Gt-r 40km/h Over. Need Your Help!

[fungoolie]

Beer Baron, you've made many, many good points. I'm personally sick and tired of the governments demonising motorists and misinforming people about 'safe driving'. In fact there was a great article on Autospeed about safe driving and median speeds.

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_1234/printArticle.html

And for those people saying that this is the law and we should be punished if we don't abide by the law, THE SYSTEM ALLOWS US TO DEFEND OURSELVES AGAINST LEGAL ACCUSATIONS! So think twice before saying something to the effect of "don't whine like a b*tch and just pay the fine/lose your licence".

OP, good luck mate, I'm interested to see how this whole thing pans out.

+1 for Beer Baron for Aussie Motorist Advocate! I only wish some of our politicians had such a logical and well thought out approach to stating the bleeding obvious.

And as for the sanctimonious attitude of some on this thread towards those who actually believe some laws are created for the WRONG reasons, please take a look in your own backyard first. There's something to be said about making your words sweet and it's a sure fire way to end up with egg on your face when you do finally come unstuck as all of us inevitably do at some point in time. If you're on this forum it probably means you have an illegally modified vehicle. Lets face it, remapping an ECU to anything other than stock is illegal for gods sake. Just because you don't raise suspicion and get police attention due to driving like your grandma doesn't mean that you're still not breaking the law.

Edited December 3, 2010 by fungoolie

[Birds]

That's an horrible experience Beer Baron...if anything is going to leave you disillusioned about the "system", it's the bullshit bureaucratic processes that leave you owing more money because there is no human discretion at any point. The messed up thing is, this is supposed to save time and tax payers money by streamlining the processes for litigation etc., when it winds up costing the taxpayer (you) more. I'm willing to bed a magistrate didn't even step into the court room before that little gem passed through. Makes you want to punch the non-existent man-behind-the-curtain in the face, doesn't it?

[Adriano]

Your willing to bed a magistrate LOL each to their own

[Harey]

Your willing to bed a magistrate LOL each to their own

Depends what your getting charged with and how guilty you are

[mickey]

No license suspension in WA but over 45km/h above the limit and your car gets impounded for 2 days. I'm dead certain I wasn't 45k's over when I got flashed, but 40 is plausible. 1k is a fair amount - car rego is due next week... also needs new tyres and the auto box is on it's last legs :S

In all honesty I didn't even notice the speed limit signs due to distraction from the glare. I should have taken the dickhead's rego down, but I doubt it will hold up in court anyway.

Just to point out that over 45km/h is considered a 'hoon' offence and also reckless driving in WA. Your car could be impounded for 28 days and you will lose your licence for a minimum 6 months for a first offence.

when overtaking a slow moving vehicle it is acceptable to go over the limit (within reason, +40km/h might be hard to accept) to effect the manouver in the interests of safety, but you'll probably have to take it to trial to get the cops to agree. Tailgating could also account for speeding, but you'd have to have the other car in the photo for you to have any chance.

Sorry I can't help out the OP re QLD legislation but the QLD and WA legal systems are similar for Criminal matters which are codified. In WA you can elect to do the 'double or nothing' scheme and abide a good behaviour period of 12 months...takes away the need to apply for extraordinary drivers licences (as they are called here). That is for garden variety speeding (read Road Traffic Code 2000) not reckless driving/hoon driving which would require you to apply for an EDL 28 days after conviction.

[racer98]

So, I have been caught by a speed camera doing 40km over. It was a once off stupid mistake and very regrettable.

good god I'm at a loss for words on the fine amount 1st off, and wish you the best of luck, however had it been me nicked by that thing I'd have shown up with a truck and up rooted that camera and all of the contents in the box, but on a serious note if your facing something severe of a penality I would suggest you hire a lawyer and i would start out by jumping on ferrari,chat austraila section and talk with some others in that area who can help you with the legal part of it, still sucks very much though , but things like this happen to prevent worse things from happening so best look at the best side of it though, best of luck with it and I hope you can get it dropped or get it dismissed by some lucky way

Since Im a yank from my view it looks all different, so I cant really comment on the Aussie laws. LOL

Edited January 1, 2011 by racer98

[nisskid]

*facepalm*

Admit it, you eat vegie burgers and drink low-fat soy lattes at your BBQs....

i was just thinking the same thing, although i was leaning towards tofu dogs.

[Harey]

when overtaking a slow moving vehicle it is acceptable to go over the limit (within reason, +40km/h might be hard to accept) to effect the manouver in the interests of safety, but you'll probably have to take it to trial to get the cops to agree. Tailgating could also account for speeding, but you'd have to have the other car in the photo for you to have any chance.

