Fines

Was anyone else in the car and do they smoke? If anyone else was in the car would they be willing to write a witness statement saying it wasn't you? Is it possible to get a cert./note from your regular doctor stating that you do not smoke? Did you get any details of the person who issued the fine and did they say anything stupid or contradictory?

I ask this because if this does get to a court room, I would love to see you stick right up their arses (well at least the judge who's on your side will).

I thought the driver was responsible for the fine. So next time I get caught speeding in a work car I shouild not pay the fine because the boss is the registered owner not me. Strange. What if I was booked as a pedestrian for jay walking. Who is the "registered owner" in that case.

Sorry Honky but something does not read true.

Phil

Parking fines are issued to vehicles, traffic fines are issued to drivers. There is always exceptions but that is the general rule. There r offences where the company can also be fined in the example of some heavy vehicle offences. The rta also is an exception with their speed cameras which are issued in the first instance to the registered owner.

When you think of it that kind of makes sense. But I do think the driver is the one who should be able to defend the charge. But the law does not always follow commen sense.

No worries.

We got pinged one minute after we had parked in a 2 hour zone years ago (1970). I challenged it and got off. You see my wife was breast feeding and with breast feeding the time is very important. But the clincher was that the magistrate was a mother and asked my wife a few questions about timing of the feeding. Five minutes after the case started she gave the parking officer one of the biggest "Judge Judy" howlings and told him to write a letter of apology with a copy to her. She also gave us the chance to add any comments. It was like Christmas. Its obvious the bloke didn't like young people doing up their cars and thought he would ping us. I followed him outside and when I called him he took off like a startled rabbit. We also got the letter of apology and awarded costs for a day off work, meals and petrol. YEY!!!!!! A perfect day.
Phil

Onus is still on issuer to provide a prima facie case. Should the complainant (witness) not provide a statement then the matter will not even proceed to court. Should a witness (singular) provide a statement and you win as the matter is one on one, you will have your costs paid by the prosecution.
Good luck

Deopends on the biasses of the Magistrate.

A woman was booked for doing 174km/hr on the F3 while FIVE TIMES over the alcohol limit for her P licence.

Did she go to gaol for recklessly endangering lives ? No, she copped a $75 fine because she's managed to get herself pregnant before the court case !!!!

Neg driving .... a friend droped his bike on a round about - it had just started raining and a TRUCK has spilt diesel on the road ....

He got booked for neg driving as he dropped his bike

please explain to me how this is fair ? was he meant to get off his bike at the round about - walk the round about - test the road for traction then proceed ?

Bb

...and in what day and age did the courts follow what is fair and just or moral.
The law and justice have always been separate.

Non payment of a fine will simply result in a suspended licence and/or cancelled rego on your car. Once this action has been taken you no longer have the right to have the matter heard at court.

C'mon Tim,

That can only happen as a result of a court hearing where you are able to plead your case.

I'm talking about NSW and I know QLD and VIC are the same.
A suspended licence is very differant from a disqualified licence. The RTA can suspend your licence at any time for a number of reasons including non payment of fines, medically unfit, following the commision of certain offences.
The police can suspend you r licence following the commision of particular offences (about 4) or following a mid range or high range drink driving charge.

The court can then disqualify you from driving (if you have commited an offence and have to face the magistrate).

Some states may vary a little bit however I can't imagine they would differ too greatly.

It comes from section 66 of the Fines Act (see below)

66Suspension or cancellation of driver licence

(1) The Roads and Traffic Authority must, without further notice, suspend any driver licence of a fine defaulter against whom it is required to take enforcement action for the balance of the period of the licence.

(1A) The Roads and Traffic Authority must suspend the driver licence of a fine defaulter even if the State Debt Recovery Office has:

(a) granted an extension of time for the payment of the fine, or

(b) allowed the fine defaulter to pay the fine by instalments,

after requiring the Roads and Traffic Authority to take enforcement action.

(2) If the driver licence is suspended and:

(a) where the State Debt Recovery Office has granted the fine defaulter an extension of time for payment of the fine, the fine remains unpaid for at least 6 months after the extended due date, or

(b) where the State Debt Recovery Office has allowed the payment of a fine by instalments, an instalment remains unpaid for at least 6 months, or

(c) in any other case, the fine concerned remains unpaid for at least 6 months,

the Roads and Traffic Authority must, if the State Debt Recovery Office so directs, cancel the licence.

(3) The Roads and Traffic Authority is to remove the suspension of a driver licence if the State Debt Recovery Office so directs.

