cops!!!

[cowie165]

never say how fast you think you were going always say "im not sure"

Friend of a friend is a police inspector and (btw he isn't a fan of highway patrol either) he mentioned that if you admit to not knowing what speed you are driving then the officer who booked you can testify in court that you admitted to being unaware of the speed your vehicle was travelling and thus cannot contest the fine or the radar trap indicated speed.

If anything, and this is beyond the realms of honest behaviour, state that you were driving at an indicated 110kmh (or similar) and therefore inferring it must be the car/speedo's fault.

gR33dy is there any chance you could argue you were doing traffic speed - just keeping up as was your best estimate - given you were without a speedo? Thus unintentionally speeding?

The inspector also mentioned that the NSW radars require a 3-second fix to 'stand up' if disputed in court. Suffice to say, if you see a speed trap, you still have a moment or two to reduce your speed to a legal one. I've a mate who sped past a speed trap in his VY SS ute, hit the brakes, and ended up with a police officer with a scowl and a 'tut-tut' waving finger. :cuss:

I like to have fun as much as the next guy, but we also need to behave ourselves (hence the lousy name import drivers have - I also ride a bike and most ppl hate motorcyclist because some of them do really stupid things at really high speed) and cop it sweet when it's time to receive another road tax (read: fine + points) from the police.

Nothing at all personal gR33dy, just general rant.

[performance-wise]

Friend of a friend is a police inspector and (btw he isn't a fan of highway patrol either) he mentioned that if you admit to not knowing what speed you are driving then the officer who booked you can testify in court that you admitted to being unaware of the speed your vehicle was travelling and thus cannot contest the fine or the radar trap indicated speed.

If anything, and this is beyond the realms of honest behaviour, state that you were driving at an indicated 110kmh (or similar) and therefore inferring it must be the car/speedo's fault.

gR33dy is there any chance you could argue you were doing traffic speed - just keeping up as was your best estimate - given you were without a speedo? Thus unintentionally speeding?

Nothing at all personal gR33dy, just general rant.

Hey cowie,

I appreciate your response.

I was done by an oncoming pursuit car at about 7 in the morning. There was no other cars around to compare my speed to.

My speedo was not in the car (as it was out being repaired)and I truly thought that i was not speeding. it is hard to tell - you know.

I told the cop that I could not judge my speed correctly due to the speedo being out for repair. The cop asked me how long i have owned the car for, which I replied about 6 months and he said that I should be able to judge my speed by now??

This entire conversation was recorded. I truly was unaware of the speed I was doing and my admission of this is on tape.

Will they(police) have this tape in court - should I seek legal advise??

thnx.

[ed R34]

If the cop caught ya, it could be a defect, depending on how tight arse the mr police officer wants to be.

hey eddie

errmm hey .. :confused:

[cowie165]

*SNIP* he said that I should be able to judge my speed by now??  

This entire conversation was recorded. I truly was unaware of the speed I was doing and my admission of this is on tape.

Will they(police) have this tape in court - should I seek legal advise??

I don't understand the relationship between duration of ownership and knowing your speed. This implies that as I've had my car for 2 yrs that I can now remove/disable the speedo because I no longer need it to know what speed I'm doing. That argument is flawed for many reasons.

gR33ddy I'd seek legal advice. There may be legal protection from being charged/penalised for two offences when one caused the other. Akin to being fined for changing lanes without indicating AND defected because your indicators are not working?

I don't read car mags much these days, but the bike mags always have legal ads in there. HPI or F4's might have something? You could look for one of the 'no-win, no-pay' solicitors. If you see one of them and they agree you should go to court, you know right then that they genuinely believe you're likely to win.

If you take the matter to court, you should expect to hear the recording to be played. That's why they tape it. Prevents he said/she said situations.

