Hello members.
This is my first post. Excuse me for the length.
Around a month ago, I inadvertently drove through a 40km/h school zone on a Melbourne road that is usually signed 70km/h and was caught by a police officer with a handheld speed detector. Annoyingly, I was on the way to the other side of town to pick my child up from school - I just didn't notice the time nor notice the school zone signs.
My detected speed was 69km/h which the police take 2km/h off as standard, so 67km/h alleged speed putting me 27km/h over the limit and therefore what is stated on the traffic infringement notice, a 1 month drivers licence suspension, a $428 fine, 4 demerit points plus a conviction recorded.
I have no issue with the penalty - I made a mistake and will learn from it, but I do have a few questions that hopefully someone may be able to clarify:
- Is the one month suspension mandatory or could it be contested in court? (Contesting in court would be a waste of money if the suspension/fine/conviction can't be overturned.)
More than 3 weeks after the date of the infringement, I have not received any paperwork from Vic Roads nor Victoria Police about my offence/ speeding fine/ suspension/ conviction and have only the hand written carbon copy of the notice the police officer handed to me on the day. As the start date of my suspension is imminent, I found this to be unusual.
- Should I have received a letter from VicRoads or Vic Pol?
Upon checking my demerit points with the automatic Vic Roads demerit points phone system, it states that I only have the 5 points that I had previously accrued and was aware of. The system states that my last offence occurred in August 2015. The 4 points from the recent offence have not been added.
- Should they have been added to my demerit points total by now?
The traffic infringement notice states that: "This notice relates to an excessive speed infringement and it will take effect 28 days after the date of this notice as a conviction and - any Victorian driver licence or permit that you hold will be suspended for 1 month. You are disqualified from driving in Victoria for 1 month. If you hold an interstate or overseas licence you are disqualified from driving in Vic for 1 month.
- If the date of the infringement notice is 1/12/2016 when does my period of suspension begin? 28th, 29th or 30th December. When does it end? 28th, 29th or 30th Jan?
The infringement notice states that I am disqualified from driving in Victoria.
- Am I able to legally drive during this period in any other state or territory in Australia?
Lastly, given the absence of any documentation other than the original infringement notice, is there any chance that the infringement has been lost in the system or does this kind of delay occur at times? For any reason, could the police officer have withdrawn the infringement after I had driven away?
Any answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated as I find the wording in the infringement to be somewhat ambiguous and the whole situation a bit confusing.
Thanks,
This is my first post. Excuse me for the length.
Around a month ago, I inadvertently drove through a 40km/h school zone on a Melbourne road that is usually signed 70km/h and was caught by a police officer with a handheld speed detector. Annoyingly, I was on the way to the other side of town to pick my child up from school - I just didn't notice the time nor notice the school zone signs.
My detected speed was 69km/h which the police take 2km/h off as standard, so 67km/h alleged speed putting me 27km/h over the limit and therefore what is stated on the traffic infringement notice, a 1 month drivers licence suspension, a $428 fine, 4 demerit points plus a conviction recorded.
I have no issue with the penalty - I made a mistake and will learn from it, but I do have a few questions that hopefully someone may be able to clarify:
- Is the one month suspension mandatory or could it be contested in court? (Contesting in court would be a waste of money if the suspension/fine/conviction can't be overturned.)
More than 3 weeks after the date of the infringement, I have not received any paperwork from Vic Roads nor Victoria Police about my offence/ speeding fine/ suspension/ conviction and have only the hand written carbon copy of the notice the police officer handed to me on the day. As the start date of my suspension is imminent, I found this to be unusual.
- Should I have received a letter from VicRoads or Vic Pol?
Upon checking my demerit points with the automatic Vic Roads demerit points phone system, it states that I only have the 5 points that I had previously accrued and was aware of. The system states that my last offence occurred in August 2015. The 4 points from the recent offence have not been added.
- Should they have been added to my demerit points total by now?
The traffic infringement notice states that: "This notice relates to an excessive speed infringement and it will take effect 28 days after the date of this notice as a conviction and - any Victorian driver licence or permit that you hold will be suspended for 1 month. You are disqualified from driving in Victoria for 1 month. If you hold an interstate or overseas licence you are disqualified from driving in Vic for 1 month.
- If the date of the infringement notice is 1/12/2016 when does my period of suspension begin? 28th, 29th or 30th December. When does it end? 28th, 29th or 30th Jan?
The infringement notice states that I am disqualified from driving in Victoria.
- Am I able to legally drive during this period in any other state or territory in Australia?
Lastly, given the absence of any documentation other than the original infringement notice, is there any chance that the infringement has been lost in the system or does this kind of delay occur at times? For any reason, could the police officer have withdrawn the infringement after I had driven away?
Any answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated as I find the wording in the infringement to be somewhat ambiguous and the whole situation a bit confusing.
Thanks,
