RandomTask1

Hello,

Got back from Australia at the end of January. Just got a photo speeding ticked from Cairns, Sheridan Street, right near where the higway changes with a picture of the car for a 73km/h in a 60 km zone, $200 fine.

Being a bloody minded individual, with the picture in hand I went to Google Street view. Thanks to the lane markings and the mountain in the background, I found where the camera was set up. As I was going down the road virtually in Google, I also noticed the 60km/h speed limit sign is 350 meters in front of where the camera was set up. So it appears I in fact was slowing down from the 80kph highway, but I had not slowed down enough by the time I got to the radar setup. Must be a great money maker for them.

Is the rental car company on the hook if I don't pay?. I suppose the only way QLD could ever collect on me would be if I went back to Australia for some sort of permanent to semi-permanent stretch.

I noticed in New South Wales there is a Penalty Review Board you can appeal to. Is there such a facility in Queensland?

Mwenenzi

Welcome to FT. Hope you enjoyed Aussie

As the rental car almost certainly has your credit card number they will debit the card and charge you an administration fee

Just pay up, before the rental car company charges you a fee

Another thread on the same topic: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/austr...h-citizen.html

*A Flyer

Whether you agree with photo radar or not, you are supposed to slow down to speed before the speed limit sign, not after it. You were well over the limit so I'd suggest you suck it up and pay the fine.

bensyd

I'd write them a letter and plead ignorance. It's a cynical cash grab by the state government anyway.

im-headed-west

Are there signs that say "reduce speed ahead" or something similar ?

Quokka

http://www.police.qld.gov.au/program...fringement.htm

Though given the facts you state (i.e. you were speeding), a letter is probably a waste of postage.

*A Flyer

In many places there are (especially with shifts down from 80kph or higher) but in any case, the sign is indicating the speed limit for the stretch of road that follows the sign. Given that you can normally see the sign at a reasonable distance, it is reasonable to assume that you have enough time to hit the brakes and get yourself down to speed. If you are still speeding 300 or 400m after the sign, you haven't made a real attempt to slow down.

number_6

The procedue and law varies by state, and I don't know QLD law. In VIC and NSW the owner of the car is responsible for the fine, unless they provide the name and address of the driver to the state. Then the driver is billed; there is no charge to your credit card by the rental company. QLD might charge, and if they do there is typically $100 or so administration fee added to the fine. Not paying does cause some rental companies to refuse to rent to you in the future, so it can be a calculated risk. Not sure if the hassle is worth the $200.

BadgerBoi

Seems to be a recurring theme on FT: foreigner visits Australia, breaks the law then signs up to FT asking for tips how to avoid the penalty.

Personally I would just put my big boy pants on, pay up and learn not to make the same mistake again next time.

bensyd

Maybe if we put our big boy pants on we can get some sensible traffic laws. Instead of the current golden goose system that state governments treat speeding offences as.

thadocta

As someone who works in rescue roles, speed limits are mostly sensible, and are well sign-posted (at least in NSW). In NSW, if you get donw, then you deserve to get done (and I work and live in the Blue Mountains, wiere the speed limits change with such regularity that most people change their underwear more frequently).

Nothing wrong with it though, you need to look for such things as a driver, if you miss the new speed limit sign, then you aren't concentrating enough.

Dave
(obtained licence in 1987, in 2012 I have not lost a single point)

Fredd

Good advice. ^ We once got ticketed in Sweden for inadvertently parking over the edge of a bus zone.

We mentioned it when returning the rental car a few minutes later (wouldn't you know this happened at the end of a four-day rental?). The rep was sympathetic and said he would informally "appeal" but we still ended up paying the $75 ticket.

We also got caught up in that automated toll road when driving out of MEL a couple of years ago, but a fellow FTer, itsalongwaydown, paid the toll out of his account and we reimbursed him; otherwise, it would have gotten expensive had it come back to us with fees added by the rental car company on top of the penalties.

For a bit of Commonwealth perspective, one of the the major election issues in the 2001 election in the Canadian province of British Columbia was the photo radar vans the government of the day had introduced.

It had been promised that the vans would not be parked in tricky places such as the bottom of hills or right at speed-limit changes, yet they were, and people noticed, and eventually a government fell. The party promising to cancel them won 77 of 79 seats. Admittedly there were other factors in play as well.

In the meantime, OP, I agree the best advice is simply to pay the fine.

bensyd

Outside of the US, Australians are probably the worst drivers I have encountered. They fall into two camps; those who think anything other than the signposted speed limit would be utterly dangerous, and those who think the posted speed limits are in MPH. Both are dangerous. I'm not interested in trying to set land speed records but there are roads where a modern car can certainly travel at a higher speed than 110 without being a menace. The speed limits are so inconsistent, why is the Harbour Bridge (with its undivided carriageway) 80km/h but the Anzac Bridge (which has concrete down the middle) 60km/h?

The first thing that should be fixed is the cereal box licensing process. I agree with you that if you get done then you probably deserve it in NSW because speed cameras have more announcements than a Royal visit. But in say, Victoria, they ping you for being 1-2km/h over the limit and speed cameras aren't signposted. To me, that seems like nothing more than revenue raising.

Sorry didn't mean to rant.

im-headed-west

Wow ... 1-2km / h over results in a ticket ?

serfty

Note true - the "informant" (police) would be laughed out of court if a driver decided to challenge such an infringement.

3Kmh is taken off the recorded speed to arrive at an "alleged" speed.

This is due to the limits of the mandated accuracy of a vehicle's speedometer.