Red Arrow!!!

[lotto]

the other day,low and behold i was pulled over by the police,ad my wife and baby in the car!!

the officer told me i went through i red light,i politely said the light might of been amber !!!

anyway he took my licence and told me to wait,my baby starts crying and it wasnt nice at all,

anyway he comes back and says i am booking you for going through a red arrow,i didnt argue,i just said i was going straight ahead,he replied not the last set of lights the one way back down the road near the shopping centre as it wasnt safe to pull you over an earlier,besides we have it on video he said!!

anyway,i have a clean driving sheet in the last five years,and before that,only when minor speeding offence years ago!

anyway its $308.00 and money is tight at the moment,someone told my wife i should write a letter explaining the above??

I said whatsthe point,and she told me sometimes they can overule it??

I have no idea on any of this,can you make part payments?or do community service??

and advice appreciatted?

cheers guys

[Greenhorn]

jeeze the fine sounds a bit steep, i got snapped doing 25k over in a 100k zone (overtaking) and i only got fined $278

[lotto]

your telling me,and yes i probaly did ,

but i can honestly say i did it without realising,

i just had a argument with my wife,anyway i went a different way home,iusually go a way where at the lights ,it is a turn left antime with care,

i think what happened was i checked to see if anyone was coming and then just went without realising through habit!!


and these lights where red arrow ones!!

[lotto]

the only phone number on there is pre recorded payment option,

i wanted to ring someone to see if i could ring someone to do part payment,but i dont know who to contact to ask??

i am in nsw newcastle

[holmsy]

i would have said can i see the video. but ah well

just try go to the police station or something and ask them if they know about paying in payments or community service. or if they don't then who do u talk to about it.

[Outbackjack]

Once apon a time you might of had a chance getting off by writing a reasoned letter to the powers that be. But in this day of state government lust for revenue, you dont stand a chance. No matter which way you go, you will end up paying. It's all about money.

I hope I am wrong and you do get a second chance, but I wont hold my breath.

[Bill_R]

I thought this had changed but checking with Lawlink shows it's the same as what it was (unless they are yet to update the site).
In NSW you can't pay by installments untill the fine is passed on to the SDRO. That incurs extra charges.
SDRO have other options available such as suspension of license etc but if you make regular payments you should be ok.
I dont' think you can just request a Community Service Order. Community Service Orders can be imposed when all other means have been exhausted.
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlin...es/lc_info_ttp

[Brett3158]

To get community service you would have to elect to have the offence heard in a magistrates court. The magistrate can then give you community service.

[sgt_doofey]

I'd be asking to see the video too. "Where's the evidence? How can I be sure that you booked the right person? I am more than happy to pay if you can show me that it was actually me that performed the offence."
By asking to see the video, wouldn't that also mean that they would have to extend the period to pay the fine which in turn gives you some more time?

[Bax]

Just cop it sweet, it's still a fine if it's an orange light and you've deliberately run it.

The payment options would be in the prerecorded phone number somewhere wouldn't it? should be an option?

[plext]

Once again with all the "my rights" and "I want to see the video" type foolishness.

If you take that track it will come down to your word against an officer of the law. You will lose this. This is of course after you have had your car searched, probably defected and had a lot of your time wasted.

Amber does not mean go faster, nor is it a protection against fines. The lights only need to be not green to attract a ticket, it is the discretion of the officer concerned that fate hinges on, which is never exercised if you demand videos, computer mockups and start screaming about your rights.

[needaXYGT]

anyway its $308.00 and money is tight at the moment,someone told my wife i should write a letter explaining the above??

ha, yeh i tried that but they didny give a ****

[Outbackjack]

Originally Posted by plext

Once again with all the "my rights" and "I want to see the video" type foolishness.

If you take that track it will come down to your word against an officer of the law. You will lose this. This is of course after you have had your car searched, probably defected and had a lot of your time wasted.

Amber does not mean go faster, nor is it a protection against fines. The lights only need to be not green to attract a ticket, it is the discretion of the officer concerned that fate hinges on, which is never exercised if you demand videos, computer mockups and start screaming about your rights.

Should it be read between the lines here that everyone should just sit back and watch their civil (and other) rights be stripped away. Surely we here in Australia are not taking our freedoms for granted. It would be a sad day indeed when nobody ever screams about their rights. Rights are worth fighting for!!!!

[plext]

Stripped away?

If you'd tried the "I want proof, you can't do this to me" approach in the 70's you'd be lucky to get away with only a mild beating for your effort, more likely you'd be verballed and end up in all sorts of drama.

Personal responsibility and accountability rather than droning on about rights gets you a lot further with these people, but then this is off topic and not really up for discussion here.

[Matty4]

Originally Posted by plext

Once again with all the "my rights" and "I want to see the video" type foolishness.

If you take that track it will come down to your word against an officer of the law. You will lose this. This is of course after you have had your car searched, probably defected and had a lot of your time wasted.

Amber does not mean go faster, nor is it a protection against fines. The lights only need to be not green to attract a ticket, it is the discretion of the officer concerned that fate hinges on, which is never exercised if you demand videos, computer mockups and start screaming about your rights.