I have been told by a cop that I am not allowed to speed while overtaking. He said if you cant overtake without speeding then you shouldnt be overtaking.

I highly doubt it says in the legislation that it is acceptable to go over the limit 'within reason' while overtaking??

[eastes]

Court date is tomorrow.

I've been told by lawyers that it is better to please guilty before the date and that apparently the judge don't really deliberate on the penalty. Apparently, pleading guilty early earns brownie points for negotiating a hardship license. I will be sending in a fax to plead guilty today. The floods may prevent me from getting there anyway and I don't want to delay anymore.

I visited court on Monday for reconnaissance. It was full of bogans. Absolute bogans. There were repeat offenders, wife beaters, DV cases, cop fighters, resisting arrests, all sorts of shit. The judge was handing out penalties. The worse was $500 with 2 months to pay. Compare that to $980 and 6 months license suspension and it doesn't make sense.

Can anyone with experience tell me what to say to the judge so I don't get suspension? If not, I'm pleading guilty today.

[Beer Baron]

Court date is tomorrow.

I've been told by lawyers that it is better to please guilty before the date and that apparently the judge don't really deliberate on the penalty. Apparently, pleading guilty early earns brownie points for negotiating a hardship license. I will be sending in a fax to plead guilty today. The floods may prevent me from getting there anyway and I don't want to delay anymore.

I visited court on Monday for reconnaissance. It was full of bogans. Absolute bogans. There were repeat offenders, wife beaters, DV cases, cop fighters, resisting arrests, all sorts of shit. The judge was handing out penalties. The worse was $500 with 2 months to pay. Compare that to $980 and 6 months license suspension and it doesn't make sense.

Can anyone with experience tell me what to say to the judge so I don't get suspension? If not, I'm pleading guilty today.

my advice would be to go to court. I please guilty the day before I was to go to court over non-payment of a $4.20 toll notice. I filled out the guilty plea and wrote what I thought was a fairly eloquent letter explaining why the toll notice was unpaid and how it occurred (some details in one of my earlier posts). I thought it was all pretty clear that I was being hard done by and that in no way did the penalty reflect the 'crime' (using that word loosely). Anyway he stung me the full fine amount, plus court costs of $76. and even worse I got no explanation as to why he made that decision. Just a letter in the mail stating I plead guilty and the magistrate imposed that penalty.

I really think you have a much better chance of a reduced penalty if you front up to court, plead guilty, explain any mitigating circumstances you have, admit that you did the wrong thing, but that a suspension would be a great hardship for you etc. Talk a little bit about your character, any work you do in the community etc might help and a character reference or two doesn't hurt especially if they come from someone like a lawyer or doctor etc. anyone of some standing in the community.

That is just my advice though, and based off my own very limited experience in these things. So if you have paid good money for legal advice and they tell you to just plead guilty by fax then do it, but at least attach a few pages explaining your circumstances etc.

GOOD LUCK.

[wht510]

+1 for good luck. Haven't got any direct advice, so i'm keeping my mouth shut.

[R31Nismoid]

Court date is tomorrow.

I've been told by lawyers that it is better to please guilty before the date and that apparently the judge don't really deliberate on the penalty. Apparently, pleading guilty early earns brownie points for negotiating a hardship license. I will be sending in a fax to plead guilty today. The floods may prevent me from getting there anyway and I don't want to delay anymore.

I visited court on Monday for reconnaissance. It was full of bogans. Absolute bogans. There were repeat offenders, wife beaters, DV cases, cop fighters, resisting arrests, all sorts of shit. The judge was handing out penalties. The worse was $500 with 2 months to pay. Compare that to $980 and 6 months license suspension and it doesn't make sense.

Can anyone with experience tell me what to say to the judge so I don't get suspension? If not, I'm pleading guilty today.

So you are going in without a lawyer?

If you are, best you can do is really just explain it. Don't harp on too long, stick to the fact/point and keep it succinct.

Also some people tend to say they are “sorry” 100 times over – just think of it as what would you want to hear?

Some grovelling sook that makes no sense or someone that clearly acknowledges they were in the wrong, takes responsibility and explains the situation etc.

I’ve beaten many charges in court, and lost a few as well. I even had a Judge make comment about the fact that he had not seen such a trivial incident & Police were wasting court time with a particular charge - thus gave me a slap on the wrist.

But by and large if you rock up well dressed and well spoken, you’ve already gone a long way in the court system over and above the “norm”.

