Something is wrong with our system.

[LOVE2XLR8]

I am writing this on behalf of a close mate.

Last year in late march 2003 he was given a court ordered drivers license suspension of 1 year for dangerous driving etc...

5 months later he rings up the Department of Planning and infrastructure (Perths RTA) and asks how long he has till he can obtain his license, expecting to hear that he has 6 or so months, the officer on the phone tells him that his driving suspension has now lifted! And was told he can come in and resit his drivers license right away (being a P plater he has to resit his test after any suspension).

Now this didn't sound right, because he heard the judge say 12 months, so he rang another 2 Department of Planning and infrastructure officers to ask them the same question "how long until i can obtain my drivers license again?" once again, he was told by both officers at 2 different locations that he can come in and re-sit his test as his 3 month suspension was finished.

Ok, this has him convinced now, 3 different DPI officers have told him he can come and resit his test. So he walks into DPI, sits his test, passes and wallah - he has a new license and is able to drive again.

All is good for a few months, early January 2004 he is pulled over by the police and given a minor speeding ticket. No dramas. Paid it, and on his way.

Note: Probation on his license expires January 27th 2004.

January 28th he was pulled over, and breath tested, being a non P plater now, he had just had a drink before leaving, so he blew 0.034 which is under the legal limit. But the police officer said, 'no, your over the limit, your on P plates' but my mate was like, 'but my license clearly indicates that im off my P plates on the 27th of january, being the 28th my limit should be 0.05!!' anyways, the officer disagrees and this results in a court summons for drink driving.

So prior to going to court he heads down to the police station and tells the police officer his situation, then shows the police officer his drivers license clearly indicating the 27th of January date for the license propation period expiring and asks whats going on??? The police officer comes out a while later and says, i am keeping this license, you are not to drive as you have a cancelled license!!!

So as a result of this situation, my friend is now being charged with driving against a court order by the police, he has pleaded NOT guilty to any of the charges (drink driving, failure to display P plates and driving against a court order).

As he was told to come in and resit his license, it appears that someone at the police department or courts have not done their paperwork as DPI should have been notified and had all this information on their systems.

Funny how now while he is on trail, nearly one year later the DPI have all of a sudden "cancelled his license".

-

Further the problem, he has been done twice previously for driving whilst on a fine suspension (over a year ago) so this in accord to loosing this driving against a court order charge (im sure the police will bring this to the judges attention) will give him a very serious penalty i would think. Can you get prison time for something like this?

What's your thoughts?

(sorry about the length)

[G0DF4Th3R]

that sucks big time..

wheres the consistency

[zanda]

that's pretty ****ing unlucky.

is downfall was obviously assuming that DPI licensing was the body responsible for regulating his licence, when they are (apparently) not.

that said, the people at DPI should not have indicated to him that he could re-sit his test if they were not the body responsible for regulating whether he was in fact allowed to.

I think a judge will still find him guilty, because of the fact that he was told by a judge not to drive for 12 months, but I think he'll be leniant...

[rob77]

It is pretty unlucky but to blow 0.034 means he has had a couple of drinks and should have waited a little bit before driving, plus picking up another speeding fine after having his license suspended... thats not good even if it was a minor fine.

[Lynx]

Thats gotta be a pretty big case of "NOT HAPPY JAN" if I've ever heard one......

Hope he gets off, but I wouldnt hold my breath. They tend to overlook anything that could have been "their" fault.

[RB20LagWagon]

If the judge said 12 months, its 12 months, Hes rooted

[IMACUL8]

Sorry to be harsh ... but your mate sounds like a dickhead.

* Hes on his P's

* Gets done for Dangerous driving

* Gets license back (not really)

* Gets done for speeding.

* Gets done for DD (he claims he was off his P's)

Listen even taking the DD incident out, he's proven to be a nightmare driver on public roads... sorry to say but our roads would be better off without twats like this on the road.

I hope he doesnt get done for the DD charge - as long as what your saying is true.....

BUT - if a JUDGE told me I lost my license for a year, and then a shit kicker in a gov department told me otherwise - i'd be asking for something in writing.

Dan

[G0DF4Th3R]

what i wanna know is how come he was allowed to resit when the judge told him a year?

[uneekwahn]

bam: just a public service stuff up by the sounds of it

[Pva_Glue]

In my humble opinion IMHO...

its crying wolf...

you know the story... this guy cried out wolf 3 time for joke but then when real wolf came noone help him...etc..etc. maybe is different situation but....

