Hey all,
My brothers a tradie and was overseas a few weeks. Had a bit going on and his rego expired when he was away. Reminder would have sat in a pile of mail. Went back to work and got pulled over and hit with a stupid sized fine.
Has anyone successfully had these downgraded because it is very easy to get done now. The situation just seems pretty rough when it's pretty obvious that the vehicle is roadworthy.
Thoughts?
Lesson learnt hopefully.
You need to set reminders for all your bills to prevent things like this from happening.
brothers a tradie
Small change š¤
brother pulls out wallet
$100 notes overflowing out of it
declared income to ATO is only 25k pa š
50k deductions too
Pay the Rego (you can pay it online even!!!)
Pay the Fine
Put it down to lesson learnt.
Move on.
Doubt that anyone is empathetic towards this situationā¦
when it's pretty obvious that the 30k Hilux is roadworthy.
Not really
Pay the rego immediately. You may have a chance to ask for leniency, but youāll have to go to court.
I returned from summer holidays this year and got a rego expired reminder for our caravan. Luckily didnāt get caught on our trip. Iād paid the insurance and forgotten the rego somehow. Thereās no excuse, and if pulled over I probably could have paid it on the spot as there was no inspection required but that may not have got me out of a fine.
Your insurance probably wouldn't pay out either if you were in a towing accident pulling an unregistered van.
Yeah I know. Stupid mistake and could have been very costly.
Actually now I think about it I missed our car by a week or so a few years ago too. Had it in my head it was the 14th and it turned out to be the 7th. Again, lucky not to be caught and rectified as soon as possible.
Iād never willingly drive an unregistered vehicle.
My brother got pulled over for driving unregistered… All he got was a warning š¤·
Is he a tradie?
Nah but he had a 60k hilux.
It was a few years old, not over 5.
In QLD it is not considered a life endangering offence so its up to the officers discretion if they give it.
Does your brother not have some sort of device or paper product like a CALENDAR to track where and when to go to jobs?
No. He's a tradie. He turns up to the job after multiple reminders
I took a day off work to meet you here and you never turned up - 3 times š¤¬
Turning up to a job? Now THATS a Christmas miracle.
Haha exactly,
Heās a tradie, just shows up when he can be bothered, if at all
Happened to me a few years back. A genuine error in that I had it in my head that the renewal was on the 26th of the month when it was the 16th. I even had it set to automatically pay a day before on 25th of the month out of my bank account.
Cop who pulled me over had a young apprentice with him, and despite proving it was a genuine and honest mistake he said he had to book me regardless. I believe this was for the trainees benefit although the shock on her face matched the rest of my families in the car. The fine amount was insane and virtually the same as the actual rego renewal fee.
The real kicker though was once he issued me a ticket he told me that we had to leave the car and couldn't drive it until it was registered. We were in the middle of nowhere. Only advice given before he drove off was call a Uber. This was the day that my faith and respect for the police for applying common sense totally went out of the window.
Fortunately, my wife had some prior knowledge of renewing a licence on her phone that she had done through work so was able to find the website and sort this out there and then in a matter of minutes. I was amazed how quick it was.
Wouldn't it have been a better lesson to the trainee after I had proved the date mistake and my intention to pay, if he had said something along the lines of 'I am just going back to my vehicle to check on your licence but if you happen to have renewed your registration online by the time I come back to you then I will give you the benefit of the doubt…
To me that would be a better example of dealing with this situation, and a great example to the trainee, rather than proving once again that it was nothing more than a revenue raising exercise and that he was nothing more than a complete jobsworth.
So in summary, nothing really you can do I'm afraid other than to learn from it…
"Cop who pulled me over had a young apprentice with him, and despite proving it was a genuine and honest mistake he said he had to book me regardless. I believe this was for the trainees benefit although the shock on her face matched the rest of my families in the car.
