Defect Debacle

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

so, got pulled over by highway popo while travelling from vic to nsw just prior to easter, undercover car followed for 10mins near newcastle before pulling me over for a comprehensive check by roadside

car was too low (90mm) - raised now

front mount i/c not std - advised its a factory item

a pillar gauge - removed

zorst not as std

anyways, basically i was told to take the car to AUSVIS centre so they can clear the blue slip defect

problem, my car is registered for vic and when i went today to clear it, ausvis inspector tells me its outside their power to clear a defect notice for an interstate registered car

he stated i shouldnt have been defected by police trying to enforce rta act onto an interstate vehicle as its not aus-wide regulation

spoke to rta technical, who advised along the same lines, the ausvis inspector speaks to another person at rta tech and told the same thing

i was advised to take the car back to vic (still in nsw at the mo) to clear it, i spoke to vicroads and they cant help as its a nsw infringement notice and they cant clear it there

no defect notice on vicroad or rta system as yet other than the blue slip i was handed

given 3 days to drive the car and 21 to clear the notice, now i cant drive back to vic and rta cant clear the defect as the testing station wont proceed

what now? im just giving it a few more days to see if the notice shows up on their system

anyone been in a similar situation??

whats normal process for the notice to be entered into the system, as im sure police system will still show defect notice in effect

[HEKT1K]

You may want to check the Vic roadworthy/EPA thread mate.. but as far as I am aware, a NSW defect isn't worth the piece of paper it's written on for a VIC registered car. I would just forget about it and drive back over here

[R31Nismoid]

Has nothing to do with VIC. It's NSW and NSW only.

VIC couldn't give two shits about a NSW defect, and it wont be on any VIC register.

The NSW RTA need to write up something, you take it too the cop, he cancels it.

Or you simply challenge it in court, get the relevant info and send to the prosecutor prior and it'll never even see a court room.

Sadly that is how it is with Police when they dont know the laws they are meant to uphold.

You can't do much than follow the long winded channel.

You could also contact the officer first, explain he is in the wrong. If he doesn't listen then talk to his superior.

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

Has nothing to do with VIC. It's NSW and NSW only.

VIC couldn't give two shits about a NSW defect, and it wont be on any VIC register.

The NSW RTA need to write up something, you take it too the cop, he cancels it.

Or you simply challenge it in court, get the relevant info and send to the prosecutor prior and it'll never even see a court room.

Sadly that is how it is with Police when they dont know the laws they are meant to uphold.

You can't do much than follow the long winded channel.

You could also contact the officer first, explain he is in the wrong. If he doesn't listen then talk to his superior.

yeah, i was on the phone with rta for few hours, provided them the details of the notice but nothing that can be looked up apparently.. one rep has asked me to fax in my copy so they can have a better look

my initial concern was perhaps they will try and enter it into the system if the popo didnt, but that will still achieve nothing as ill be still at square one, no way to clear the defect so ill fax it in the morning

i thought about speaking to the h/w patrol officer but thought he may try and make matters worse

would taking it to a police station achieve anything? i dont know if they are able to cancel an issued notice or whether its left to the rta, who have not indicated this could be a course of action

dont want to do the court thing if possible

[R31Nismoid]

Well only the officer can reneg the notice. Hence perhaps going to the station and explaining the issues. I mean you cant do anymore harm, and end of the day once the RTA can access it they will likely just trash it as they know it's not within their powers anyway.

Technically you must conform with the notice and then the RTA would remove it. But as its interstate its a moot point.

Other thing it might not be in the system yet due to the long w/e etc. If the officer wasnt working then he might not have entered it in right away. I've had issues in the past where I've rocked up to VicRoads and my EPA/Defect isn't even on the systems as yet due to the Officer in question being a lazy git.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

If the officer has indeed defected you when he shouldnt have.. I'd be calling the officer and explain the situation.. (preferably on loud speaker & record it) Be nice an present the facts that you have tried to clear the defect but are unable to due to interstate rego not allowing you to.. Then if he refuses then I would put in a complaint to the CMC that he is enforcing law inappropriately even when you've told him you can't remove the defect.. CMC should sort it

But then I would be changing the rego on the car LOL..

[GTR-N1]

Only an assumption...

But it's true is it not, that once you're back across the border (into Vic), you'd be OK because you're not in the system?

Which also means that your car in future, should not come across the border again into NSW (nor should you sell it to a NSW resident)?

[Serg]

If the officer has indeed defected you when he shouldnt have.. I'd be calling the officer and explain the situation.. (preferably on loud speaker & record it) Be nice an present the facts that you have tried to clear the defect but are unable to due to interstate rego not allowing you to.. Then if he refuses then I would put in a complaint to the CMC that he is enforcing law inappropriately even when you've told him you can't remove the defect.. CMC should sort it

But then I would be changing the rego on the car LOL..

Just a quick off topic, hopefully one of the NSW people can help, are you allowed to record/film/take photos of police in NSW??

I ask this cos i went up there for the long easter weekend in a rental car, mate was driving when this happend, i was taking photos in the passenger seat of the surroundings (never been to sydney) and then a "selective car booze bus" (aka targating interstate peeps and a few p platers) pulled us up, i had my camera in my hand but I wasnt pointing it or taking photos or recording at the time, and the 1st thing he said was "This isnt victoria, hide the camera because we have a "police protection policy" here in NSW, if you dont put it away, I will confiscate it". Question is, is there actually such a thing?

