South Australian 50km/h speeding fine issue - Please Help!!

[the_queen]

HELP!! In desperate need of some legal-type advice.

Hi, just wondering (after searching aimlessly on the net for a couple of hours...) can anyone point me in the right direction to finding some kind of information about how I could dispute a speeding fine I received?
The offence actually happened in April last year, somehow the fine got sent to my old address (even though I'd changed my address...) and the first I heard of it was about 2 months ago when I received a summons to attend court because I'd ignored the fines. I managed to have the overdue fee's dropped, and I got another 28 days to pay the original fine. I received the photograph of the offence today, and I got photographed doing 62km/h, in a 50km/h zone. Does anyone know whether I can argue that I had just turned onto the road with 50km/h limit, and therefore didn't realise that it was a 50km/h zone? Or that it is actually quite a main-ish road and therefore the speed limit of 50km/h shouldn't apply??
And obviously if I thought it was a 60km/h zone, then the fact I was only doing 62km/h says that I am a careful and responsible driver. I know I remember hearing about a guy who was caught doing 69 in a 50 zone and somehow he managed to get the charges dropped. Obviously he had some high-falutin' lawyer.... but if his case succeeded then there must be a precedent, yes? (please note: my legal knowledge comes only from watching too much Law and Order...)

I am just about to leave the house to go to the actual spot, to look at how the speed limit is shown there. I know the rule is "50km/h unless otherwise signed" but seriously I did not realise that was the rule until quite recently, when they started putting up signs to that effect!

The thing is, there are 3 reasons I don't speed: 1) if Vallerie is in the car, there is no way I put her at risk like that. Doubly so, now that I am pregnant. 2) my DH drives like a maniac, and I am constantly lecturing him about speed limits, and I always say "I never speed, why do you feel you have to?" and if he finds out about this speeding fine, my credibility will be shot :rolleyes: ; and 3) I just don't think it's worth the $150 fine to arrive somewhere a couple of minutes earlier. I am never in that much of a hurry. I'd rather get there late than risk a speeding fine. I can't afford to pay $150 for the crime of being an idiot!!


I hope someone out there has a legal-type mind, or even some kind of legal background so they can give me some basic advice on this matter. I would get a lawyer - but if I could afford that, I'd probably just pay the bl**dy fine.....

[aprilbaby]

Unfortunately you probably won't have much luck, because we have been in the exact same situation and disputed the ticket and got nowhere. We were in Adelaide visiting family and got booked doing 60 in a 50 zone - a bloody main road which no one would ever think was 50 and never was before when we lived there.

My DH wrote a letter explaining all these things but we got a response saying it's your job to alert yourself to speed zones in the area you're driving in. What a load of ****. I felt the same as you, we're very responsible drivers and never speed and it's beyond annoying to get such a big fine when you feel you don't deserve it.

Adelaide's speed limits have gotton ridiculous, you spend all your time checking what the limit is when you should be watching the road, so it defeats the whole purpose of safe driving.

Anyway, maybe try and write a letter, you might have better luck than we did. Good luck

[KiLLaKaZ]

The thing is, there are 3 reasons I don't speed: 1) if Vallerie is in the car, there is no way I put her at risk like that. Doubly so, now that I am pregnant. 2) my DH drives like a maniac, and I am constantly lecturing him about speed limits, and I always say "I never speed, why do you feel you have to?" and if he finds out about this speeding fine, my credibility will be shot :rolleyes: ; and 3) I just don't think it's worth the $150 fine to arrive somewhere a couple of minutes earlier. I am never in that much of a hurry. I'd rather get there late than risk a speeding fine. I can't afford to pay $150 for the crime of being an idiot!!


these sound exactly like my reasons, 'cept i didn't have a child when i was driving - it was more for my & my car's safety!! one day i got booked for doing 74 in a 60 zone... weird thing is my car was old & slow & i was going 50 moments b4 (i thought it was a 50 zone!). also, the cop car was going in the opposite direction - r they allowed to book you when they're driving in the opposite direction?? weird!
i didn't contest it & paid it - i didn't know how to contest it. i hope yours goes better - keep us up-to-date, i'm interested to see if they listen to you.

btw - i rang my husband about it & told him (i was rather shaken - it was VERY unexpected! & then he told my parents... all the ppl i'm CONSTANTLY telling not to speed!! :mad: )

[reAllytee]

Have you got a clean record ?
There is a good chance that if you have a clean record you can be let off with a big suck up job on your part LOL saying how you have never done anything like this before & you cant understand how this happened blah blah blah this is usually the way you can get around it. Something like this happened to my uncle so he did the whole letter & apology to which he was still asked to pay the fine but was then refunded the amount later & had no points deducted.
I have police friends but they are in a different state so i doubt they could be of much help due to different regulations etc but if your still worried i could ask ?
But i seriously think you may have to wear this one :(

Oh btw KiLLaKaZ yes you can be booked if the cop car is going the opposite direction just as you can be booked from the other side of the road via a speed camera.

[SammyD]

I'm with allyoo.

If your driving record is clean (squeakily so!), then you should be able to plead for a warning.

About a year ago I was booked doing 58 in a 40km/h school zone. I was horrified as it was the first ticket I'd ever got (not including parking fines but they don't count!). I seriously didn't realise it was a school zone. The copper who booked me said that he had to give me the ticket, but to write a letter to the infringement processing bureau drawing attention to my otherwise clean record, apologising for the offence due to a momentary lapse of concentration, and requesting that a warning be issued on this occasion. He said not to send a cheque at first.

I did all this and about a month later got a letter saying that the fine had been waived and the offence recorded as an official warning. :smiliedance: I didn't lose any points, either.

I'm in NSW so I'm not sure if this will apply elsewhere, but it's gotta be worth a try. Good luck!

[rynosmum]

None of us mean to speed, but more realistically, none of us mean to be caught speeding.

The laws are made for a reason, to ensure more safety on local streets - those which our children are most frequently exposed to.

Cop it sweet, take responsibility for your error and pay the fine.

We all want our streets to be safer (especially local streets and school zones) and I daresay that many of us would be the first up to complain if someone injured (or worse) a child outside a school or surburban zone and that person happened to be 10kms over the limit.

So is it okay to try and get out of a fine because we weren't paying attention to the law just because we believe that we are good people ? Are there two sets of rules ?:confused:

[razzle]

Does anyone know whether I can argue that I had just turned onto the road with 50km/h limit, and therefore didn't realise that it was a 50km/h zone?
Nah. Not going to happen. If you had *just* turned into the road and got clocked at 62 then you must have had your foot down pretty hard.

I know the rule is "50km/h unless otherwise signed" but seriously I did not realise that was the rule until quite recently, when they started putting up signs to that effect!
Quite recently? The rule has been in place now for three years (http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/safety/road/initiatives/50kmh_suburban/index.asp). I remember when I lived in SA we were BOMBARDED with advertising in the newspapers, TV, billboards. And this is what they'll argue if you try and get out of it.

Sorry to sound harsh..... but...

Cop it sweet, take responsibility for your error and pay the fine.
.... I'm with rynosmum here.

[the_queen]

Thanks everyone - I have paid the fine.