Wouldn't it have been a better lesson to the trainee after I had proved the date mistake and my intention to pay, if he had said something along the lines of 'I am just going back to my vehicle to check on your licence but if you happen to have renewed your registration online by the time I come back to you then I will give you the benefit of the doubtā¦"
So the cop told you he didn't have the discretion to decide whether he would book you or not, and you've decided 1. he was lying and 2. he would be setting a good example to a trainee cop by showing that police can 'let people off' despite the rules to the contrary? What is this, "Training Day" from Wish?
Your story is "I got caught, I didn't like it, I wish I didn't get caught".
Cops being able to set good examples for each other and 'faith and respect for the police' is just window dressing for a sook at paying the same price everyone else does.
People who aren't you hearing this story don't think to themselves "Yeah, it would be been better overall if they'd just let you go, what a good point, that penalty was unfair".
The discretion line is a lie though. They do have discretion they mostly choose not to use it due to pressure from above.
I dunno, what if the uninsured car hits someone else on the trip home? Wouldn't that make the police (partially) liable for the incident? I feel like that's why they say things like "And you gotta leave the car here, you can't drive it home". It's not a power trip, it's the rules.
I feel like saying "Cops have discretion as to whether they book people for expired rego" is the same as saying "People have discretion to decide if they are going to shoplift or not". Anyone can break rules.
I don't think it's permitted for them to 'let people off' for this sort of thing. If they're allowed to do that, why is there 'pressure from above' for them not to?
@CrowReally: They are, particularly within 14/28 days, and in addition youāre allowed to drive to/from places to make it happen- mechanic, RTA etc.
However, if it was me in the receiving end genuinely fād up and missed my rego, Iād be pulling out my phone there and then and telling them, sorting it in the spot to whatever degree I can. Bit harder to justify in NSW with a roadworthy required also, but take steps to resolve and be decent, chances are theyāll be kinder.
Unless youāre like smithy from the hunter who literally tickets his own mother, then youāre boned. He did me for an out of date rego label on a trailer (that had new rego, just the sticker was 300km from the trailer). He too proclaimed he ācouldnātā use discretion rofl.
The pressure is mostly from above to issue fines rather than use discretion. They are discouraged from giving benefit of the doubt where a fine could be issued. Others just like the power play.
I do get what youāre saying though, unregistered and uninsured is almost always far more significant than just a little slip up and can have serious ramifications.
Yeah true. Would make more sense if the fines were scaled for the amount of time you're out too. But I guess out of rego has always been a maximum pain fine.
The real kicker though was once he issued me a ticket he told me that we had to leave the car and couldn't drive it until it was registered. We were in the middle of nowhere. Only advice given before he drove off was call a Uber. This was the day that my faith and respect for the police for applying common sense totally went out of the window.
They way it should be, rego is not negotiable. You cannot drive an unregistered vehicle. If you canāt pay it on the spot, you canāt drive it.
Perhaps the fine was a bit harsh and could have been a warning but they still canāt let you drive it.
Fortunately, my wife had some prior knowledge of renewing a licence on her phone
You're one of those that line up at the post office to pay their phone, gas and electricity bills aren't you?
was call a Uber
Imagine the confusion that erupted when they were told to get an Uber.
OMG does that involve entering my credit card into one of those, what are they called again, that's it - apps?
"was able to find the website and sort this out there and then in a matter of minute"
How do you do a road safety inspection? (I'm in NSW)
If the police man is correct, and the car really cannot be driven anywhere,
it needs to be towed to a servo to have a pink slip done before you can renew!
The President: What was that?
Rick: Death
The President: What type?
Rick: Instant
I guess your proof of the āgenuine errorā is you have an automatic payment set up? For what the green slip or rego?
Assuming you donāt need a pink slip (as your car is quite new) online rego renew is done online at a websiteā¦.not thru sending an automatic payment.
Yeesh.
All they were saying is cops should just give everyone, that apologizes, a warning. It doesn't even have to be a sincere apology, until the relevant test is invented of course. It will save a ton of paperwork and drivers will be happier and less likely to commit another offence that day. It's a win win situation.
