Question for spud(or any cops)

[rettun]

Aiight, need the hard word here plz :confused:

A while back, I was drivin up north to have a faimly dinner on my birthday, and because my grandad jus got out of hospital and my car kindly blew up(litterally, blew a big hole in the block at about 6.15pm). I got it towed back to my parents place, and they sorted out gettin their spare vehicle back from their friends so I could get home. We had dinner, as the people that had it had the keys an hours drive away and were at some function which ment i didnt get kets until about 9.45pm

I left and drove towards auckland, stoped for gas and a cop was in the petrol station he looked at me, drove past stareing then went and parked on the side of the road waiting for me to pull out and promptly followed me about 1km then pulled me over at 10.05pm(aprox) checked rego, warrent, deisel miles, licence then ticketed me for driving after hours.

I wrote away and requested the ticket being droped but they wouldnt..

now heaps of people have said that theres a 15 minute leeway after 10pm? true/false?

And given the circumstances would i have any chance of getting off it if i requested a court appearance?

Thanks in advance, any info would be greatly appreciated.

[FROSTY]

as in another thread. You get nothing by winging about it- Send em a letter of explaination. Cut all the emotional stuff out --explain the facts.
make it clear you were heading directly home.

[Deano]

Nice to see another example of police "discretion" being used here....NOT - sounded like a pretty reasonable excuse/reason to me. And 5 minutes past the curfew ? What bollocks. Can't have been as unsafe as travelling 50kms over the limit (see Zed's earlier thread)

I presume you are 'young' if on restricted hours, hence maybe why he deliberatley picked on you - perhaps if you had tits and a nice smile you would have got away with it.

Flame away guys.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Maybe fair enough deano. Dunno. Not all cops are perfect, some are better than others. Following you until he could ticket you is a bit dodgy though. Like following a motorbike until it, as they all do, breaks some law (cos we all know that all motorcyclists break laws always and are always dangerous). If I knew what he was trying to do and that it was going to happen, I would pull over and sit on the side of the road and wait until he got bored. Read a book or something. Prepare to doss down for the night. He cant wait there forever. What a tosser. Talk about police prejudice.

While prejudice is difficult to separate from reality eg young people more often are driving on leaners licences than old guys, there is a fine line between effective targeted policing and overly prejudiced policing.

[Motu]

That's just plain fuckin stupid man - you coulda got someone killed! I reckon a night in the police cells and you would buck up your ideas. You young guys are all the same,You'll get no sympathy from me you,you reckless little shit - thank god I wasn't on the road at the same time!

[scumdog]

That's just plain fuckin stupid man - you coulda got someone killed! I reckon a night in the police cells and you would buck up your ideas. You young guys are all the same,You'll get no sympathy from me you,you reckless little shit - thank god I wasn't on the road at the same time!
Motu, good to see you held back from giving him a REAL flea in the ear, that's something these young fellas don't have -patience, tolerance and understanding!!!
I'm grateful I am at the other end of the country, well away from dangerous young thugs like that, the cop deserves a medal, he probably saved at least 10 people from a horrible death by stopping the dangerous irresponsible driver, it is sheer madness for him to drive after 10pm, everybody knows that is when restricted and learner driver metamorph into deranged and speeding killers. :crazy: ;)

[vifferman]

Heh. My eldest son got pulled up on our street on his way home one night. The cop looked at his license (restricted), and his watch (a few minutes before 10) and asked him where he lived ("Just down the street here".)
"Well - I'd better let you go then!" and sent him on his way so he didn't keep him out past curfew.

[spudchucka]

Aiight, need the hard word here plz :confused:

A while back, I was drivin up north to have a faimly dinner on my birthday, and because my grandad jus got out of hospital and my car kindly blew up(litterally, blew a big hole in the block at about 6.15pm). I got it towed back to my parents place, and they sorted out gettin their spare vehicle back from their friends so I could get home. We had dinner, as the people that had it had the keys an hours drive away and were at some function which ment i didnt get kets until about 9.45pm

I left and drove towards auckland, stoped for gas and a cop was in the petrol station he looked at me, drove past stareing then went and parked on the side of the road waiting for me to pull out and promptly followed me about 1km then pulled me over at 10.05pm(aprox) checked rego, warrent, deisel miles, licence then ticketed me for driving after hours.

I wrote away and requested the ticket being droped but they wouldnt..

now heaps of people have said that theres a 15 minute leeway after 10pm? true/false?

And given the circumstances would i have any chance of getting off it if i requested a court appearance?

Thanks in advance, any info would be greatly appreciated.

Might be worth a go at defending it as you got the ticket just after 10.00 PM. There is no "official" 15 minute discrepency that I'm aware of so pretty much if you are driving after 10.00PM it is an offence. Restricted licence conditions should still be enforced in a reasonable manner however and I don't think that the facts as you have presented them are reasonable.

