Run In With The Cops

[tstav]

Hey all just after a rough idea as to what will happen with my license (p2's)

On the 9/1/2016 I was driving towards Brighton along Sturt road. I was at the intersection of Sturt road and Morphett road, and accelerated at the lights heading towards Brighton road. I heard the speedometer beep which was set at 65km/h and kept accelerating to just over 80km/h, then decelerated back down to 60km/h as I set cruise control on. After 5 minutes of driving along Sturt road a police officer signaled his lights on and I turned left into a side street. I turned the car off, and sat inside with the windows down. The police officer walked towards my car and told me to exit the vehicle and for the passenger to stay inside the car. The officer asked why I decided to take off at the traffic lights, and I responded with “Because I had my friend in the car and I was being stupid”. The officer said that he had to accelerate to 130km/h to catch up to me. I was then asked who the car belonged to and I replied with “It was my dads car”. The officer told me that I was travelling more then 80km/h + and said that he would book me for 81km/h. The officer also had no evidence of how fast I was travelling as he didn’t show me a radar gun with the speed on it. He then walked back towards his car where he started to fill out a notice on the top of his boot, then called my name and asked him to tell him where I lived. I provided the correct details and was handed with an expiation notice with a fine of $726 + $60 levy which totals to $786 fine. I also asked the officer how many points the offence I committed was and he replied with “three”. I was then told I was able to leave.

Since then, I refused to pay the fee and decided to protest and take it to court. To which I've recieved no letter since.

I'm curious as to how he was able to pin me for speeding when he turned left onto morphett road, looked in his rear view mirror after hearing the v8 take off next to me. Continued down morphett, did a u turn, then came back onto sturt road, accelerated up to 130km and caught up to me 5 minutes later and said I was speeding. No gun, no 2nd officer in his car, no proof what so ever. There was also no demerit points on the notice, just the speed i was doing and the fine.

Thoughts?

Edited April 27, 2016 by tstav

[R377]

Just keep fighting it through the courts. You should have a sick day or two to keep dragging it out...

If he has no evidence you should be ok, despite how many lies the officer will tell in court

[donburtron]

A highway payrol officer i know told me they can book you for estimated speed but this is a eg of how it was explained.

If someone was speeding doing 130kph in a 100 zone the officer had to sit on 120kph or so for 5 seconds and you had to be pulling away from him for the 5 seconds.

He could book you for 120kph nothing more..

Estimated speed can only be layed on you since they brang out video cameras in the police cars so he should be sble to provide proof of the incident.

If i was you id put it back on him and ask to prove it with video evidence.

The worst that could happen is you have to wear the fine and if he cant prove it with video evidence then it eill make him look incompetent and tou should get away from it. But there is the ponit you admitted to breaking the law by saying you were being stupid

[zebra]

So you admitted guilt at the time....now deciding to fight it.....?

[Humbla]

Deni ,deni, deny,worked for me once a few years ago. :-)

[XKLABA]

So you admitted guilt at the time....now deciding to fight it.....?

Funny thing unless the officer was recording it one word against the other so deni saying it

Also just wait for the letter, I had a car catching me very fast one night then he followed me into the side street I was going into and a HWY pulled both us over and booked us for 144 in a 80 zone out of separate books, I decided to fight it and elected to take it to court, that was 11 years ago and I am still waiting for the court letter lol

In court they won't be able to prove it if there was no radar so most likely won't even try, they most likely are just hoping you will cop it and pay the fine

[junkie]

Happened to me once too. They estimated my speed at 88 in 60 (it was a lot more than that) but only fined me for 15 and under, since I was fully upfront and honest about it and didn't give them attitude. Copped it sweet and moved on, was happy with the low fine

[tstav]

Thanks alot guys, guess we'll just have to wait and see

[NISSAN GTR]

Just pay it . What type of car do you drive

[tstav]

Commodore. I would pay it but i think ill lose license too. If i knew i didnt id pay it. Thats the only reason i dont want to l.

[GeeDog]

If you really don't want to lose your licence, see a lawyer. It will cost you a lot more than the fine, but might be worth an appointment to discuss the options. If you go to court and represent yourself the police prosecutor will be all over you. What the cop has written in his book as a transcript of your discussion will be a bit different to what you said - something along the lines of "the driver admitted doing 130kph and stated it was because he is an idiot".

[GTR-N1]

If you really don't want to lose your licence, see a lawyer. It will cost you a lot more than the fine, but might be worth an appointment to discuss the options. If you go to court and represent yourself the police prosecutor will be all over you. What the cop has written in his book as a transcript of your discussion will be a bit different to what you said - something along the lines of "the driver admitted doing 130kph and stated it was because he is an idiot".

Yes, in SAU > NSW, we have a whole thread on Traffic Lawyers. Sometimes they can be very helpful. Often the initial preamble can be free.

I understand you're in another state.

[donburtron]

Commodore. I would pay it but i think ill lose license too. If i knew i didnt id pay it. Thats the only reason i dont want to l.

If you dont pay your fine it goes to state debt recovery in 4-5 weeks and your point get applied anyway so your going to lose them weather you pay your fine or not..

You get all your points back when you get your license back aswell so at least theres a up side lol..

My licence needed renewing on december 25th 2015 and when i went to renew them they said i was loosing it from points from 2011.. i asked for the manager and he said his never seen it before but i have a choice of loss of licence for 3 months or 12 bond so i elected to loose them and i got all 16 points back when i only had 2 left..

Thats the best option for you.. or if u work try for a exemption licence for work purposes

[conan7772]

Also these days when you lose all your points, if you address the court properly, you can ask for a conditional licence.

Just make a monumental importance of your reliance to drive to work with a bit of homework on the inadequacies of public transport.

It allows you to drive to work and back.

That's all, no after hours driving.

Also make a point of the inaccuracies of visual ' estimated ' speed by officers which could vary drastically from officer to officer.

Given you were booked on 81, gives a window for a lesser fine.

good luck