Well, once again the legal system has shown me what a crock of shit it is in
this Country.
There's 3 parts to this crock of crap....
1. The Plastic covers that are sold through Super Cheap, Kmart, etc There was NOTHING special about this one , it was clear perspex - not reflective ....or so I thought - anyway's it has cost me $225 in fine and who knows in demerit points....
Seems these plastic covers can reflect sunlight at some angles, and these
might well be reflect a flash from a Speed Camera.....despite coming out on
brand new vehicles etc etc etc....So there you have that - it's a $200 fine
to use a anti speed camera device - Not Bad really....where are my
hinges......
2. - The ticket informed me I HAD to be at Magistrates Court at 8.30 today.
I was heard and convcited at 3:15 PM !! - Almost 7 hours later !! - I called
the Complaints officer re this and he informs me that due to lack of staff,
Toowoomba court could only have one magistrate on today. I asked him who was
going to pay for my time, seeing as though I had lost substantial time
waiting, and he said no one would. As anyonr who has been will know - anyone
representing them selves are the very last people to be heard - well how
come some wegal Lawyer's time is seen in the Courts as more important than
my time ?? I feel like sending these guys a bill - allowing for 2 hours for
"normal" wait time, allow 1 hour for lunch, and bugger it - they can pay me
$50 per hour for the rest ? Anyone think this is a possible ??
3. The Worst part of this WHOLE thing was that - I did not receive an
infringement notice for this offence - I received a Notice to Appear -
straight to Court.....
On this Notice, the issuing officer got the month incorrect on the offence
details - so it read " You are allegged to have been driving down Neil st in
February......(rather than the correct date of March) - When I asked about
this fact, stated that I could be committing Purgery if I was to plead
guilty given the wording, seeing as though I was not driving my car as per
Month on the ticket - the Prosecution and Magistrate decided to amend the
ticket's date as I stood before them both - dates are not important now ??,
it seems Typographical errors are any mistakes the Police make, thats what
it was called - Typographical error.......where as mister Joe Blow makes
same mistake in relation to getting a school Zone / date Wrong - does 60 in
a 40km/h and WHAM ! pays through the nose for it - Hypocrits at their
best.....
This is further crap I just thought of....
I explained to the Magistrate that I needed to keep my licence given my
situation, and that I would hope he see's fit to allow that to happen.
He nods his head in agreement and then imposes the fine.
After the Magistrate had told me the fine, I asked him how many demerit
points would be associated, and he did not know ? - So despite him knowing
my points were quite high - he gives a penalty out without any idea of the
full ramifications - not knowing if I would keep my licence thru loss of
points or not....
How in (*EXPLETIVE*) name can they do that ?? Surely a Judges decision is
the last word ? - Shouldn't the Judge administer points as well - if he sees
fit that the penalty should contain them ??
I am soo frustrated with this.....how do you deal with Hypocrisy at this level ?
Simon.
Simon.
this Country.
There's 3 parts to this crock of crap....
1. The Plastic covers that are sold through Super Cheap, Kmart, etc There was NOTHING special about this one , it was clear perspex - not reflective ....or so I thought - anyway's it has cost me $225 in fine and who knows in demerit points....
Seems these plastic covers can reflect sunlight at some angles, and these
might well be reflect a flash from a Speed Camera.....despite coming out on
brand new vehicles etc etc etc....So there you have that - it's a $200 fine
to use a anti speed camera device - Not Bad really....where are my
hinges......
2. - The ticket informed me I HAD to be at Magistrates Court at 8.30 today.
I was heard and convcited at 3:15 PM !! - Almost 7 hours later !! - I called
the Complaints officer re this and he informs me that due to lack of staff,
Toowoomba court could only have one magistrate on today. I asked him who was
going to pay for my time, seeing as though I had lost substantial time
waiting, and he said no one would. As anyonr who has been will know - anyone
representing them selves are the very last people to be heard - well how
come some wegal Lawyer's time is seen in the Courts as more important than
my time ?? I feel like sending these guys a bill - allowing for 2 hours for
"normal" wait time, allow 1 hour for lunch, and bugger it - they can pay me
$50 per hour for the rest ? Anyone think this is a possible ??
3. The Worst part of this WHOLE thing was that - I did not receive an
infringement notice for this offence - I received a Notice to Appear -
straight to Court.....
On this Notice, the issuing officer got the month incorrect on the offence
details - so it read " You are allegged to have been driving down Neil st in
February......(rather than the correct date of March) - When I asked about
this fact, stated that I could be committing Purgery if I was to plead
guilty given the wording, seeing as though I was not driving my car as per
Month on the ticket - the Prosecution and Magistrate decided to amend the
ticket's date as I stood before them both - dates are not important now ??,
it seems Typographical errors are any mistakes the Police make, thats what
it was called - Typographical error.......where as mister Joe Blow makes
same mistake in relation to getting a school Zone / date Wrong - does 60 in
a 40km/h and WHAM ! pays through the nose for it - Hypocrits at their
best.....
This is further crap I just thought of....
I explained to the Magistrate that I needed to keep my licence given my
situation, and that I would hope he see's fit to allow that to happen.
He nods his head in agreement and then imposes the fine.
After the Magistrate had told me the fine, I asked him how many demerit
points would be associated, and he did not know ? - So despite him knowing
my points were quite high - he gives a penalty out without any idea of the
full ramifications - not knowing if I would keep my licence thru loss of
points or not....
How in (*EXPLETIVE*) name can they do that ?? Surely a Judges decision is
the last word ? - Shouldn't the Judge administer points as well - if he sees
fit that the penalty should contain them ??
I am soo frustrated with this.....how do you deal with Hypocrisy at this level ?
Simon.
Simon.