QLD Wrong Information on Traffic Infringement Notice?

[Lucky Devil]

I'm a P1 licence holder that had been pulled over and given a traffic infringement notice for speeding at 149 in a 100 zone, being fined $1177 and 8 points. Not long after getting home, I noticed that the officer has given me a fine with lots of incorrect information, with it having a incorrect licence type, incorrect middle & last name, misspelled town & street name, incorrect car colour, incorrect DOB and missing information that has been left blank.

I was hoping that I would be able to get out of this fine with some luck as I'll be needing my licence for a job I'm going for when I move to New Zealand.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

Probably not. I don't know exactly where the line lays, but 'minor' errors on the notice won't cause it to be invalid. If they got your licence number right, they'll find you. And I doubt if you took it to court that any magistrate is going to overturn the notice on those issues if you've been caught doing 149 in a 100 zone. Exceeding a speed limit in Queensland by more than 40km/hour is subject to a standard 6 month driving suspension, as it is considered a serious offence.

You can apply for a special hardship order if you can prove a need to keep your licence. It's not something to be done lightly, and expect to have to prove why you should be allowed to continue driving. Also expect the very real possibility that you'll get a stern talking to from the magistrate.

 

[Rod]

Hmm, with so many incorrect details, and catching a magistrate on a good day after the prosecutor has already annoyed them once too often, you might get lucky.

 

[Lucky Devil]

If I took it to court and stated that my reason for speeding was to overtake and gain some distance between me and a car that kept speeding up and slowing down in my expense even when I tried to overtake the car. Even if my truthful statement on top of the incorrect information didn't get me out of the fine entirely, would it at least get me a reduced fine? For example, 3 months without a licence or only paying the fine.

 

[Rod]

Unlikely to be an acceptable excuse. Prosecutor will cut it to shreds saying your proper course of action was to slow down or pull over and let the other car move well ahead.

What you do is challenge the validity of the ticket and say nothing about the speeding. By challenging everything that is wrong, you then cast doubt on the amount of speed you were doing. Maybe try to have it dropped to <25kms over.

Be respectful in court and cast reasonable doubt on the ticket and in theory you have a chance. Not saying a good chance, but something better than 0%, and probably less than 50%.

 

[Lucky Devil]

I might just get the information corrected and hopefully go on good behavior. The odds of winning against the two cops that were there and having one of them showing me the speed I was going at the time is unlikely. Plus I would have to lie that he didn't show me the speed reader, which I don't want to do.