I find this a bit strange. Everyone has legal rights of their own surely!!
The officer in this case actually informed the driver that he had it on video, therefore asking to see that evidence would be common sense, not antagonistic, or foolish.
An amber light is not an automatic fine, otherwise every amber that I travel through with a Red Light camera installed I would've copped a fine. That's why they are called "Red Light Cameras". You'll cop a fine travelling through if it's Red, not Amber.

lotto,
your infringement notice will have an address on it that you can write to. Put your case to them in writing, stating all the facts. Most juridictions will extend the timeframe to pay as long as you are in regular contact with them. If they refuse your request to withdraw the ticket, then at a minimum you will usually get a time extension to pay. I know this for a fact here in Vic as well as the ACT. Give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

Cheers,
Matty

[plext]

Originally Posted by Matty4

That's why they are called "Red Light Cameras".

Startling insight, who'd have thought it?

Red light cameras do not go off for amber, but we are not discussing them. Police on the other hand very much can have you for running them on amber if they feel you could have safely stopped.

[FORD3V]

You would like to think that in 9 out of 10 cases common sense would prevail,now was the police officer in question having a bad day or did he genuinely feel that it was reckless behaviour?

I think everyone has a right to question what they feel is genuinely wrong, I for one wasnt aware that it was an offence to go through an amber light under any circumstances, and to cop a 300 dollar fine on a police officers split second decision seems fairly harsh.

To say that people are fools for ever questioning authority is a fairly narrow minded way of looking at it, I would have thought that asking to look at the video would be fairly common place given the amount of bad press and inaquaracies that are reported about various camera devices.

I no many people who have asked to look at the photo's and the police are more than happy to do so.

[Thunder]

I wrote a letter once regarding a speeding fine i got. I had a perfect driving history, never fined. The fine was cancelled. And i still have a perfect driving history.

So it might be worth a shot. But mine was a legitimate case so yours i dont know.

[plext]

It's not about questioning things, it's how you do it.

If I feel I am not in the wrong, I accept the paperwork from the officer and follow up with requesting a court date and seeking access to any evidence. Histrionics or heroics at the roadside, which I am more often seeing being advocated on these very forums is very much not a clever way to deal with things, you merely cause the officer trouble and make him disinclined to listen to anything you have to say.

Bear in mind here that police are human and may well also make an honest mistake, it happens but you always have recourse to courts if you feel you are hard done by.

Again for clarity: I am not an advocate of just accepting things if you truly believe yourself to be in the right, I have been in court too many times to show myself anything but. But...there is very much a right way and a wrong way of doing this, bunfights at the roadside are definitely not going to help anyones case.

What I AM an advocate of is copping your lumps if you are in the wrong, we seemingly have developed a mentality whereby it is never our fault, there were circumstances, there were sunspots, the trains were on strike, the sky was falling, whatever.

The police in the end are application of law not the law itself, if you dislike the law or feel you were within it, take it up with the courts, not the messenger.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

I'd be asking to see the video too. "Where's the evidence? How can I be sure that you booked the right person? I am more than happy to pay if you can show me that it was actually me that performed the offence."
By asking to see the video, wouldn't that also mean that they would have to extend the period to pay the fine which in turn gives you some more time?

The video is for prosecution purposes. I repair the equipment that they plug the drives into at the end of their shift and I've taken a look at one of the early implementations which is a camera that streams video to a hard disk, no playback available. That may have changed, I don't know, but good luck trying to get a viewing of that outside the courtroom.

How can I be sure that you booked the right person? It's not the officers job to convince you that you committed an offence, you don't need to be sure of anything other than the fact that you're about to receive a ticket.

To the OP, depending on which state you're in, if you explain your circumstances, I've heard people who have had an excellent driving record have been given a reprieve. If you're pretty sure you've mistakenly run a red infront of a cop car with video, taking it to court is probably going to end up fruitless and more expensive. Compose a well written and polite letter and cross your fingers.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by Matty4

You'll cop a fine travelling through if it's Red, not Amber.

Incorrect. You'll cop a fine travelling through an amber if, in the opinion of a cop, you were able to safely stop. Travelling through a red is only for a red light camera as they're unable to determine whether it was safe to stop.

[sgt_doofey]

Sorry all, my comment in regards to seeing the video was a means to possibly extend the period in which payment is required, not to get out of the fine. This is in regards to the money being tight at the moment.
Perhaps a call to the local police station to find out what your options are in regards to payment might be in order if they aren't available on that phone number listed on the expiation notice.

[lotto]

thanks guys,

Dont get me wrong,i have a lot of respect for the police,yes are some not so good ones,but overall very good,

I didnt argue with him,and i was thinking the quickest at the time,but in hindsight i should have asked to see it!!

I would like to write a letter,even if only to make myself a feel better,as my driving record is good and i am proud of that!

they seem uncontacble thou,the only address on the letter is to the debt recovery office,who handle the payments,so who would i write the letter too at what address???

[TZENU]

Write to the Police Ombudsmen and sometimes you might see the decision being reversed... I use the word might VERY sparingly though...

A friend tried to contest a speeding ticket as he was going down a hill when he was snapped, and was unsuccessful.. But i would say you might have a stronger case..

good luck

[Lukeyson]

i wrote away for a fine nearly 6 years ago, got a letter back saying that they dont reconsider fines unless you have had good record for 10+ years. But i have had friends get off speeding fines since then by writing away