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

If the officer has indeed defected you when he shouldnt have.. I'd be calling the officer and explain the situation.. (preferably on loud speaker & record it) Be nice an present the facts that you have tried to clear the defect but are unable to due to interstate rego not allowing you to.. Then if he refuses then I would put in a complaint to the CMC that he is enforcing law inappropriately even when you've told him you can't remove the defect.. CMC should sort it

But then I would be changing the rego on the car LOL..

good point, i hope he is having a good day when i call him, i wanna keep my plates

Only an assumption...

But it's true is it not, that once you're back across the border (into Vic), you'd be OK because you're not in the system?

Which also means that your car in future, should not come across the border again into NSW (nor should you sell it to a NSW resident)?

true vicroads system does not talk to rta system, if i sell were to nsw person, he will need to do a blueslip anyways before rego i believe and plates changed so not sure if its tracked in the rta system

i make regular trips across the border and havent had issues in syd metro area, even rbts but highway patrol seems to be different kettle of fish

i wonder if rta is willing to waiver the defect notice and give me something in writing to back the claim so i can present it to the highway officer

last thing i want is for things to get ugly and going back n forth between the popo and rta

[RB25PWR]

Seriously just drive home back to Vic dude. If you get spoken to again by Police, inform them that you can't clear the defect in NSW. If they want to defect you again, just go along with it and continue driving back to Vic.

Just explain the situation calmly, piss them off and you're likely to get your car towed.

Either way you know they're wrong and nothing will come of it.

[-Jimmy-]

I had a similar situation with my NSW rego'd car in WA over the past few weeks.

I rang the people from Transport WA and they said nothing was showing up on their system. I rang the RTA in NSW and they knew nothing about it either.

I rang back Transport WA and then they said it sometimes takes up to 3 weeks for it to show up in the system? I was kinda puzzled by that, they should enter it straight away.

Basically what they told me was if I don't get the defect cleared within the defect clearance date, they will send the defect notice over the the RTA and they will deal with it from there (i.e cancel rego or whatever they do).

I'm still not sure if any of this was true but I just coughed up and paid for the inspection fees and got it cleared here in WA.

The cop told me that no matter what state the rego is in, the car has to comply with their state's roadworthy laws if it's going to be driven in that state.

Sorry I don't think any of that info is going to help you but what I'm trying to say is that Australia has f**ked up laws and ways of dealing with this shit.

In your case I'd probably just leave it until you get back to Vic and wait to hear from anyone about it.

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

just an update, RTA is unable to help further as they are outside the loop and ausvis inspection centre cant carry out an inspection outside their jurisdication even if the car was returned to stock

in the end, i rang up the police assistance line looking for the officer who issued the defect, spoke to snr sgt at gosford highway patrol who was very helpful and sympathic to my situation

he advised to get a police inspection done to clear the defect and explain the situation to the inspecting officer

what is legal db for exhaust noise as im planning on getting an db test done prior to inspection - 90db?

[R31Nismoid]

I've never heard of a defect being carried over into another state. It's a totally different jurisdiction.

[R31Nismoid]

just an update, RTA is unable to help further as they are outside the loop and ausvis inspection centre cant carry out an inspection outside their jurisdication even if the car was returned to stock

in the end, i rang up the police assistance line looking for the officer who issued the defect, spoke to snr sgt at gosford highway patrol who was very helpful and sympathic to my situation

he advised to get a police inspection done to clear the defect and explain the situation to the inspecting officer

what is legal db for exhaust noise as im planning on getting an db test done prior to inspection - 90db?

You should't even HAVE to return the car to stock. It's not their right to defect you.

[iplen]

Just for the record, I wouldn't go recording phone conversations willy nilly, A) without the consent of the person you record it is worth 2 parts of SFA, B) they can take action against you if you do not inform them. Working in a call centre as soon as someone says "I am recording this because (insert some stupid insulting reason)" I know I am talking to someone who is to busy having a problem to find time to sit back while I fix it, guaranteed idiot

[Astro Bear]

So if all us Victorians register our cars in nsw, the po-po here can all suck a fat one when they try to defect us?

[GTR-N1]

So if all us Victorians register our cars in nsw, the po-po here can all suck a fat one when they try to defect us?

Aaah the advantages of living in Wodonga, Echuca, Chandlers Ck, Genoa, Bendoc, Towong, Tintaldra awww forgedd id

[scathing]

A mate of mine was in a similar bind. He didn't have an engineer's cert for his mods, and cops tried to defect him on ACT plates. He just said that his car was registered in the ACT so

1. he only had to comply with ACT rules, which didn't require an engineer's cert for his mods. Therefore his car complied with its registration requirements, the basis of a defect.

2. the cop didn't have jurisdiction to enforce ACT rules, so even if his car didn't comply with ACT rules a NSW cop couldn't ping him for it

He didn't get done.

So if all us Victorians register our cars in nsw, the po-po here can all suck a fat one when they try to defect us?

Yep, but if you live in a state for more than a certain number of months (I forget how many) you have to reregister the car, or they'll do you for that instead.

It's not as common, but someone I knew got done a while back. It didn't help that he was in a country town driving a 350Z about a year after they came out, rocking WA plates in Qld. It kind of stands out.

[Ant97GTR]

R31Nis is correct, if you drive a car with plates issued by a diff state than the one you are in then the police do not have the power to defect that car. Hell up until recently they couldn't even assign points to your licence if you were busted speeding in a different state to the one that issued you your licence (this has changed now though). Point this out to the issuing officer and he/she should cancel the defect.

NOTE: that they can and will enforce the rule that if you live in a different state to the one that has issued you either your driving licence or car rego you only have 6 months (I think...maybe 3??) to change it over. Ignore this at your own risk

[R31Nismoid]

It's 3 months I believe - In Vic at least anyway.

So if you've been here 3 months on a permanent basis, by law you are required to change it.

There are exceptions to that rule for people in Defence and similar things