If it is 10.05 pm and you live just down the road then the response should be "get away home and lets not see you out driving again tonight unless you are with a fully licensed driver". If its 10.05 pm and you still have two hours of your journey to go then you have shown a clear intention to breach your licence conditions. The ticket was issued only 5 minutes after your restriction begins so it might be reasonable that your watch was 5 minutes slow??

Have a go you've got nothing to lose, at least write a letter.

[merv]

You have already said you wrote away but no luck. Get Mike L to have a look at your letter and try again or else I guess you will end up in court anyway as you always have the option to take it there - just might cost a bit more especially if you lose.

[marty]

you could always try the 10% margin tolerance, which would be six minutes....or 10% of 24hrs, which means you could be driving around at 0024am (isn't that a funny coincidence)......

[Wenier]

you could always try the 10% margin tolerance, which would be six minutes....or 10% of 24hrs, which means you could be driving around at 0024am (isn't that a funny coincidence)......

:laugh: nice call marty but for some reason i dont think the police would see that in the same light as the rest of us. Actually i think with the funding that some of them doin a very poor job especially in blenheim where its all about speeding fines and nothing else. Point being i went into the police station to sort out some stuff for my gun licence could here the people out the back and over a 10 minute period pressed the service buzzer twice one time alot longer and still was not served all up i ran out of time and had to leave not doing wut i went there to do.

[Lou Girardin]

Don't pay it. Write to the court or appear in person when you get the summons. Hopefully the Judge will be human. (Humane)

[spudchucka]

:laugh: nice call marty but for some reason i dont think the police would see that in the same light as the rest of us. Actually i think with the funding that some of them doin a very poor job especially in blenheim where its all about speeding fines and nothing else. Point being i went into the police station to sort out some stuff for my gun licence could here the people out the back and over a 10 minute period pressed the service buzzer twice one time alot longer and still was not served all up i ran out of time and had to leave not doing wut i went there to do.
I can't comment about Blenhiem but having worked in the watchhouse of a busy police station I can tell you that it can be mahem at times. The watchhouse keeper is often the only person there and are charged with answering phones, looking after and processing prisoners, answering the front counter and heaps of mundane admin type crap. Prisoners wellfare is there first concern and if they have a mentally unstable or injured person in custody then that will take precedence over anything else.

Bottom line is that there are heaps of possible reasons why your call wasn't answered quickly but if they are tied up they should at least show their face and say that there will be delays or at least put out a note to that effect.

[jrandom]

Point being i went into the police station to sort out some stuff for my gun licence

That's a bit strange, usually gun licensing is taken care of by a dedicated arms officer who only works certain hours of the week and has a separate office for the purpose. I wouldn't have thought you'd have had to go to the front desk and wait for a plain-vanilla copper's attention.

[spudchucka]

That's a bit strange, usually gun licensing is taken care of by a dedicated arms officer who only works certain hours of the week and has a separate office for the purpose. I wouldn't have thought you'd have had to go to the front desk and wait for a plain-vanilla copper's attention.
Ahh but the watchhouse keeper is also the gate keeper. No one gets in or out without him / her knowing about it.

Arms officers don't usually want to be bugged with changes of address and renewals etc.

[jrandom]

Ahh but the watchhouse keeper is also the gate keeper. No one gets in or out without him / her knowing about it.

Not at the Takapuna station, but yes, come to think of it, the others I have a passing familarity with *would* require front-desk attention.



Arms officers don't usually want to be bugged with changes of address and renewals etc.

The 10-year license renewals require the full 'character interview' shebang these days. The arms officer has to take care of it, AFAIK. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[spudchucka]

The 10-year license renewals require the full 'character interview' shebang these days. The arms officer has to take care of it, AFAIK. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yup but what usually happens is that the renewal notice will be accepted at the front desk and forwarded on to the arms officer who will then initiate background checks etc. They will make contact with the applicant at a time that is appropriate in relation checks etc that need to be made. A file needs to be entered and is often then sent on to another person, (vetting officer) that will do the checks for the arms officer. It takes a while and can't all be done over the counter in a few minutes.

[jrandom]

They will make contact with the applicant at a time that is appropriate in relation checks etc that need to be made. A file needs to be entered and is often then sent on to another person, (vetting officer) that will do the checks for the arms officer. It takes a while and can't all be done over the counter in a few minutes.

Yes, I did it myself last year. Took three months from the first walk-in until I got my new license in the mail. I recommend listening to the official advice about starting the renewal process several months before the expiry date on your license, guys!

I wasn't aware that another officer could do the checks, though. In my case the arms officer from Henderson station did it all himself. Must have been a slow week... very nice guy he was, too.

[rettun]

Spud, I was about 30 - 35 minutes from home. And was driving a 4x4, nothing "boyracerish" and wasn't speeding. He just pulled me over for a licence check after "seeing" me in the petrol station...


I didn't come here to winge, I asked mainly for advice. Seems im pretty fucked now anyway, after writing away requesting a court appearance a month ago, I get a call today saying that my fines been passed onto the infringment beuro and I have very slim chance of it getting taken back to the court system to try and fight it.

