QLD Unregistered vehicle

Gwen said:

My grand daughter was travelling Bruce highway yesterday and a policeman booked her for unregistered car X 2 days expired. The reason she had not paid the rego was she had not received the renewal even though a forward address had been registered. She was under extreme circumstances due to where in was staying and was returning home. She received 2 fines each for $500.
Is there anyway she can apply for leniency.

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You can try to ask for leniency, but the traffic law system is supremely recalcitrant and will not listen to rhyme or reason, they have their technical breach of the law in hand and that's all they need or want to know, fairness and reason are irrelevant to them.

Hi Clancy, we have just gone through a very similar situation to Gwen with driving our vehicle unregistered $313 and uninsured $522 as my wife was interstate and I was overseas when the posted renewal came through. My question is how do we apply for leniency when the infringement only gives you the option to 1) pay the fine or 2) elect for a court hearing. Any understanding would be greatly appreciated.

Any others with experience of success on leniency your comments would be greatly appreciated

In general, you can ask leniency through the review process, but that depends on if the person has a good driving record or not, usually the review process is very strict and rarely waive or change the fine, if it is a clear cut, then they would waive the fine or take action, so you need to go to court and ask for leniency. If you are sure that it will not be accepted you can elect to go to court directly, but it may be wise to ask for review first, as each case is different. If you have a good driving record, of good character and your life depends on driving (work or picking up the kids from school) these factors may come helpful.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for that. Good driving record. Requesting a court hearing is clear however i need advice on how to request a review as infringement does not give this as an option

URGENT help needed. Does anyone know how I can ask for leniency through the review process as Adam is suggesting above. Infringement documents only give two options 1) payment method OR 2) elect for a court hearing. Fines are due tomorrow (28 days)

David Symons said:

URGENT help needed. Does anyone know how I can ask for leniency through the review process as Adam is suggesting above. Infringement documents only give two options 1) payment method OR 2) elect for a court hearing. Fines are due tomorrow (28 days)

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I am in NSW and it is written on the back of the infringement. As you mentioned it is not an option in your infringement, then I then I doubt QLD has that. What you can do is call the authority in your state (RMS in NSW) and ask about this process. This is the best way to go, if they tell you it is the only two options you mentioned, then elect to go to court as it will be handled through the court.

Forget about leniency because you won't get it. The fact is that the vehicle was unregistered at the time the infringement was issued - period. Nothing else matters to the Police or to the Courts.

"I didn't receive the renewal" never works for the simple reason that you have the previous year's registration papers or receipt with the expiry date on it. Whenever you don't receive a renewal, whether it be for a vehicle registration or a drivers licence, then it is your responsibility to chase that up with the appropriate authority before the registration or licence expires. People seem to think that not receiving a renewal is a valid excuse for breaking the law - but it is not and that argument hardly ever works.

Vehicle owners have certain responsibilities, and one of those is ensuring that the vehicle is registered. The owner failed in that responsibility here and got caught. If they take it to Court, it will end up costing them more - not less.

A renewal notice is nothing more than a reminder. Whether or not you receive it has nothing to do with the application of the law, or whether or not a person has broken the law.

Perhaps @Bill Murray would like to comment on this issue from a Police perspective.