So you've been done for speeding - how to get out of the fine

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So you open a letter to find that you've been done for speeding or running a red light. That comes with a hefty fine and loss of points.

After you've let out a few expletives you may start wondering what you can do to get out of it.

The first thing you should do is to make sure you are the one actually responsible.

how to contest a traffic fine speeding fine

In NSW about 1260 fines are issued by mistake each year, which is 0.2% of total fines, according to an article on news.com.au. It could be something as simple as your number plate being similar to the offending car and the fine being sent to you by mistake.

You can take a look at the camera image online to make sure it was your car.

The NSW Office of State Revenue says: "The camera is aimed at the vehicle and registration plate. The photo is not intended to, and may not, identify the driver."

If it was your car but you weren't the one driving it at the time, you can transfer the fine to the person responsible.

It's best to tell the other person first and you will probably need to complete a statutory declaration naming the person responsible. Don't pay the fine if you are transferring it to another licence holder.

Beware if you give false or misleading information because penalties do apply. In NSW, for example, you may lose the right to drive and individuals could be fined up to $11,000.

If you were the one driving but think there are special circumstances, you may be able to request a review.

Again in NSW, for example, if you had a clear driving record for at least 10 years before the offence your penalty may be downgraded to a caution, which means you won't have to pay the fine and demerit points won't apply. But a caution will be recorded on your driving history.

In Victoria, you may be able to get a fine downgraded to a warning if you were speeding less than 10km over the limit and have had a clear driving record for the past two years.

Check with your state office to see if you can apply for leniency based on a good driving record.

If there were other extenuating circumstances - for example, you were on your way to hospital for a medical emergency - you may also get your fine reviewed.

You may be required to provide a medical record or statement from a medical professional at the emergency hospital you attended.

In NSW, less than 4% of penalties are downgraded to a caution or withdrawn as a result of a request to review the fine. So although it is worth a shot, don't get your hopes up!

You can then elect to take the matter to court but if you know you were speeding or ran a traffic light, the best course of action is simply to pay up.

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Maria Bekiaris is editorial campaigns manager for Canstar and former deputy editor of Money. She holds a Bachelor's degree in business.
Comments
Rod
June 13, 2018 5.47pm

or just stop speeding.......

pete
June 13, 2018 6.38pm

Hello,
I read your artlcle about speeding fines.
I received a letter and was fined for speeding in a school zone.
I was suprised and not happy because it is a large fine.It was me driving on the day and
it was unfortunately only 3 minutes before the school zone period ended at 4pm.
if it was normal conditions i would have been free under the 60km limit.
I wrote back and pleaded for leniency but they said the fine stands and i paid it.
I had a clean driving record but its not fair that it still stands.

Kintiq
November 19, 2018 11.54am

I concur with your view there are many similar circumstances , it is rather a money making ventures the whole system is operated by contractors.

We can only find some premier come with a solutions, the excessive fines is not reducing road fatalities
I suggested few safety day in a year on those days , every police, SES and other volunteers will be on watch and no penalties but people will be pulled and advise what they are doing wrong in driving, as well pay to TV and Radio to announce driving safety every time they read news etc, but the RMS or the Ministers office is not interested because they want our money.

Bob
July 17, 2019 4.25pm

you're kidding mate. This system is in place to raise revenue for the States. It's that simple. This is why police can hide as opposed to being visible which would be a deterrent. Police are more interested in fining drivers than preventing the issue in the first place. cure is better than prevention where fines are concerned

Greg Hall
August 14, 2019 7.17pm

To all those sheep saying "simply don't speed", that is a silly simplistic argument. If the road rules were more simple, then I may partially agree. Firstly these speed limits were the same as 50 years ago, and modern vehicles are far superior in every respect. They will stop in less than half the distance, and handle speed far far better than the days gone by. My main gripe however, with these "simply obey the law" sheep, is that the law has been so overly complicated that it is almost impossible to obey. We used to have 3 basic speed zones in Australia. 60, 80 and 110. Now however, we have 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 zones and they are constantly changing. It's nothing to go from a 50 zone to 80 to 70 to 90 to 110 back to 70 in only a few km's. Maybe we could add 45, 55, 65 etc etc right?? Simply obey the law ;)
People are spending far too much of their efforts looking at their speedos, rather than concentrating on driving. I'll be happy if you changed the 90 zone to 80, just as long as there are fewer speed limit changes that you can be trapped with. I am not a speeder by any means, but many many times I find myself doing 65 in a 60 zone because i thought I was still in the 70 zone. It's not that I purposely sped and to say that that is dangerous is disingenuous.

Go to Germany where they train their drivers properly and have way higher limits (or none) and yet far better safety stats.

I can guarantee 99.9% of you on every trip will break the law at some stage. Maybe 61 in a 60 zone!? So, I propose for those sheep who state this, that we all get GPS's fitted to our cars and if you cross ANY zone at even 1km above, that it automatically registers and sends the fine and takes the money from your account. This way we will all be very safe!! The country would come to a halt and the roads would be far more dangerous with everyone paranoid about speed, and taking far too much concentration on the speedo rather than the road. No one would be able to afford driving anymore either, but we'll be safer!!

Or we could all just bloody walk!!!

Tommy Yokhanna
September 21, 2019 11.02pm

I agree with you sooo much!! I think I may just go to Germany then lol thanks :)

Rae Mott
January 29, 2020 4.32pm

Agree 1000%. Australians so apathetic just cop it sweet. Our police should just be renamed to the revenue squad.

Neil MacGregor
April 14, 2021 11.06am

100% Agree - This should be a billboard. I too was brought up with Scottish parents where learning correct driving technique (as if driving on ice) was mandated, irrespective of the local 'go do a computer test' requirements.