Cowie

PS as an aside, I've heard of cases in NSW where the police have fined (and had decision upheld in court) a driver because he 'looked' like he was speeding. Apparently once an officer has served an (unknown) amount of time in the service, they can visually assess the speed of a car (cases I've heard have only been suburban 50/60kmh incidents). I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I hope its an urban myth.

[carlo]

Dude

you where in the wrong.. wear the fine.. I know it sucks but if you go to court they might make your life more difficult or increase the punishment.

You still have 6 points left, just behave your self and you will be right.

[Matt-r32]

its sooo hard not to give it a squirt now and then when driving a skyline though

you have big urges to just put your foot down and let it rip lol

[someonestolecc]

PS as an aside, I've heard of cases in NSW where the police have fined (and had decision upheld in court) a driver because he 'looked' like he was speeding. Apparently once an officer has served an (unknown) amount of time in the service, they can visually assess the speed of a car (cases I've heard have only been suburban 50/60kmh incidents). I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I hope its an urban myth.

It's not a myth. They can do that.

[GTR R35]

The cops do not have to show you the radar reading, but it looks bad to the magistrate if they refused you the right to look.

Cops can gustimate your speed, I had one try that on me, but I tookkkit to court and won because the 2 cops had conflicting statements.

Sometimes you can be lucky.

[DezertEagle]

I got fined last week for 118 in a 100.

I was going to contest it because the Copper was on oncoming traffic and tailgating the truck so close I would say there was not a one car gap in it. I have two witnesses.

I thought I'd just pay up. Now I might write a letter to Infringement Processing Bureau and see how it goes.

Any advice?

EDIT

I heard there is to be a clear line between you and the camera.

I couldn't even see the Patrol car until the truck was beside me.

[321 GO]

[quote name=

PS as an aside' date=' I've heard of cases in NSW where the police have fined (and had decision upheld in court) a driver because he 'looked' like he was speeding. Apparently once an officer has served an (unknown) amount of time in the service, they can visually assess the speed of a car (cases I've heard have only been suburban 50/60kmh incidents). I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I hope its an urban myth.[/quote]

Unfortunately this is true. I am contesting one of these at court in Janurary. I think if you believe that you were wrongly convicted then do write a letter to the Infringement Processing Bureau 1st. Also do this if you need to buy some time (after you have recieved the reminder notice).

NSW currently has legislation that if you write off to the IPB and do not get a response back within 6 months then the fine is null and void. I have got off 2 fines this way. I believe that all other states have a 12 month reply period.

[cowie165]

NSW currently has legislation that if you write off to the IPB and do not get a response back within 6 months then the fine is null and void. I have got off 2 fines this way. I believe that all other states have a 12 month reply period.

Good to know! Cheers

Bummer about the guess-timates...

[GTR-80Y]

Bugger, they keep getting bak to me within 1 month!

[321 GO]

Yeah, they seem to have picked up their act recently

[GTRSRULE!!!]

they took around 3 -4 months 2 respond 2 my letters

[performance-wise]

Went to court today for the speeding offence.

Armed with my statement from my mechanic and the letter I sent to the infringement bureau (which got rejected because it was too late) I represented myself and pleaded guilty but asked the judge to consider leniency due to my clean driving record and to the fact that I was getting my speedo repaired at the time.

The speeding fine was dropped and all I had to pay was $63 in court costs.

Pretty happy about that.

[wylie]

Sweet ! thats great dude, it sucks that they were tryin to bust you ass when you were doing the right thing... well mabey not 100% right but you know it was harsh

[someonestolecc]

Good to hear.

[321 GO]

Good on you man! Nice to hear a sucess story!

[Reidles]

I'm a Police Officer and know all the in's and outs of the system. If it were me, Id always take the matters to court coz u just never know. If anyone has any more concerns relating to traffic issues feel free to pm me.

[performance-wise]

Reidles - I reckon you should start your own thread inviting fellow SAUers to ask you questions regarding the law.

This could benefit many others, most importantly - the innocent.