LAWTALK: BY-THE-WAY OF LEGAL INTEREST
COPS DO STUFF UP!
Marty owns a family crane business and drives and operates those huge German Liebherr mobile cranes worth a million dollars and which lift as much as 45 tonnes as well as lesser cranes. Needless to say he travels a lot of kilometres….
Marty also likes fast cars and owned a hotted up BMW135 Coupe (one of my favourites as my wife and I owned one for six years) that was producing over 300KW at the back wheels! It was not a daily drive and mostly used at SMSP (Sydney) on Wednesday drag nights once or twice a month.
In June 2015 on the way to Eastern creek Marty experienced a sudden unintended acceleration.
He assumed the floor mat had been caught in the accelerator assembly and stomped at the pedal with his foot and the car stopped accelerating but… Murphy’s Law applied and he was booked for 20 over by a Police Lidar.
He was stunned and could not say much but continued to the drags where the car was just OK performance wise but always under control.
About a month later he drove it for the first time since June to a mechanic for a service and oil change and also asked for the car to be checked fully, with nothing found at this time.
That afternoon he went to pick up take-away when the car just stopped and he had to pull over but in an unsafe place. After few attempts the car started again and as he was close to home he decided to nurse it home.
A couple of hundred meters later the car took off without his input and (naturally) he was clocked at Speed 45 and over by a Highway Patrol Officer.
He told the Officer what happened and was told, “I don’t believe you, just cop it,” and booked, with his licence suspended on the spot. He was also issued a Defect Notice for faulty throttle!
Marty had his car towed to a mechanic who diagnosed a faulty throttle assembly, ordered a new (modified) one and car never missed a beat after that. Apparently a common problem with that engine that was retro fixed for BMW.
The licence issue was a major one for Marty needing:
- Suspension Appeal to Parramatta Court to have his suspended licence re-instated.
- Request to Blacktown Court to send Speed 20 Over matter to Parramatta Court to synchronise with the Speed 45 over.
- Plea of Not Guilty at Parramatta Court on both charges.
- Hearing at Parramatta Court – found guilty and lost Licence for six months.
- Lodged Conviction Appeal on both matters to Parramatta District Court and Licence returned pending hearing of Appeals.
- Run Appeals and Court found Speed 45 caused by malfunction and quashed > conviction and Speed 20 received non-conviction.
This was not fun and cost a lot but what choice did Marty have?
CLOSE CALL
Tony lives in the country. He runs three business that turn over millions per year with a number of employees. He travels over 3000 kilometres every week driving a commercial medium sized truck and a rigid large truck and sometimes a semitrailer.
One day a week he does a round trip to the country over 800km. Another day it’s a 500km round trip.
By a miracle he still has three kids as he is never home – getting up at crack of dawn every day except for two when he gets up at 1am!
Unfortunately his record is dynamic with nothing major but lots of little stuff like Speeding 10 Over or Speeding 10 Under and of course a number of the curse infringement of every truck driver – Use Mobile Phone.
He averages more than one offence every year so inevitably has needed to use a number of Good Behaviour Licences, where you only have two demerit points for one year as you have exceeded your quota of 13, or in Tony’s case, 14 as a professional driver.
Of course in 2016 he is on Good Behaviour when caught for Use Mobile Phone at three-points and is risking losing his licence for six months – double the original period, which is a catastrophe for him and his businesses.
Why do this? He was making deliveries of produce to restaurant customers in Sydney and was running very late when the phone rang from an irate customer.
He picked it up and said, “Just a moment,” and drove 200-300m down the road where he could safely park the truck and finish the conversation.
Just as he finished there was a knock on the passenger window with two Police on foot who said they saw him using the phone and gave him a ticket.
We court elected and asked the Magistrate to proceed by non-conviction, meaning no Demerit Points nor a breach of the GBL.
Not a chance and we received a lecture about Tony’s admittedly very long and poor driving record.
He was desperate so off we went to the District Court. Here the Judge also gave him a lecture but appreciating that he was a Pillar of the Community and very hard working successful businessman, granted what was sought, subject to a Bond. So Tony now has a Good Behaviour Bond, a Good Behaviour Licence and a Drivers Licence!
Tony promised me that he would install to both the van and the trucks an aftermarket Bluetooth device so this would never happen again!
Let’s live the dream and meet on the winding road or single track… and you can always contact me on mark@lawstop.com.au – 0405 064 087
Mark Stenberg
Solicitor
SYDNEY
“DISCLAIMER. Sue me???? … Don’t be a Wanker …. OR IN OTHER WORDS …. The above article is topical entertainment rather than legal advice as your circumstances and rules that apply to you are likely to be different. For abundant caution seek individual legal advice for your actual situation.”
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