I think your friend should not drive FOR while... lucky he did not kill him/her self or Killing innocence people....

no sypathy from me...

[LOVE2XLR8]

The situation is very different. He does not drive as he was only made aware within the last week that DPI have made a serious bureaucratic mistake. If you were told you could resit your exam and had this confirmed by several DPI officers from different branches im sure you would not hesitate.

IMMACUL8, your comments were preposterous to the facts.

-

Thank you very much to the people with the informative and positive responses.

[Pva_Glue]

There is ombudsman (spell)...

If he feels that he's been mistreated or there is mistake on the law should write a letter to obbudsman... expalining what has happend.

http://www.justice.wa.gov.au/portal/server.pt

good luck to him

[LOVE2XLR8]

Thank you Pva_Glue

[IMACUL8]

How where they preposterous........

All I stated was the truth as YOU stated it in you post.

Fair enough he's getting in the shit for some things he may or may not have done... but he DID loose his icense on his P's, and after just getting it back he did get done for speeding, and then he did blow a high B A level......

Listen im no saint on the roads, but ive never lost my license... ive been close, but been smart enough to realise that when i only had a couple left I had to be very careful and take no risks .....

So I stand by what i said........

Daniel

[rob77]

The situation is very different. He does not drive as he was only made aware within the last week that DPI have made a serious bureaucratic mistake. If you were told you could resit your exam and had this confirmed by several DPI officers from different branches im sure you would not hesitate.

IMMACUL8, your comments were preposterous to the facts.

-

Thank you very much to the people with the informative and positive responses.

His word vs the court/government's word I dare say he will lose like immacl8 said you need to get things in writing. Either way I also agree with immacl8, its his own fault and he shouldnt be on the road being caught for speeding and DD after already loosing his license. We need to spend more money on educating people, it might sound a bit sick but perhaps these DD people should visit the scene of an accident where a DD was involved and view first hand what's be done. I'm sure I wouldnt like to see that. I was one of the first people onto the scene of an accident last year a drunk had crossed the road infront of a guy on a motorbike and although there didnt appear to be any external injuries the guy looked pretty ****ed up, not something I want to see again. (the guy on the bike was ok, good thing he had a helmet on)

[LOVE2XLR8]

Do you understand what a 0.034 readout is? It is the equivalent of less than one standard drink. If you read the text accurately you would be aware that it was clearly set forth in words "note: probation expires on the 27th of Jan." indicating that he had taken the correct precautions to not have more than one drink, according to his knowledge, DPI data management systems and his issued license.. HE IS NO LONGER A PROBATIONARY DRIVER! thus cannot be considered a drink driver!

Now IMACUL8 i quote you "Fair enough he's getting in the shit for some things he may or may not have done... but he DID loose his icense on his P's, and after just getting it back he did get done for speeding, and then he did blow a high B A level......"

1. I have clearly stated what he has and hasn't done.

2. 0.034 a high BA reading on an open license? You must be joking.

3. Speeding is something i have not justified as "OK". Don't hang him over something you have no idea as to the circumstances at the time.

IMACUL8, please read the text thoroughly and accurately prior to making your comments.

Im not asking for sympathy, but your thoughts and advice. The issue here is not drink driving, the topic of the discussion is your thoughts on what i believe is a DPI error.

Cheers

[rob77]

Do you understand what a 0.034 readout is? It is the equivalent of less than one standard drink.

Cheers

Crap its more like 2 or 3 standard drinks in the hour (without having any prior). If it was less than 1 std drink everytime I had a crownie whilst playing cricket and driving home I'd be over the limit.

[uneekwahn]

love2xlr8: the fact is, your mate is a fool. you lose your licence for 12 months, by a sentence handed down by a judge. you then decide hey, the judge is wrong, those nice guys at DPI must be right.

your mate should just take what he deserves, have his licence suspended for another 6 or 12 months, and stop trying to weasle his way out of it because its his fault he got in the sh1t anyhow.

someone lock this topic damnit.

[25GTT]

did he manage to get the nsmes of the people who he spoke to? far too many times when dealing with large companies whether it be gov or private sector i always now get peoples names.... on ANY occasion... it may sound annoying but ya get used to it..... whether it's vodafone or the RAC or recently Aust Institute of Fitness it has saved my ass 1000/s of times.. and recenty $1500 becuase of it....

[Danzil]

Man this BS is happening wayy too often...sorry to hear that man.