speeding fines in WA

[bradley*]

Hey Guys,

In Western Australia, when you are issued with a speeding fine, it contains three pictures. Your Car, Your License Plate, You..

I have received a speeding fine allegedly doing 6km/h over the speed limit but the pictures are like this

1) My Car…

You can see the outline of a car. The only thing visible is the white of the headlights and the white of the license plate.

2) My License plate.

You can see a blurry picture of a license plate. Knowing what mine is, this license plate is mine, however neither of my parents could actually tell what the license plate says.. Granted the actual picture is probably better quality – im not disputing its my car

3) Me

The third picture is just a black square. I cant even see an outline of a person…

What is the likelyness that they will be able to show me who is driving the car?

How does one go about getting this picture. Do I have to go in and look on their computers or can I get a copy etc?

[123R-Prozak]

i wish that was the case for NSW... a cop see's me at an intersection and i get done without radar without proof, just visual, and i got pulled over 2km's down the rd... gay huh? now im suspended, been to court twice, seems court trusts a cop over a young 20yo....

IMO if they can't read the nunberplate properly or its blury just say thats not mine that letter looks like a D to me not a B or something like that... u cant see my body that wasnt me i dunno who that is, play stupid, say u were at a friends house down town that night or something lol

[JSTCHLN]

i wish that was the case for NSW... a cop see's me at an intersection and i get done without radar without proof, just visual, and i got pulled over 2km's down the rd... gay huh? now im suspended, been to court twice, seems court trusts a cop over a young 20yo....

IMO if they can't read the nunberplate properly or its blury just say thats not mine that letter looks like a D to me not a B or something like that... u cant see my body that wasnt me i dunno who that is, play stupid, say u were at a friends house down town that night or something lol

anywhere in australia the police cannot prosecute you with anything unless there is conclusive evidence against you. it will not hold up in the court.

it reminds me of the movie, the castle where the incompetant solicitor says its just the vibe that you get from the constitution - no evidence no case.

[123R-Prozak]

i wish that was the case for NSW... a cop see's me at an intersection and i get done without radar without proof, just visual, and i got pulled over 2km's down the rd... gay huh? now im suspended, been to court twice, seems court trusts a cop over a young 20yo....

IMO if they can't read the nunberplate properly or its blury just say thats not mine that letter looks like a D to me not a B or something like that... u cant see my body that wasnt me i dunno who that is, play stupid, say u were at a friends house down town that night or something lol

anywhere in australia the police cannot prosecute you with anything unless there is conclusive evidence against you. it will not hold up in the court.

it reminds me of the movie, the castle where the incompetant solicitor says its just the vibe that you get from the constitution - no evidence no case.

is that so? judge even asked the prosecutor " i gather this is a questamation " and prosecutor replied while looking through his notes " i believe so your honor "

gayyyyyy i got ripped off... is there a letter i can send in appealing it or do i have to go to court again???

im peed off now... cop even asked me how fast i was going cause he didnt know yet still fined me for what he thinks i was doing :(

[RoM2nV]

no evidence = you weren't speeding.

full stop.

you should be able to go to the cop shop and show that it's not you driving your car pretty easily..

Edited November 13, 2009 by RoM2nV

[Gonzalis]

They obviously know its your car if they sent you the fine in the mail??

[DJKOR]

In following with the OP's question, I would have the impression that if you can't prove that someone else was driving your car, you are going to cop the fine. This is what they say here for QLD, but I would think that WA would think the same:

Legislation provides that a registered owner or responsible operator of a vehicle is to know who was in control of their vehicle at all times. How they accomplish this is their responsibility, however, the use of log books and record sheets may be of assistance.

You should not rely on the photographic evidence to identify the driver as the photograph may be taken of the rear of the vehicle involved.

When the vehicle registered in your name was left in the care of another person (i.e. when travelling overseas or hospitalisation) and you are not in a position to identify the driver, you are to nominate on a statutory declaration the person you left your vehicle in the care of. That person then has the opportunity to nominate the actual driver at the time of the offence.

For further assistance please find below an explanation on the legislation:

Under the provisions of section 114(3) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995, it is a defence for a person charged with a camera detected offence to prove that the person did not know and could not, with reasonable diligence, have ascertained the name and address of the person who drove or was in charge of the vehicle at the time the offence happened.

Section 114(6) provides however, that the person must prove that reasonable control was exercised over the vehicle’s use, and there was in place a reasonable way of finding out the name and address of the driver or person in charge of the vehicle at any given time.

Usually they have the high res photos available on request. Give the a call to see if they will be able to provide you with one.

[Jaaassseeee]

I can tell you now that is not the case. The liklihood of them having a high resolution picture of you driving is as high as a picture of pigs flying. The act of handing in another persons driver's license to pay a fine happens on a daily basis in WA and them boys in blue probably do know but can't do anything about it.

[chicken]

They obviously know its your car if they sent you the fine in the mail??

Yeah I'm sure they have tools to adjust brightness/contrast etc to see the plates and they probably can do the same for the driver photo

[EC11WA]

The quality of the photos on the fine are nothing caompred to what they have on file.

Yes you could go in and question it but once you see the photo at the traffic branch, you will have no doubts about who it was driving or the clarity of the licence plate. oh and when you question it and they look at you and then the picture, too bad, youve been busted......how do i know, from experince...

mine was unclear just like yours and i went in thinking i would get away with it, wrong, their picture clearly showed it was me........

[VF-X]

i wish that was the case for NSW... a cop see's me at an intersection and i get done without radar without proof, just visual, and i got pulled over 2km's down the rd... gay huh? now im suspended, been to court twice, seems court trusts a cop over a young 20yo....

IMO if they can't read the nunberplate properly or its blury just say thats not mine that letter looks like a D to me not a B or something like that... u cant see my body that wasnt me i dunno who that is, play stupid, say u were at a friends house down town that night or something lol

How fast were u going? Unless u ran ur car fairly quickly compared to the others, there's no way they would pull ur car.

Btw, if the pictures aren't clear, how do they manage to get ur address and send it to ur home? Im thinking they have a high resolution pic of it. Just cbf or somethin..

[cybacaT]

You can get out of it if:

- the camera was at all on an incline.

- if your vehicle appears to be changing lanes (extra good if one indicator happened to be on).

- if there are multiple vehicles in the shot.

- if it was raining at all.

- if it was on a bend.

If the photos aren't conclusive, the cops will probably call your bluff and take you to court. Then you have to pay costs...it costs them nothing. Unfortunately there's nothing "just" about speed cameras - they're just a big money making scam by state governments, and it costs you more to contest them than to pay up, so most people just roll over and pay up.

I'm hoping a few years from now speed cameras will be gone once everyone realises what a con they've been. Who knows, you may get your money refunded then.

Good luck anyways.