Cops have discretion to give warnings. Not everyone deserves a warning.
I respectfully disagree.
There's a duty of care to the community that unregistered cars aren't driven (as someone remarked above, the third-party insurance hasn't been paid on it), and knowing there's a magic combination of words to avoid responsibility may be appreciated by some, but it'll also be taken for granted by others.
I'd expect it would make people more likely to get lazy with this sort of detail ("eh, if they catch me I'll say sorry, and they probably won't catch me anyway").
Copping a fine (and a meaty one at that), now that makes someone more likely to not make the same mistake again.
I thought I was being funny.
:D
SOOL
Driver is responsible to make sure car driven is registered
If you borrow a mates car and it's not reg - your problem
If you tried to pay your rego and it didn't go through (for whatever reason) - your problem
If the reminder got lost in the post - your problem
If you were o/s at the time the reminder came - yep, your problem
If your dog ate the reminder - you know the answer
If your dog ate the reminder - you know the answer
Not 100% certain I do but my guess is that you will find 24 hours later in the backyard?
Close enough
dont tradies pull in the big bucks…. dont worry.
Millennial tradies also spend it all lol
So you agree he's an idiot
Fine deserved.
Can check vehicle registration online if in NSW, not sure about other states.
probably spent it all getting smashed overseas
Please tell me he went to Bali, just to really fit the stereotype
with the ridiculous prices tradies are charging nowadays. should be chump change for your brother
Unfortunate, you can probably ask the court for leniency, chances are low but if he has a good driving record and had some extenuating circumstances, they do give leeway. Probably worth a go has the fines for unregistered vehicles are almost 2.5k.
Having email notifications is important, and personally I have a general idea of when my insurance is going to expire, so if I was going to go overseas I'd know to renew it. I think it's one of those important dates people need to know off the top of their head.
Still think it's worth appealing it, may as well, otherwise just accept the fine and take it as an expensive lesson learned.
Waste of time asking for any sympathy here. Most aussies, especially the type who frequent this website, live for the police state.
BAAAA!!! ;-D
The only solution to nanny state pen-pushers is a guillotine. (There's probably some DIY builds on Youtube. Just sayin'.)
"Better let everyone know I'm a conspiracy theorist"
Ah yes, those low-IQ "conspiracy theorists" who… oh wait… turns out were CORRECT!
Lucky he didn't kill or injure someone without insurance
Google calendar. Repeats yearly. Notification 1 and 2 weeks before expiry
Your brother needs to grow up
Thanks to strawberry for doing gods work
Funny how an innocent post asking how to get out a fine turns in to a bunch of random people getting on their soap box talking about setting up reminders and how itās a privilege to drive.
Short answer is yes, write a apologetic email stating exactly what you just mentioned in the OP. I got caught driving with out a rego in vic, told the cop I didnāt know as the ābillā thing sits with my wife and Iāll have it paid right away, he still gave me a fine, but said send a letter and explain your situation, so I did and didnāt have to pay the fine.
Cheers mate, I wasn't expecting someone without a pitchfork lol
My mother got out of it, she was in her 80s and rego reminder was put into neighbours letterbox, new tenants, who send it RTS. Mother asked motor registry why she never got letter, they told her she had moved house as they got the 'not at this address' RTS. She didn't need to pay fine after she disputed it. Incidentally she was actually stopped for speeding, and cop told her her license had been cancelled and car was Unregistered by ONE day…. turned out she needed to do annual health checks after 80, unbeknown to her, which she hadn't done. She got the shock of her life with thousands of dollars fines and told she had to leave the car there! She is still driving at 90 now!
Shano bruv
Set up a direct debit my man
It's a "stupid size fine" to deter those who may think of running the gauntlet by not paying rego.
It is a stupidly large fine to deter those who would attempt to get away without registering their vehicle.
Unfortunately most of the people who are caught and have to pay it were just careless.
