Car impounded - legal advice?

[JMP]

Don't know which comment was dumber out of that last post, bursting a tire ripping skids on the street or driving a long way at high speed after bursting the tire.

 

[Ado]

Its not too hard to break the bead on a rim if you hit a gutter,some wheels are poorly made(even factory Holden ones).Break the bead and you lose the air in your tyre.
What was the type of gutter?Was the gutter damaged?
There are so many questions that could be asked and id say the OP needs some proper legal advice and JC aint the place to find it.

 

[sdr11]

Its not too hard to break the bead on a rim if you hit a gutter,some wheels are poorly made(even factory Holden ones).Break the bead and you lose the air in your tyre.
What was the type of gutter?Was the gutter damaged?
There are so many questions that could be asked and id say the OP needs some proper legal advice and JC aint the place to find it.

That's exactly what the second copper said (who was a good bloke, but had no authority). He said that my rim could be classed as faulty (although being factory holden) and that I should, quote "sue the company" because it was so badly damaged. I'll upload a photo. The place I hit it was like just about where the curb starts (just after a driveway) ie. \_________/ <------ there
theres a long black mark, but no actual physical damage, just cosmetic damage to the curb, which is surprising to me.

Waiting till tomorrow so I can contact a lawyer, meanwhile read this:
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1961 - SECT 46

46—Reckless and dangerous driving

(1) A person must not drive a vehicle recklessly or at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 2 years.

 

[anonymousmoose]

I'd speak to a lawyer about suing the witnesses for giving false testimony.


/posted via mobile device\

 

[AirStrike]

Trust me from experience it's not worth a lawyer, you'll still get done and have thousands of dollars of legal fees to pay as well.

 

[CSP]

I agree completely with Reaper...

Misjudging a u-turn? LOL!!! Yeah... right...

 

[DERTY]

dont lie, u were out trying to score

 

[VN_Luke]

i'd like to see pics of street where u turn occured to determine bollocks or not - I'm guessing the coppers saw the street, saw the car, and presumed you must have been doing something silly in order to bust a rim on a gutter? - add to that the complaints of the residents (which are always exaggerated) - and presto! - plus - in theory, if you can't convince your peers, there's no chance you'll be able to convince a judge

 

[Cúl-Báire]

Provide as much factual evidence as possible:

Have every witness make a written statement to the police including yourself, request copies of these statements.
Take photographs / video of the road, and area in question.
Take photographs of broken rim.
Present your driving record to the court (it sets a precidence that you are a good / well behaved driver)
Hire a car.

With the above argue that the police did not seem interested in hearing the truth about what happened, and that they were only interested in persuing Joe Citizen's obvious vendeta. State that you left once the neighbours asked and that you are not foolish enough to be doing burnouts on a residential street... Argue that the laws are unreasonable, unjust and make a mockery of of the Australian legal system, and that it seems "inocent until proven guilty" no longer applies in the "nanny state" of South Australia. I would also argue that you were grealy put out by this, both financialy and mentally and you'll be pursuing SAPOL and the witness that made the misleading statement for any damages.

Wont get you anywhere, but you'll tie the court system up for weeks, and the thing most judges hate is a demonstated lack of faith in the legal system that they have sworn to uphold... If you are telling the truth it will get thrown out in no time... I'd also go to the papers and make it as high profile as possible.

 

[mwb235]

Last night, was parked on the street with a couple of other cars waiting to pick up a friend, stayed there for a bit outside our cars, music on - not too loud, and the neighbours came out. When the neighbour came out and told us to leave we got in and left straight away, did a u-turn at reasonable speed, misjudged the turn and hit the curb which bent the rim and gave me a flat tyre. I did not skid / wheelspin. So I stopped where it happened (because I didn't think I had done anything wrong), changed the tyre and the cops came - presumably the neighbours called them.

They said the neighbour had witnessed me doing burnouts (which is absolute crap) and that my rear tyres were bald so my car was impounded and defected. On the defect notice which is fair enough it says "Bald rear tyres (all tyres to show)" which is fine, I'll just get them changed.
However, on the impounding notice the following offence is ticked:
"Reckless and dangerous driving (S46 RTA)"
I looked this up and it appears here:
Motor Vehicles Regulations 1996 under the Motor Vehicles Act 1959
Part 2—Demerit points peculiar to South Australia
Division 1—Offences against the Road Traffic Act 1961
46(1)
Driving recklessly or at speed or in manner dangerous to public - 6

Cops asked me all their questions etc writing what I said, a burnout, a wheel spin, recklessly driven, lost control. denied all, told them I attempted to do a u-turn and had misjudged the turn, colliding with the curb.

The car's impounded for 28 days and I'm waiting for my summons.

These points are what's going through in my head right now:

• The neighbours, who were the police's witnesses, exaggerated everything (u-turn into a burnout) and will probably not appear as witnesses in court.
• The cops were not there are the time of the incident - arrived about 15 minutes later.
• There were no tyre skids/marks on the road.
• Just recently got P2s, no prior speeding tickets or any other offences.
• More than 9 people who were with me at the time who witnessed what actually happened; another neighbour actually came out and told the cops that I actually did do a u-turn but they just ignored him
• They have a photo of the rim which is badly bent... which they will say is a result of driving recklessly etc...

What will happen? Will I lose my license?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Going on your post you hit the gutter rather hard, which IS reckless/dangerous driving regardless of whether or not the witnesses (or others) have it in for you. The Police got the neighbours' complaints, saw your damaged rim, and "on the balance of probabilities" made a decision to penalise you for it. The police may have determined because you've lost control and hit the gutter, that constitutes losing traction (which "at law" means a burnout, even without skid marks). So if i was a lawyer (i am not, but i worked in the NSW courts for six years) - first up i'd advise you to plead guilty rather then not guilty. If you have nothing on your driving record, you could ask the court for the SA equivalent of what we call here in NSW a "Section 10 dismissal". That means the court finds the offence proven BUT records no conviction and imposes no penalty. You may or may not have to pay court costs (about $60-$70 or so in NSW) depending on the Magistrate's discretion. BUT if you pleaded not guilty and the court found you guilty after a hearing, then the penalty will probably be more severe (e.g. possibly a fine imposed, conviction recorded, etc). The court may also order licence disqualification or suspension if the SA legislation allows for it. So if you plead not guilty make sure you have got proper legal advice first.

The second issue to consider is the car being impounded. If the relevant SA legislation states the Police DO have the power to impound you car, then sorry but there's nothing you can do about it. BUT if the law says they can't but they did anyway, then you can argue that in court as wrong. I must say though, i'd be very surprised if the Police would impound someone's car if they weren't allowed to (i know - such things do happen, but it's unlikely).

Unless you can prove it, there's not much you can do about your neighbours' exaggeration if the Police won't listen to your protestations. These neighbours obviously don't like you (or perhaps your style of driving) but legally you can't stop people feeling that way. I'd stay away from them and try not to give them an excuse to complain (i.e. keep the music down, don't drive like a hoon, etc).

You NEED to get some legal advice away from this forum (i.e. speak to someone by phone or in person). In NSW you could go to a court house and get free advice from a Chamber Registrar, i assume the SA courts have a similar service. Alternatively you could call the SA Legal Services Commission ph. 1300 366 424 - they will advise you what to do next.

Good luck.