Qld Police leniency

[AstralTraveller]

Just grasping a straws. I was booked in Qld for a minor traffic offense (72 in a 60 zone). If this happened in NSW I would write to the appropriate authority (not sure if it is the police or RTA) and point out that it was a minor infringement and that I have had a clean record for 35 years and ask for the fine to be waived. Most likely the fine would be waived and I would be told not to re-offend for the next year or two. (I'm a bit vague on the details but I know several people who have done this.)

My question is: is there a similar provision on Qld? I've checked various web site but found nothing. Then again, NSW doesn't advertise this provision either.

[TrevorW]

Sorry you were speeding, but you were, therefore you should cop the fine and pay it gracefully

No such leniency in WA, 72 is a 60 zone would cop a $150 fine and a lecture

[Colin_Fraser]

They have the same thing in Victoria. You have to write to the police commissioner and state your case. 35 years and a clean record is excellent.
Just don't know if they agree that 20% over the limit is 'minor' considering all the campaigns aimed at reducing fatalities where speeding is a major contributor.

[FlashDrive]

Go to Jail ...Go directly to Jail ....Do Not pass go ...Do Not collect $200.00 :lol:

Sorry Mate ....couldn't help myself :D .. not sure what QLD has for getting out of such matters.... but certainly have heard about asking for ' fines ' to be 'dropped '

All the Best with this one .....Flash ..!! :D

[Miaplacidus]

35 years of exceeding the speed limit by 12 km/h and not getting caught. Man, legend! I am super impressed.

:bowdown:

Still, might as well cop it sweet, I reckon. Or else, you could try telling them you've been to 3 (three!) total solar eclipses. I'd definitely look favourably on that...

[Baddad]

Hi David,:)
I know where you are coming from. A little extra attention to the road and a little less at the wrong time for the speedo. I challenge anyone to deny that they are guilty of same.

I was done for 71 about 12 years ago. They allow 10 over the limit on cameras and often 15 on mobile patrols.

So, David, its not as if you were hooning. The whole police program is meant to make it safer on the roads and keep the dangerous antics to a minimum. Its not to be a bullying instrument for control hungry freaks and intimidate the safe law abiding drivers.

I suppose its worth a try to write to the authorities to have it quashed.
Wish you the best with that.

Cheers:)

[kustard]

On my way home from work I often pass a speed trap (read Ford Explorer with LOTS of gizmos inside it) and whilst I appreciate the requirement for speed enforcement I find that devices that just take a snapshot of you do not take into account any preceding events that may be explained to a police officer if you get pulled over.

Sure, cameras and the like make 24 hour monitoring and enforcement easy but I challenge anyone to maintain a constant speed at all times, even with cruise control (which is virtually useless for city driving).

Ranting a bit sorry and went a bit off topic. I think that if you have had no offenses for 35 years then they will take that into account, my landlady did just that a few years ago.

Cheers,
Simon

[blink138]

do the crime pay the fine!
well guys i am no "granny" behind the wheel but if someone went past my house at 72 in a 60 zone in a built up area?
it is more than a "fair cop" i reckon, and 72 i dont think is accidental
pat

[Barrykgerdes]

On the local main roads of the north west of Sydney I generally travel at between 3 and 10 Kph over the limit. However I am overtaken by every one else (mostly young ? girls with P plates) and regularly get tail gated by other impatient drivers if there is no passing area.

The days of me travelling at 180-200 kph in a big v8 are long past.

Barry

[troypiggo]

In QLD the white signs that have a black number in the red circle mean that's the maximum speed limit. As in, go over that and you're speeding, and if you get caught going over that the Police are correct in fining you for breaking the limit. Perhaps in other states the numbers just represent a vague ballpark of what speed you might consider going at.

As above, don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine or do the time.

I'm no angel and have been caught speeding, but have never blamed the Police for catching me or tried to deny breaking the limit. Cop it on the chin, pay the fine, and move on.

Unless you have a valid reason not mentioned here?

[doppler]

Me too first ticket in 20 years. 1st change to second slow down at next lights ,sorry 70 km 60 zone $130 fine . The speed limit is 80 after the next ights. Revunue rasing at its best.

[Astro_Bot]

I'm no hoon, but it does frustrate me enormously that dangerous behaviour goes on every day unchecked (unsafe/unsignalled lane changes or turns, tailgating, using mobiles, terrible lane keeping, etc.) but you do 10km/h over the posted limit with no-one anywhere near you and that's what generates a ticket.

It's not that we don't need speed enforcement, but the priority given to it, while other behaviour remains virtually unenforced, erodes confidence in the enforcement system and the agencies involved.