With situations like this we could be more forgiving for the first offence. There are too many cases of this in our society these days. Like the stupidly large fines related to covid rules. And the length of some jail sentences, its no wonder we have over twice the number of people we had in jail compared to even only a generation ago despite lower crime rates. The answer to everything these days is hit 'em with a huge fine/sentence. It doesn't stop it, because we're not talking about things people did deliberately.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you were simply careless and hadn't actually done anything that risked anyone's life or limb would you think it was fair to be hit with a huge fine.
Finally someone with a sensible response.
"If you were simply careless and hadn't actually done anything that risked anyone's life or limb would you think it was fair to be hit with a huge fine."
Seems to be a cousin of the "A parking ticket??? Have I injured someone? Why aren't you out there catching the real criminals, there's rapists and murderers everywhere and you want to charge me $110.." argument
Canāt get out of this. He shouldāve had sms and email reminders, furthermore, he can pay it online.
Tell him not to pay the fine straight away. State Revenue might have a Black Friday discount code
Check for Cashrewards or ShopBack
Back when it was stickers and paper notices, we paid for the rego renewal and CTP at the post office and got them both back with a receipt stapling them both together.
Couple of months later I got pulled over and done for driving an unregistered vehicle. It turns out that the post office clerk only processed and charged us for the CTP and not the rego renewal.
Despite presenting the paperwork and the receipt to the officer on the spot (it was in the glovebox) and again in court, no overturn or no downgrade of offence or fine was offered.
We paid the fine and learnt our lesson. Suggest your brother does the same OP.
Apart from all the reminders to pay or your own diary, like in your phone you can setup direct debit with VicRoads so it's automatically paid.
You're solely responsible for it. Case closed
Only chance for leniency is for him to agave paid it immediately and written in asking for it to be waived or reduced. Itās unlikely though.
I got done $804 for expired rego 3 days past the due date. I elected to go to court and plead guilty to the Magistrate and after conferring 10 seconds with the police prosecution they waived the fine in under 60 seconds and said I'm free to go. This is in Victoria.
The 2nd time I opted to front up to the Magistrate was during lockdown so it was via WebEx (for a $165 registration plate-related fine). I also had a record from the first no rego fine, and probably 2 'less than 10 KPH over the limit' speeding fines withdrawn (via letter). After the Magistrate chewed me out for "having held an Australian driver's licence for over 10 years you should've known better" he withdrew the $165 fine and issued a new $100 fine instead. I spent 40 mins looking at my screen with 8 other randoms waiting for the Magistrate to come online (some people were sitting out on their deck in the sun).
Unless you're a deadset dropkick, people who elect to front up to the Magistrate and plead guilty usually get the fine waived or at least discounted. In my experience the worst offenders usually have the original fine upheld (with no court costs added).
So yes you can get off the fine pretty easily (in Victoria at least, with clean driving history) just by electing to plead guilty in court in front of the Magistrate (writing a letter is pointless as it'll get rejected immediately). Morally it's a waste of everyone's time, mostly the Police prosecution having to prepare 1-2 hours of paperwork (10 pages long sent to you in the mail in the months preceding the court date - which ultimately leads to nothing as the Magistrate doesn't even look at it), and you lose half a day of work, but in Australia we are lucky to have this judicial system so readily available to us.
stop wasting taxpayers money and pay your fine in full
Yeah thanks. I'm also a taxpayer. My taxes also fund the Australian judicial system which is available to you, me, and whoever else is eligible to go through the courts. Feel free to neg as you see fit and as you did on my original comment, I won't do the same. OP asked for advice and I provided.
Half a day's work for a tradie might be worth more than the fine…
Stop being so cheap. Pay the damn fine like everyone else
You tradies arenāt poor anymore (probably never were)
HOW MUCH THE STUPID SIZED FINE?
I believe the fine is (was) $2200 driving an unregistered vehicle in NSW years ago and I have always thought it was this much.
https://www.armstronglegal.com.au/traffic-law/nsw/traffic-ofā¦
https://www.gotocourt.com.au/traffic-law/nsw/driving-unregisā¦
NSW fine 20 penalty units, and one PU was $110, $2200 but I think info could be old??
