Faulty Speedometers & the law

[SV6_stormrider]

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.

 

[88GreenVN]

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)

 

[monaro327]

i believe this is a road worthyness issue hence your responsible.

 

[ashbox]

that would just be a software issue wouldn't it?

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

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....

 

[SV6_stormrider]

that would just be a software issue wouldn't it?

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 Said it was out of date but they couldn't replicate the problem prior to that.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.

 

[davway]

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.

 

[policehoon]

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.

 

[thebulk]

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

 

[tigervh]

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.

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"

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!!!