(3A) The obligation to suspend the driver licence of a fine defaulter under subsection (1) extends to any licence that is already suspended when enforcement action is required to be taken under this Division. Accordingly, if the period of suspension comes to an end before the expiry of the licence, the Roads and Traffic Authority is then to take action under subsection (1) to further suspend the licence if the State Debt Recovery Office so directs.

(4) The State Debt Recovery Office (or the Roads and Traffic Authority on its behalf) may notify the fine defaulter of the enforcement action taken under this section, but a failure to notify the fine defaulter does not affect that action.

(5) Despite the suspension or cancellation of a driver licence under this section, a court or the Roads and Traffic Authority may exercise a function under another Act to suspend or cancel the licence.

Tim

Oh Tim,

You are on a different planet mate.

The examples you are giving come from Road Transport and Police Agencies, which is a completely different issue from that originally posted by Ray.

What this post is about is an "infringement notice" for want of a better word, apparently incorrectly issued by the Dept. of Conservation by someone that possibly has no real jurisdiction to issue a fine without conclusive evidence that such an offence took place.

That's the way I read it anyway.


Bill.

Tim,

It seems like you've been hitting the books too hard.

This fine has nothing to do with ones licence or the registration of ones car.

The departemnt of conservation has no jurisdiction of these matters.

We may have to agree to disagree here. I do work in the industry of handing out fines and quite a lot of people were very surprised not that long ago following an election. People who failed to vote got a $75 bunger in the mail and fail to pay that caused their licences to be suspended.
The organisation is state debt recovery and it covers any state issued fines. The SDRO inform the RTA who then follow section 66 as above.
The Dept of conservation are the same as national parks, fisheries, maritime councils etc etc. They all have power to issue fines under the fines act.

Again, I am talking about NSW here. The following schedule is a list of the acts which are covered under section 66. As you will see, there is all sorts of acts with nothing to do with motor vehicles or driving however the first step on non payment is exactly the same.

Schedule 1 Statutory provisions under which penalty notices issued

(Section 20)
Animal Diseases (Emergency Outbreaks) Act 1991, section 71A
Apiaries Act 1985, section 42A
Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007, section 64
Associations Incorporation Act 2009, section 93
Barangaroo Delivery Authority Act 2009, section 45
Biofuels Act 2007, section 29
Building Professionals Act 2005, section 92
Business Names Act 2002, section 32
Casino Control Act 1992, section 168A
Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority Act 2007, section 46
Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust Act 1983, section 24
Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act 1995, section 61A
Commercial Agents and Private Inquiry Agents Act 2004, section 28
Companion Animals Act 1998, section 92
Contaminated Land Management Act 1997, section 92A
Conveyancers Licensing Act 2003, section 158
Court Security Act 2005, section 29
Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, section 97
Criminal Procedure Act 1986, section 333
Crown Lands Act 1989, section 162
Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2008, section 48
Deer Act 2006, section 33
Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2004, section 47
Electricity Supply Act 1995, section 103A
Energy and Utilities Administration Act 1987, section 46A
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, section 127A
Exhibited Animals Protection Act 1986, section 46A
Explosives Act 2003, section 34
Fair Trading Act 1987, section 64
Firearms Act 1996, section 85A
Fisheries Management Act 1994, section 276
Fitness Services (Pre-paid Fees) Act 2000, section 16
Food Act 2003, section 120
Forestry Act 1916, section 46A
Futures Industry (New South Wales) Code, section 149
Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002, section 57
Gaming Machines Act 2001, section 203
Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Act 2003, section 35
Graffiti Control Act 2008, section 16
Hemp Industry Act 2008, section 45
Home Building Act 1989, section 138A
Hunter Water Act 1991, section 31A
Impounding Act 1993, section 36
Inclosed Lands Protection Act 1901, section 10
Industrial Relations Act 1996, section 396 (including as applied to and for the purposes of Part 2 of the Industrial Relations (Child Employment) Act 2006 by section 16 of that Act)
Jury Act 1977, section 64
Jury Act 1977, section 66
Landlord and Tenant (Rental Bonds) Act 1977, section 15A
Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002, section 235
Liquor Act 2007, section 150
Local Government Act 1993, section 314 or 679
Lord Howe Island Act 1953, section 37B
Marine Parks Act 1997, section 38
Marine Safety Act 1998, section 126
Maritime Services Act 1935, section 30D
Meat Industry Act 1978, section 76A
Mining Act 1992, section 375A
Motor Dealers Act 1974, section 53E
Motor Vehicle Repairs Act 1980, section 87A
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, section 160
Native Vegetation Act 2003, section 43
Non-Indigenous Animals Act 1987, section 27A
Noxious Weeds Act 1993, section 63
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, section 108
Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912, section 120C
Parramatta Park Trust Act 2001, section 30
Passenger Transport Act 1990, section 59
Pawnbrokers and Second-hand Dealers Act 1996, section 26
Pesticides Act 1999, section 76
Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991, section 137A
Photo Card Act 2005, section 34
Plant Diseases Act 1924, section 19
Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999, section 62
Ports and Maritime Administration Act 1995, section 100
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979, section 33E
Property, Stock and Business Agents Act 2002, section 216
Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, section 224
Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008, section 50
Radiation Control Act 1990, section 25A
Rail Safety Act 2008, section 139
Redfern–Waterloo Authority Act 2004, section 47
Registered Clubs Act 1976, section 66
Registration of Interests in Goods Act 1986, section 19A
Residential Parks Act 1998, section 149
Retail Leases Act 1994, section 16P
Retirement Villages Act 1999, section 184
Road Transport (General) Act 2005, Part 5.3
Roads Act 1993, section 243
Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Act 1980, section 22B
Rural Fires Act 1997, section 131
Rural Lands Protection Act 1998, section 206
Security Industry Act 1997, section 45A
Smoke-free Environment Act 2000, section 20A
Sporting Venues Authorities Act 2008, section 38
Sporting Venues (Invasions) Act 2003, section 12
State Sports Centre Trust Act 1984, section 20B
Stock (Chemical Residues) Act 1975, section 15A
Stock Diseases Act 1923, section 20O
Stock Foods Act 1940, section 32A
Stock Medicines Act 1989, section 60A
Summary Offences Act 1988, section 29, 29A or 29B
Swimming Pools Act 1992, section 35
Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Act 1978, section 30A
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Act 1998, section 43A
Sydney Olympic Park Authority Act 2001, section 79
Sydney Water Act 1994, section 50
Sydney Water Catchment Management Act 1998, section 65
Tow Truck Industry Act 1998, section 89
Transport Administration Act 1988, section 117
Unlawful Gambling Act 1998, section 52
Valuers Act 2003, section 42
Veterinary Practice Act 2003, section 101
Vocational Education and Training Act 2005, section 45
Water Industry Competition Act 2006, section 82
Water Management Act 2000, section 365
Weapons Prohibition Act 1998, section 42
Western Sydney Parklands Act 2006, section 48
Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998, section 246
World Youth Day Act 2006, section 55