They would see 5x repeat offenders both speeding and drugged with stolen goods in the car. Some KM’s over is probably the most insignificant thing they will see that day.

[Cowboy1600]

I think you're insane for copping this.

You should be going in there and claiming the evidence is defunct due to the cameras inability to determine who in the pic was speeding.

Sure, it looks like you, as you are on the outside, but for all the camera operator can prove, you saw the guy barreling along behind you and looking like he was about to slam into you from behind so you got the hell out of his way.

At the end of the day they have to PROVE beyond all reasonable doubt that that didn't happen. Sure they can do the "pfffft" thing all they like, but without evidence to the contrary, they have got nothing to go on.

There are so many holes in their argument that you are made for pleading guilty. You should have got representation and gone in there daring them to prove it was you who was speeding.

[ras1983]

If you're going in there with your lawyer then just shut up and let the lawyer do the talking :-) The whole thing will be over very quickly so if you're on your own then keep your statements short and to the point. Explain that there is a second car in the photo and that the police can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was you who was speeding and not the other car.

If you're pleading guilty, I doubt that you'll get to say anything anyway.

[eastes]

If you're going in there with your lawyer then just shut up and let the lawyer do the talking :-) The whole thing will be over very quickly so if you're on your own then keep your statements short and to the point. Explain that there is a second car in the photo and that the police can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was you who was speeding and not the other car.

If you're pleading guilty, I doubt that you'll get to say anything anyway.

If they take 2 photos (they usually take many, only one with flash), then I will be shamed and possibly fined even more for lying and a far reduced chance of work license.

[NickR33]

sorry to hijack but sort of relevant

I got pulled over on my way back to Melbourne from south coast NSW last week (Princes Hwy just near Orbost)... had just overtaken a caravan and came around a bend with the speedo hovering just under 120km/h and onto a long straight so immediately let my speed drop back to the legal limit as I know cops like to camp out on straights... all the sudden about 100m in front of me a cop walks out of the bush with a little stop sign and pulls me over... he was so well hidden you could barely see the cop car even when I was pulled over and he was hidden in the trees with a laser on a tripod (reminded me of a hunter in a hide lol)

long story short he got me on the laser at 117km/h... with the 2km/h correction it brings it to 115km/h which puts me in the 115 - 125 bracket, 3 points and $239 fine... he was polite and avoided giving me a lecture which I appreciated but wasn't willing to drop me 1km/h so I would be in the first 1 demerit point bracket... was a very serious young man, not much of a sense of humour

Now I accept I was doing the wrong thing but do I have any chance of getting it reduced if I write a letter? or should I just not bother and pay up?

First speeding fine in 4 years

[Cowboy1600]

If they take 2 photos (they usually take many, only one with flash), then I will be shamed and possibly fined even more for lying and a far reduced chance of work license.

Mobile cameras only take one as far as I am aware.

Hoping someone here can clarify as there seems to be a few people with more in depth knowledge about their workings.

[GTRPowa]

Or amongst all the planning you could think about the title of this thread, I seem to always see it every few days. 10000 views, almost 10 pages, still on topic, way above the 'average' for a thread of this type. Let's face it, it's popular.

With Baron's rants (which I agree with) it's become a rather interesting and.. would the statement be, 'controversial in the eyes of the law?' thread.

With the current climate of imports, hoons, police digging on websites, this threads popularity, the decently sized offence in the thread's name, etc etc, it's not at all silly to think that the prosecutor 'could indeed' have a copy of this thread.

Pictures, court dates, it's all here.

---

Mate, being a victim of internet digging, I'll say now, take it like a man. You're worried about the 2 flashes of a camera where I'd worry about this threads publicity.

I don't want to burst any bubble but just saying it how it honestly could be.

[Cowboy1600]

Mate, they are words on an internet forum.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

I got a hand job from the Queen.

Doesn't matter how many times I say it, New Idea isn't going to try and track me down and buy my story and no matter how many times I type it, it doesn't make it true.

Words typed on a screen are meaningless.

There are billions of threads in millions of forums all over the internet. The likihood of someone important finding this one are slim to none.

[eastes]

Mate, they are words on an internet forum.

There are billions of threads in millions of forums all over the internet. The likihood of someone important finding this one are slim to none.

I agree. The benefits of going public with this far outweigh the nearly impossible chance of minor negatives. They will not present this in court, even if it were found. Also, I haven't said anything on here that I wouldn't say in court. I don't want to lie in court, even though others have recommended this.