Qld Police leniency

[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]

Originally Posted by 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

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

Mark

[AstralTraveller (David)]

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.

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 (As avatar)]

CU.
Brian.

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[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.