It may of changed.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/demeritā¦
Says "Drive or park an unregistered vehicle on a road or road-related area", seems like you are not even allow to park an unregistered vehicle on the road now.
$704 for light vehicles.
According to here it is $1528
https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/demeritā¦
'brother' needs to man up and take ownership of his life
It's the same time every year, just like Christmas, do you forget Christmas?
bahaha surprised they can even find their zipper - taking a piss
To actually answer your question, yes. My partner challenged it in court (original appeal was denied) as she was struggling with memory issues, never remembered to update her details with vicroads or the password to log in to the site… Went there with written support from mental health professional of work stress.
Magistrate was not at all impressed, said it was very unattractive to waste the courts time and was not inclined at all to get involved as the regulations are clear as day…
Partner ended up in tears from the verbal shellacking but still, scored a reduced fine by half…
Hiluxs are shitty utes for shorty people
In Victoria, you can write in and ask for an "official warning" instead of the fine. Write and state you accept that you were wrong. You need to demonstrate you have a good driving record.
https://www.police.vic.gov.au/official-warnings
I had exceptional circumstances. This saved me a lot of money when I had to fly out overseas for a family funeral and I forgot to renew rego. My partner got pulled over by cops. Luckily they waived they fine and gave us an official warning after we wrote requesting the warning and admitting guilty .
I think the key is to plead guilty, request a warning. If they do not withdraw the fine, take it to court and plead guilty there and ask for leniency
Good luck
Super easy to renew online even when overseas if you've got the inspection done earlier that it. Not really an excuse especially when the vehicle is work related (related to your livelihood).
I guess if your ābrotherā had crippled a pedestrian, while having no rego (and no compulsory 3rd party) he would be personally liable for $$$$$$.
Perhaps he should thank the kind policeman that made him fix up his insurance.
I once got pulled over for unregistered in my country town. I was 4 days out and got a warning, had to leave the car there and go home and pay the rego before i moved the car. (Which was surprising as it was an Adelaide undercover cop, who are usually ass holes when they come up)
But in saying this, i was still a teenager at the time - probably 18 i think. When he said it was unregistered i was genuiinely shocked as i thought i just paid it lmao. So he ended up letting me off easy.
Nowdays however, I'm 24 and wouldnt expect to be let off with a warning, even if it is only 4 days out.
Invest in a Brother label maker, print out the expiry date, stick it inside the door so EVERY time he opens the door, he sees the date.
Also good for insurance limited mileage reminder and next service date etc.
It's kinda hard to miss when every car insurance company comes out of no where to give you a free quote.
My reminder comes by email about a month before itās due. Deal with it straight away rather than forgetting it. You can also set up a reminder through your Stateās Registration Check. I suspect he got done for rego out of date AND not being insured.
Tell your bro to be a sport and pay the fine and learn from it.
Tradies making bank!
I wonder how the thousands of immigrants coming along deal with this.
Surely if they can do it, then as locals, we can keep up?
A mate managed to get out of an unregistered vehicle fine. He had to go to court, get advice from a solicitor (free - family friend) and plead guilty and his explain the circumstances.
The judge changed the punishment to "good behavior" for 12 months. He still had to pay court costs but that was significantly less than the fine.
He had extenuating circumstances; driving his heavily pregnant wife and toddler to hospital, borrowed car, no other offence committed, during COVID.
Not getting the reminder is not a valid excuse. Otherwise everyone would use it. Your "mates" is up sh!te creek without a paddle. Pay the fine and move on bro.
Extenuating circumstances are a completely valid reason to contest the fine. Your mate made the right decision.
OP's "brother's" 2 week Bali binge hangover "had a lot on" is definitely not.
This is ozbargain not ozresponsibility
Can't use the lack of sticker as an excuse. If he left the rego reminder in the pile of mail, the same would have happened to the sticker as well. Given the initial renewal is sent out a fair way in advance of the renewal date, he must have missed that one as well.