After all my encounters with the Police I can only say i've met one(lady cop) who was actually nice.. and no im not only talkin about HP, and not all times i was in the "wrong" :niceone:

/me sighs, they want $2 out of me a week for the next 3 years then fine faaaaaaark em :finger: :angry2: :calm:


note no im not gona go on any angry anti police rampages... yet:)

[Drunken Monkey]

While we really appreciate Spud's (et al) input on our various traffic/police queries, it's his job to uphold the law, not listen to our niggles about the finer points and give you legal advice.

Rettun, if you're truly serious about querying/fighting your infringement, you should be consulting a lawyer. That's going to cost you money - you're going to have to weigh up whether the legal fees and hassle will be worth the fine/license extension - unfortunately often they aren't. If you've written a letter and got no joy, a lawyer is your only smart option if you want to keep on fighting.

[spudchucka]

Spud, I was about 30 - 35 minutes from home. And was driving a 4x4, nothing "boyracerish" and wasn't speeding. He just pulled me over for a licence check after "seeing" me in the petrol station...


I didn't come here to winge, I asked mainly for advice. Seems im pretty fucked now anyway, after writing away requesting a court appearance a month ago, I get a call today saying that my fines been passed onto the infringment beuro and I have very slim chance of it getting taken back to the court system to try and fight it.

After all my encounters with the Police I can only say i've met one(lady cop) who was actually nice.. and no im not only talkin about HP, and not all times i was in the "wrong" :niceone:

/me sighs, they want $2 out of me a week for the next 3 years then fine faaaaaaark em :finger: :angry2: :calm:


note no im not gona go on any angry anti police rampages... yet:)
Go to the local Court and speak to someone at the fines payment section. Tell them they story and if you want to defend it ask for their advice as to the procedure. If you are still not sure of the best course of action then speak to a lawyer.

I don't want to put you off but I don't really think you will have much luck defending the ticket. The best outcome might be that the JP feels a little sorry for you, (as the circumstances are a little wanky on the behalf of the cop) and gives you a discount on your fine, ($400 is a big pill for anyone to swallow). Keep in mind though that if that situation did transpire you would still be up for Court costs as well, (usually $130) and you might be no better off than if you just paid the fine and you will still get the 25 demerit points.

Good luck and let us know what you decided to do, I'd be interested to know the outcome.

[Skyryder]

Retturn.
Write an explanation to the Minister of Police and send along the a copy of the letter that you sent to the Police if possible send copies of car damage and relevent material. At the same time send copies of relevent letters and material to to your MP. This is important. Make an appoitment to see your local MP in person. Not too sure if you are voting age if not bring parent guardian etc to this meeting. This is a last shot it may or may not work but it seems to me that your offence was caused by circumstances outside of your control. Let's know what happens.

Skyryder

[rettun]

Yeah sorry to hassle the police here, was just curious to the view from the other side of the fence. And can't afford a lawyer. I would have thought a blown up car on my birthday would have been enough for Constable ...

I really cant afford the fine, as i dont have alot of work at the moment and had to buy another car because i couldnt afford to fix the other one hence more money gone..

Am writing a letter and enclosling a copy of the letter I origionally sent them, hoping the JP will take some pity on me if I can get it back to the court system...

I'll keep you posted as stuff hapens if you want to keep an eye on the thread..

Nite

[Bandito]

That's just plain fuckin stupid man - you coulda got someone killed! I reckon a night in the police cells and you would buck up your ideas. You young guys are all the same,You'll get no sympathy from me you,you reckless little shit - thank god I wasn't on the road at the same time!

I was all geared up to go for a ride today BUT now I think I will just stay at home in case some other irresponsible young hoon has slipped through our justice systems net. Shti man this thread is so disturbing I may never ride again!!!

[Lou Girardin]

\
I didn't come here to winge, I asked mainly for advice. Seems im pretty fucked now anyway, after writing away requesting a court appearance a month ago, I get a call today saying that my fines been passed onto the infringment beuro and I have very slim chance of it getting taken back to the court system to try and fight it.

:finger: :angry2: :calm:

Did you pay the fine? If not, it will automatically be referred to the courts.

[rettun]

I wrote away, requesting a court date and it didnt get to them apparently so now i have to fight to get back to the court system(hopfully) to fight it there.

[spudchucka]

I wrote away, requesting a court date and it didnt get to them apparently so now i have to fight to get back to the court system(hopfully) to fight it there.
Like Lou said, don't pay the fine and you will receive a summons to Court.

[rettun]

Like Lou said, don't pay the fine and you will receive a summons to Court.


:spudwhat: ok a lil confused... so I just ignore the form 56(or what ever it is they sent me) and i'll get a court appearance to defend myself against the fine?

thx in advance

[marty]

you're actually better off asking for a 'rehearing'. if you ignore it, a court date will be set, you may or may not get the advice of the court date, and it may come and go without you knowing. if that happened, you would be convicted in your absence, fined, plus court costs. to ask for a rehearing, write to the bureau, asking for one, plus request full disclosure. i'll make up a blank letter and attach it later for you