If you still disagree then please indicate the source of the legislation you are talking about.

Well, I am glad I don't live in NSW then. Perhaps all you NSW people should have a good chat to the people that represent you.

When I travelled by train regularly I would frequently see people get huge fines for minor offences - the officers would say "sorry, I have no discretion".

A year later I saw two officers tell some youngsters to get off the train and buy tickets - I asked them why they didn't fine them for fare evasion - "there's an election coming up in 4 weeks - they've told us to be lenient"

Tim is 100% correct, QLD is the same, they call the dept S.P.E.R. (State Penalties Enforcement Registry ).
Any unpaid fines of ANY sort are passed on to sper, who then have the power to suspend your licence until said fine is paid.
This is off their website,

"From 1 January 2010, amended legislation allows SPER to suspend your driver licence for all types of offences, not just motor vehicle related offences."

The result of corrupt, greedy governments.

Cheers
Pezza

My wife is Russian and said cops do it to get extra cash and are a slimy bunch, of course if you do not pay you end up in jail for weeks, on the positive side they are catching crooked cops and put them in a separate cop jail as inmates in normal jails kill them for obvious reasons. Society must speak up so justice prevails.
Before going to court you have the right to access their records, any wrong doing will be recorded on their personal files. Never say die.

Carl...obviously forgot his lunch money at home.

I was in a car with a mate of mine driving. He got pulled over for speeding and the cop informed him the fine was $170. My mate had the gaul to ask the cop if there was a discount for cash.

Apparently, there is no haggle option for cash.

Fab.

Not too hard, depends whether the witness wishes to make a statement.

If he goes to court the other party has to prove his guilt first. It may be that after the judge sees the evidence he or she will through it out and there'll be no case to answer.

Interesting are you able to identify which law you are refering to? ...or did you hear it on a current afair?

NSW legislation

Got to love a fine thread to bring the 'stories' out of the closet......

From a lawyer specialising in Criminal Law - but the government depends on the ignorance of the masses to erode our democracy - thankyou for confirming it..

Always happy to oblige someones gibberish