[Hans Tucker]

You forgot to mention whilst texting, driving in the right hand lane....well that is my experience here in Melbourne :D

[OICURMT]

I just got one in WA. 69 in a 60 zone, $75, no demits... no lecture, as the machine can only take pictures :lol:

[casstony]

You only have to be about 4 Km over the limit to contribute a gazillion dollars to tax revenue in Victoria.

[Colin_Fraser]

I've been driving my car or riding my bike for 43 years. Never been booked because I don't speed. Sometimes through lack of concentration I might go a little it over but slow down when I realise this.
I guess if I was caught doing 3 or 4 over the limit I would fight it.
Reason being if the government wants to strictly enforce a speed limit then they must also give the motorist a means of determining the correct speed they are doing.
Speedo's on cars are more than likely up to 10% out of calibration. Police vehicles have their speedometer calibrated to be within 2 kph. The government ought to force car makers to calibrate all speedometers to be within 2% as well.

[Danack]

I'm waiting for my ticket to find it's way to me.

Was carefully keeping my speed under 60 in a 'built up' area whilst passing a traffic cop pointing a radar at me....and was wondering why the car behind me was falling behind.

Hmm, so turns out the speed limit is 50 in built up zones, even if the road is about 4 times as wide as an A road in the UK. Pretty sure it was right here I got done for.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=yurraburra&hl=en&ll=-17.354878,145.59582&spn=0.012329,0.01929&sll=-17.019364,145.579147&sspn=0.395257,0.617294&t=m&layer=c&cbll=-17.354796,145.595825&panoid=sm1Ec9N0jsPFYe-LBbqqDg&cbp=12,180.17,,0,23.05&z=16

[OICURMT]

The regulations states that the speedometer can be up to 10% out of calibration on the high side (reads a high speed than you are traveling). Low side tolerance is 0%. This way, if you speed, you are definitely speeding, no if's and's or but's about it...

In the USA (some states anyway), you have a right to access the calibration report for the radar in question. If it is over one year old, you can have the ticket dismissed.

[jjjnettie]

Good luck with that.
I had a clean record for 30 years and had to pay my speeding fine.
A car pulling a caravan, on the straights, going slow when you can't overtake, then speeding up when you can. I had to hit 120 to overtake him. I sometimes wonder if they do it on purpose because it seems to happen quite frequently.

[Astro_Bot]

Sometimes, I suspect so, along with other reprehensible behaviour. In the case of caravans, though, I think it's more likely to be that the road is wider and smoother, so they speed up. Either way, it's at least inconsiderate.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Sorry, no sympathy here.

Going 12 k's over the limit may seem minor to you, but I am sure it wouldn't appear minor to anyone you hit at that speed. :mad2:

Just cop it sweet and put it down to experience.

[supernova1965]

I have a sure fire way to avoid fines "DON'T" SPEED:P

[brian nordstrom]

:D I hear you Barry , I just reciently traded my 300kw - 515nm XR6 Turbo in on a brand new Great wall 4x4 at 100kw and 200nm , it just aint worth it these days , a sad fact on some roads , but I dont like it when a speed camera is set up 50 metres from a 60 - 100kph zone and snap's nearly every one , thats plain money grabbing .:mad2: .
This happens a lot up here in the NT .
Brian.

[The_bluester]

Correct but not the whole story. That ADR (which is more complex than just a percentage) came into effect in 2006. In about another six years they will be able to say that the "average" car has an instrument in it that was built to that spec, but is now over a decade old. And of course, half the fleet was built to the older + - 10% spec and is even older.

As for "don't speed and you won't get caught", hasn't anyone kept tabs at all on how many times in vic they have had to bulk refund fines and almost certainly even reinstate licenses (the loss of which may well have cost jobs and bankrupted people) because of faulty or just plain inaccurate or unreliable cameras?

BTW, I have been driving since July 1989 without an infringement so the above is not supported by sour grapes. More by disgust in how road safety is managed at least in vic.

[2stroke]

It's all about revenue, when have you seen them patrolling schools or hostpitals :( Anyhow the laws the law and why shouldn't you pay when the rest of do? It's only minor lol and i don't see it affecting anything work or life, so whats the issue? It happens to us all and its always only a little bit, its just a matter that its being 35 yrs since your being caught and your soar about it. Lol don't worrry you should i've herd me getting a fine for a camera which was placed on a down hill run which is invalided but would cost more to fight.

[Baddad]

Hi Dan,

I agree that is bordering on ridiculous. That is a safer road than to justify only 50K limit.
I was booked in 1993 doing 60 in a 40 zone. I had travelled on that road a hundred times. The limit changed from 60 to 40 one day. The signage was new and partly obscured by a tree.

The area had several judges living there. I assume that they had pressured that the limit be reduced. Yet the road is bordered by parks and houses and could accomodate 4 lanes.

Cheers

[troypiggo]

Perhaps it was the fact that it was bordered by parks and houses (ie kids/families) that the limit was considered appropriate?

