Is going to court over traffic violations common internationally? I thought that was a US thing
Comment on Anon challenges a fine
Moghul@lemmy.world 10 months agoThat doesn’t mean anything in a lot of countries.
Droggelbecher@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Droggelbecher@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Is going to court over traffic violations common internationally? I thought that was a US thing
Instigate@aussie.zone 10 months ago
I challenged a licence suspension in Australia when I was 19 years old. I gladly paid the $560 fine but I would’ve lost my licence for three months because I was driving 7km/h over the limit on a ‘double-demerits’ weekend. The magistrate sent me to a fortnightly driver’s course for 12 weeks, all the while I kept my licence, and after the course was over I fronted court again and successfully argued my three month suspension down to four weeks.
I’m pretty sure that going to court over traffic violations is a thing in any country that allows going to court over traffic violations.
FYI in most Australian jurisdictions, you can’t demand that the individual police officer who fined you attend court to defend themselves. That part is most likely a US thing.
SupraMario@lemmy.world 10 months ago
All that over 7kmh? Holy shit, most cops in the usa won’t bother you doing 9mph over on highways and like 5-7mph on normal roads.
Instigate@aussie.zone 10 months ago
Yeah, I was on my P-plates (provisional licence) at the time where you have can have up to seven demerit points before losing your licence. As a P-plater, every speeding offence automatically is moderated to the maximum value, four points, and because it was a ‘double-demerits’ weekend (for public holidays), that four points was doubled to eight points. I received more demerit points than km/h I was over the limit.
For reference, if I was on my full licence and it wasn’t double-demerits, it would have been one point out of a total twelve. Instead, I got eight points which suspended my licence. Thankfully the magistrate I had was reasonable and granted my reduction - that also meant I didn’t have to pay court costs and I represented myself, so the whole thing cost me the initial $35 court booking fee. I managed to get something that resembled justice out of it, but I’ll still have a bitter taste in my mouth because of the whole rigamarole for a long time to come.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Yup. Cops in my area usually won’t bother if you’re under 10mph over (16kph), though maybe they’d drop that in a school zone. 7kmk is pretty much nothing…
best_username_ever@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
French guy here: I went to court once because the cop lied and needed tickets for his quota. I had all the proofs. The judge basically told me “I don’t give a fuck, you pay.” It’s useless.
rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Maybe don’t be French next time.
nonfuinoncuro@lemm.ee 10 months ago
time for another revolution
GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Rookie mistake if I’m being perfectly honest
Moghul@lemmy.world 10 months ago
It’s not as much of a thing but people do object fines, most commonly mail-in fines when the owner wasn’t driving.