Good driving is all about being smooth, observant & prepared - Speeding limits that change every km or so are the antithesis of this - constantly forcing a see-saw of braking, accelerating and staring at the damn speedo rather than being observant of the road surrounds.

The fact that the per capita fatality rate on roads in Australia is far higher than that of Germany sums it up and refutes any arguments that our implementation of speed limits and enforcement fines is anything other than revenue raising. If the administration truly believed their propaganda over safety then they would be mandating and investing in driver training prior to licensing, with skid pan work and cornering instruction, then removing this crazy frequency of speed limit zone changes designed to catch you out.

Matt Bowden
May 29, 2021 11.49am

U r absolutely correct mate. This dumb country make road rules for bull carts and retired people. Where Administration fails find ways for revenue. Driving on NSW roads very stressfull...

Perry Kingston Lee
August 11, 2021 10.20pm

sic em

Bill Weatho
December 22, 2021 5.23am

Well said

Tommy Yokhanna
September 21, 2019 11.01pm

Not sure about you guys, but if there is a looong, pretty straight road capable of like 100 but should be 70-80 but is 60 instead, I start getting tired and fatigued, because there's just nothing for my mind to stay active on other than focusing going straight :/ bloody sucks and they say fatigue is like the #1 killer smh :///

Usually it wakes me up very well if it's a good speed and things to look out for but when I'm really that tired extra tired from whatever then maybe I just do the limit just in case I missed something. Otherwise I'm good

Mary Downs
January 28, 2020 6.46pm

I just copped 3 speeding camera fines. If I had received them within a few days I would have taken heed. All fines were below 60knm in a 50km zone. I'm miffed that in total it cost me al$700 and 3 demerit points. All were within a few days of each other.

Someone Somewhere
August 27, 2020 8.00pm
Matt Gol
February 21, 2020 10.24am

I received an infringement notice of red light in Vic is $413 and as I viewed the photo I found is turning right and I should wait till the amber light and make sure no car passed then turn right and the elapsed time on red is just 1.2 secs. As I think I'm not deserving the fine what's the solution could anyone help me please.

Kind regards

Matt

Jon Olsen
May 28, 2020 10.11pm

In Victoria you can get out of a fine every 2 years by writing a letter and appealing the fine...it's in the legislation.

Jae Ward
August 16, 2020 5.45pm

I would be very interested to know more about this

Someone Somewhere
August 27, 2020 7.59pm
Tahali Kikuchi-Miller
July 29, 2020 1.25pm

I have a fine that says I was doing 10km/hr above the limit. But there is no decimal given so how can I know that I wasn't doing 9.9km/hr and thus the fine would be less than half of the 10-20km/hr above fine!? The police rejected my review and would not provide a decimal to my actual speed. Because scientifically I can't be doing exactly 10km/hr above there must be some kind of limitation to the accuracy of the camera but they wont tell me specifically how fast I was going.

Someone Somewhere
August 27, 2020 8.00pm

Victoria Police has the discretion, upon review, to withdraw an infringement notice and issue an official warning in its place.

https://www.police.vic.gov.au/...

Mayank Uniyal
March 7, 2021 3.08am

Hi

I got pulled over today for speeding 90km/hr in 60km/hr zone.I'm very sure I was not driving that fast coz that's quite fast speed and I would've surely realised that I'm driving too fast,also it's my daily route so I know it.

I was so nervous when they chase me and stopped me asking the reason why I was driving 90km/hr.I was too shocked to hear unable reply anything and I said don't know may be for a bit it would've been but not sure.So they fined me and suspended my license for 3 months

How can I challenge it as I'm very sure I was not driving that fast and also I forgot to ask them to show on their radar my speed.

Please guide me and help me with my best options.Thanks in advance

GEOFFREY FITZGIBBON
October 17, 2021 7.17pm

I was driving in Canberra for 56 years, never got booked for speeding, DUI, parking or anything else, i retired to NSW ,and one Sunday 3 weeks later on the way home from Lunch at the Soldiers club in Batemans bay i decided i would take the tourist drive by way of Tomakin, i was driving towards Malua Bay shops and the road was a downhill run and i didn't check the speed, (the only two cars that were on the road that day was me and the coper) i heard the siren behind me not knowing it was for me, i pulled over, and the cop said i was doing 89 klms an hour, i pleaded with him to give me a break and told him that i had never been booked since i got my licence in 1964, he just said bad luck and he wrote me a ticket for $489 and 3 demerit points, i went home and wrote a sympathetic letter to the minister and told him my story, he was like the cop, not interested, I know and understand it was my fault but Christ Almighty after i told him my story you would think he would show a little bit of compassion, but not even a scerrick of compassion did he show, nor did the minister, I was hurt pretty bad but it was still my fault, so new south wales is not a good omen for me in retirement.

Darren Jenkinson
December 11, 2021 6.43am

I agree with a lot of the comments. Firstly it definitely is only revenue raising, as already stated the speed limits are 50 years old when cars had no brakes or steering compared to today's cars. The speed limits should be raised everywhere. The school zone limits are a farce, especially the times, I was booked doing 59klm per hour at 3.59pm when after 3.15pm all the school kids are gone and 2.30-3.00pm when the schools are not even finished ? They don't care and will not change anything as it earns the government [police] too much money. Speed is not a major contributing factor in road fatalities but the police always use this excuse as a fear campaign in their advertising to justify speed camera's everywhere and unjustly taking money from us. Slow and unco drivers cause most of the problems. When are the people going to stand up together and have all this rectified.

Doreen Payet
March 17, 2022 6.57pm

What happens if on a speeding fine ticket my licence expiry is wrong