[ZeroID]

Speedos these days are within 3% of stated, normally showing you over the limit. (This is correct size wheel\tyre dependent of course ). I use a GPS on the Legnum to ensure actual speed although even on the 18"' racing wheels it was within 3%. ( The fact that the GPS has a Lidar detector is quite accidental btw :D ).
I've worn a few tickets, just have to pay them and move on. With twin turbos, 4wd, AYC and 300kw it's a fact of life. Haven't lost my license yet and I save the real speed for track time. I've always been polite to the officers who have tagged me and been given some leeway in several instances. Wife has even taken pix of us chatting on the side of the road. :thumbsup:
But having the extra boost and control that AYC gives has also gotten us out of several near misses from other hoons. So don't knock having the extra kw's, if I'd been in a Toymota Blobmobile a year or so back we'd both be dead after coming round a corner to another car head on on the wrong side of the road. We swerved and never even touched door to door.
Just use it wisely and take your medicine when you have to .... ;)

[Baddad]

Hi Troy,
Parks are empty and provides clear view.

Cheers:)

[Colin_Fraser]

I hear people say "money grabbing" and "revenue raising" a lot when they get fined for breaking the law.
So what alternatives do you suggest. Maybe loss of licence?

[Hans Tucker]

Likewise you cannot say it isn't "money grabbing" or "revenue raising" . The state governments rely on this income so much that they are now booking people for being 1 km/hr over the limit which is rediculous given the error that speedometers are permitted to have from manufacture. Maybe a three strikes rule before you loose your licence would be a better penalty. Every driver has sped at least once in their driving time, it is a human error thing the government banks on.

I lost respect for the whole safety argument when Victoria Police decided to stop booking people a while back to gain their 19% pay rise, which the Victorian government quickly awarded to start the revenue flowing again

[troypiggo]

There wouldn't be any money for them to grab if you weren't caught speeding. Don't you guys see the irony? They're not stealing your money, you're giving it to them. ;)

[Stardrifter_WA]

Just remember, it is only revenue raising if "you" let it be. :D

[strongmanmike]

Barry caught on a speed camera in Western Sydney....tut tut...

[marki]

If they stopped using speeding fines to build up the coffers they would simply have to raise your taxes to compensate. They even include speeding fines as part of gov't gross income when they set the budget so they would need to get it from somewhere else. At least with fines only the silly or unweary have to pay. If you don't speed, you won't get fined and if you do get caught take it on the chin and pay up.

Mark

[Stardrifter_WA]

Agreed, one way or another we will pay. Since I rarely get done for speeding I am happy for everyone else to continue paying traffic infringements, so that I don't get slugged more tax. :lol:

[rat156]

Or, they drop the tolerances and start booking people at 5 km/h over the limit, like they do here in Victoria. They then place hundreds of "safety cameras" on the freeways and major roads to build up the coffers.

Let's be clear, this is no longer about road safety, we all know it. So trying to dodge a fine is like putting in a tax deduction.

The only way to dodge the fine in Victoria is to write a letter to the Police explaining that you've been a good person for at least the last 12 months, you have to admit that you transgressed and plead for sympathy. For the most part, if the infringement was under 10 km/h over the limit and you have a clear record they'll issue a warning notice instead and cancel the fine. If you get done within another year forget it and pay the fine.

As for those of you who say "I don't speed" etc. I can only assume you don't have a car or simply don't drive. If speeding is doing 5 km/h over the limit, then everyone who drives does it, unless all they do is look at their speedo all the time, in which case they'd crash at the first corner they encountered.

I meet people everyday on the freeway who claim to never speed, or at least that's what their driving habits tell me, they are sitting at what their speedo says is 95 km/h (in a 100 zone for instance), when in reality they are doing somewhere between 85 and 90 usually. They sit in the right hand lane and will not move over because they are doing what they feel is the maximum speed allowed. This causes other people (read me and the line of cars that has built up behind them) to move into the next lane and undertake them. Now, this may mean that I have to accelerate to get into the gap either left of me, or when I get around the right lane hog, to the right of me I may ever-so-slightly creep over the speed limit, sometimes enough to get booked by a speed camera. Who caused the "crime"? This is just as frustrating in a 60, 70, 80 or 90 zone. I have a car that can do the speed limit, I am capable of controlling the car at the speed limit, I would like to do the speed limit, no more, preferably no less.

I have calibrated my speedo with a high accuracy GPS device and the (few and far between) speed indicators on some major roads around Melbourne.

Cheers
Stuart

[troypiggo]

I don't think it's about whether you speed or not. I certainly do. I lost my license when I was younger due to accumulation of points for speeding. One time wasn't for speeding, but for not wearing a seatbelt while driving around the corner to fill the car up with petrol, probably 200m away from home. Not harming anyone but myself. But never once did I complain about it. I was over the limit, I knew that, I took my medicine.

