will not hold up in court.
Donating Member
And SA. It is an ADR requirement that the speedo be within 10% accuracy so it is in fact defectable nation wide.
I come in peace.
Quite a few years ago now, the then Victorian Police Commisioner
said publicly the police would give you a margin of 10% plus 3 kph
over the posted speed limit.
Fast forward to the 21st century and the 'Safety Camera' and the 'Speed Kills'
mentality (we should all be dead!).
You now have to keep one eye on the speedo and one eye on the road which
is not possible.
What the margin is now? One can only guess it's much lower!
I'll stop my rant now!
Last edited by Exidor; 09-07-2009 at 04:35 PM.
I'm not afraid.
Roll Cage Territory
It is an ADR requirement that speedos be within 10% accuracy...that is correct. But this is only from the factory. After it has left the factory and been sold off the dealer showroom floor, the responsibilty is then with the owner of the vehicle.
Just like maintaining a car with roadworthy tyres, lights that work correctly etc, its up to the owner to make sure that his or her speedo is accurate. In previous years it was harder and more costly to check speedometers. It could have been done with a vehicle dyno, or at a police checkpoint every so often when they would put up a speed checking sign with a radar.
But now, there is no excuse with the price of GPS units that give you an accurate speed reading, plus alot of phones even come with a GPS which is another method of checking.
As with anything on a car, it is all up to the owner to maintain and check and make sure everything is working as it should and in roadworthy condition. Nothing is failsafe and we can't expect things to work perfectly throughout their lifespan.
Ignorance as a defence will not hold up in court but "Mistake of fact" will.
Has it been used in court to get out of a speeding fine???????.
I have not read any case law to say it has been used to acquit the offending driver.
Roll Cage Territory
A speedometer is a mechanical device and is basically a "gauge" of what speed you are indicated to be doing. It is not a precise instrument that can be classed as displaying something regarded as "fact".
The ADR regulations relating to speedometer tolerances basically back this up. Because something that has such a high tolerance allowable as 10% variance, should not be conceived as being 100% factual.
Last edited by HoldenOnn; 16-07-2009 at 02:41 AM.
Donating Member
In SA the margin was cut from 10% back to 5% last year.
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