I still speed today, usually up to 10% over the limit when it's safe. I have been caught. That's my fault. It's not revenue raising, it's me paying for breaking the law.

Don't know where you guys stand on drink driving. Perhaps 0.05 is just a fuzzy guideline too. Get caught and blow 0.08, write a letter to someone and get off. Or don't get off and complain about the limit being too low or revenue raising.

These laws have to apply to everyone. Some of us may have faster reflexes than others, or drive more aware than others, or perhaps we can tolerate slightly higher blood alcohol than others and still drive safely. But there's a bell curve that the law-makers need to consider for all drivers behind the wheel. I'm sure there's drivers out there that could drive at 30km/hr and still not be able to brake in time if a kid jumped out in front of them when the rest of us could easily have stopped. Gotta consider that. Can't have a speed limit for faster reflexes and different one for others.

I'm not even talking about elderly drivers, that's a whole 'nother conversation.

[AndrewJ]

If you get in a car after drinking, thats a deliberate choice,
and if caught, you deserve everything you get.

Exceeding the speed limit by a few kph whilst maybe watching the traffic around you vs yr speedo is a totally different proposition.
Sure, chuck the book at excessive speed, and drink driving,
but wandering above / below a nominated speed limit whilst keeping station in a fast moving traffic flow is not in the same league.
How many of the speed fines are for this offence in "smoothly flowing traffic" on the major freeways.????

Andrew

[Miaplacidus]

I speed pretty much all the time, at least 20 over most often. Never killed a kid yet.

Drink drive too. In the early days used that menthol excuse more than once to buy me some time. Some mates in the ED cooked up some alibis why I had to wait before getting the blood drawn. Even had my girlfriend at the time use hers once. And it isn't true what they say, about fooling the breathalizer with MJ eccies and ice, you can take my word for that. Nodoz and those handy little bumps they put on the sides of the road usually get me home at 4 am. Cut backs in the force, I'm never going to get caught.

Seat belts are for sissies. If my head goes through the screen who's it gonna harm except myself. And all my dependents. And anyone who ever cared about me. And all those tax payers who'll have to pay for my care for the next 30 years because I'm such a stupid ****up...

Jeez I'm a good driver.

[Colin_Fraser]

Next time you get booked for speeding just take the matter to court.
There you have 3 defences.
1: Oops, sorry. I should of paid the fine and just shut-up.
2: Sorry about that, I was not paying attention, resulting in my exceeding the speed limit.
3: I have absolutely no regard for the law. I knew I was speeding but I just don't care about the courts money grabbing schemes.

[marki]

Stuart I didn't say I don't speed, I just pay up when I get caught :P :D.

Mark

[AstralTraveller]

Dear, dear , dear. Ask a simple question and suddenly there's grass fires running everywhere. There have been 41 replies to my post but precious few on topic. None-the-less, many have been quite illuminating.

The question was whether the same situation applies in Qld as it does in NSW. Namely, can a person with a clean driving record have a minor traffic offense (eg. the lowest category of speeding) waived? Apparently it doesn't and the fine has been paid. Contrary to the apparent understanding of some contributors, I was not asking for any special treatment, just asking about my legal rights. 'Can I legally avoid paying this fine?' Those that disapprove of me wishing to do this will doubtless demonstrate the depths of their beliefs by making a voluntary contribution to the Qld coffers - we've been told they need the money.

Another argument I wasn't running is that I should be let off because I was driving safely. Whatever my opinion of my driving this argument never had legs. After all I am dealing with an organisation that can say with a straight face that Bobs Lookout was closed during the eclipse. :P

Since my driving has become a topic I will provide some detail of the incident. I was traveling from Cairns to Mareeba, right to left in the first image, and had just passed the interection - X marks the spot. The radar was 234m from me under the bushes in the park on the left hand side of the road, seen about middle-left of the image. Image 2 shows the street-view (I was in the left lane :)). Obviously I had at least 234m clear view in front and more behind. At the time there were no cars visible in front or behind, there was no activity either side of the road and toddlers on trikes were pretty thin on the ground too. By the time I reached the park and was waved down I was down to the speed limit and slowing. I was sober and wide awake.

MODS I don't think this is going anywhere and I'm out of here.

[brian nordstrom]

:hi: CU.
Brian.

[TrevorW]

Point is you can ask, but as to whether a process exists why not ask the Police, but the general response has been that you should cop it on the chin and accept you were speeding regardless and just pay the fine.

Undoubtedly the speed camera was set up in the particular spot because people are known to speed in that area.

I was turning off a 100kmh freeway the speed drops to 70 I was caught doing 80, the police had set a camera knowing full well that people would turn off the highway at a higher speed and forget to adjust their speed accordingly.

In America it would be called entrapment here we cop and fine and live with it, nobody is an angel.