Reckless Driving charge

[Lui]

I got caught speeding by one of those new fixed speed cameras set up at the traffic lights, this was about a month ago. Tonight at almost 10pm had 3 cops come to my house with the photo and to ask me questions about it, so I admitted to it and signed the statement (not sure if that was a mistake). Cops said I will be summons to court and get done for reckless driving and lose my license for 6 months.
Ok so is a reckless driving charge going to show up on my criminal record and possibly give me issues when travelling specificaly to the U.S?
Is there a way to postpone the loss of my license for around 6 months?
Im sure a few people here have been through this, what should I do? Worth getting a lawyer?

[colt75]

you pretty much copped it sweet..

you could try and postpone your court hearing for 6 months?

and im pretty sure traffic record and criminal record are 2 different things. so you should be right

[Gr3mlin]

Does not come up on your record, your all good in that regard.

Fucked in the other though. Never ever sign shit the cops give ya!

[Lonewolf]

yeah I dont believe traffic stuff comes up with regards to travel etc.
That said, fuck signing anything without speaking to a lawyer first, thats almost intimidation, especially at fucking 10pm.

[mARC]

Obviously removing personal details, would you mind posting what they asked you to sign?

As above never sign anything you don't have absolute understanding of as I'm sure it would have been written in such a way that proves absolute guilt.

Would be interesting to see what they lawyers perspective is if you choose to go down that route though.

[ChrisGTR]

I don't think you would stand much of a chance in court, especially seeing as you signed the police's statement.
You might be able to postpone your case until after 6 months. Traffic offenses usually take quite a long time to be heard in court. You'll get a duty lawyer on the day of your court hearing, tell her to ask the judge if the case can be postponed to a later date. They're normally pretty easy with giving extra time.
If you do decide to fight your case or need expert advice, go see Jeremy Noble. Have had personal experience with him and couldn't be happier with his service and end result :)

[-Luke-]

It wont appear on your record as its not classed as criminal offence, if you do need a police clearance for work etc it will delay the clearance by a few days. (ie you cant just walk into a cop shop and get one, it will be posted out to you)

I got done for reckless @ 19yrs old, 31 now and it still takes a week/week and a half for a police clearance.

Oh and dont never sign nuthin.....:)

[FranZ]

All well and good saying don't sign anything, it's too late for Luis!

Why are they trying to do you for reckless, what were you supposedly doing??

[Lui]

They really caught me off guard, it was 10pm and I was pretty much half asleep, didn't think properly and just signed it. Officer asked me a few questions such as, where you driving the vehicle, what was the reason you where speeding etc.. he was writing it down on a note pad then read it back to me and told me to sign it.

[Lui]

All well and good saying don't sign anything, it's too late for Luis!

Why are they trying to do you for reckless, what were you supposedly doing??

77km over the limit.

[colt75]

lol. go buy some lube

[Skitzo]

Lucky to not be hoonlawed and have car impounded.

[regi]

surely they would have gone straight for the hoon law if they had enough on him

id say that they didnt have enough evidence, hence the late night house call
which is dodgey in its own right

[Skitzo]

His car was snapped doing 77km/hr over the limit. What more evidence could their possibly be? I doubt they would need anymore evidence than that to confiscate a car.

[Lui]

surely they would have gone straight for the hoon law if they had enough on him

id say that they didnt have enough evidence, hence the late night house call
which is dodgey in its own right

Yeh they told me they wont be impounding the vehicle because it has been over 28days or something.

[regi]

fair enough - i dont have much experience with big speeding fines so maybe thats standard procedure in this case??

[j3rk]

77km over the limit! Good effort.
I'd be surprised if - seeing as you signed what was probably an admittance to guilt rather then a fine/penalty - the judge doesn't bend you over for that speed.

[BOSS 290]

They really caught me off guard, it was 10pm and I was pretty much half asleep, didn't think properly and just signed it. Officer asked me a few questions such as, where you driving the vehicle, what was the reason you where speeding etc.. he was writing it down on a note pad then read it back to me and told me to sign it.

And that would be a fair and reasonable argument to have your lawyer present in court. Seriously, they turned up at 10pm? Do yourself a favour, buy a diary and write down the date and time they visited your house. Make a note you felt intimitated and threatened, you were tired. You signed it so they would leave you alone. Then get legal advice.

Fuck me if I didn't know any better that constitutes stand over tactics. Some of you kids here need to realise just because they wear a uniform and carry a gun doesn't give them a right to do whatever the fuck they like.

[fourseven]

Fuck you guys talk a lot of shit.

[BOSS 290]

Fuck you guys talk a lot of shit.

Yep. I'd lawyer up and tell them to fuck off.

Your position on these type of topics in parculiar indeed. What's your involvement with the police or the judicial system? I'm trying to figure out what you do for a job. Care to tell us?

[fourseven]

It's been posted plenty of times what I do. I'm not a cop. What do you think would've been a more suitable arrival? Coffee and scones in hand? A phone call to ask him what time suited him?

Good luck with that.

[regi]

its a visit that wasnt urgent and could easily have been conducted at a more appropriate hour.
also a phone call wouldnt have gone astry, im sure ive heard stories of cops ringing up and asking of a suitable time to come at impound a car etc

[Daisy]

if its been posted before why not just answer his question?

[BOSS 290]

It's been posted plenty of times what I do. I'm not a cop. What do you think would've been a more suitable arrival? Coffee and scones in hand? A phone call to ask him what time suited him?

Good luck with that.

You tell me, you're ok with the police coming to your place at 10pm regarding some misdermeanor traffic offence? Fair enough if they were serving a VRO relating to a family dispute matter, but that is not the case.

Anyway, he signed it, admitted doing 77km over. Good luck fighting it, you'll need deep pockets my friend.

[mitchwnz]

77km over the limit.

Jesus dude, I'm surprised that's ALL they did! Was zone was it in?

As the others said this won't effect your entry into the USA, but I would be getting a lawyer anyway.

[esky]

Jesus, how many times do we have to go through this.

NEVER ever speak to the cops.

[BOSS 290]

Jesus, how many times do we have to go through this.

NEVER ever speak to the cops.

Bingo. Perhaps someone should write a do's and don't and make it a sticky!

[Ryan1080]

Can he claim he signed it under duress? Was he explaned what the ramifications of signing something like that will be? Shouldn't he have been told up front that he should seek legal advice before he signs something?

It's been proven plenty of times that cops don't always collect evidence in a proper manner... don't know what the proper procedures are, but hopefully it will be inadmissible.

[Fukushima]

Just going off what others have said previously...

They came to ask you if you were driving because they could only prove the car was doing that speed not who was driving.

If you were unable to recall who was driving and hadn't signed something saying it was you the charge would have been failing to identify the driver.

This is why they came at 10pm, to catch you off guard and admit to it, and now they can persue you for reckless driving.

CSB:

Once upon a time (when hoon laws just came in) I went home to have lunch with my missus and the cops rocked up. Said they had 2 witnesses to me weaving in and out of traffic at high speed the previous Saturday. I said I couldn't recall doing so.

In truth I was probably doing 90 in a 70 zone and changed lanes three times which upset the locals.

Then the other cop chimes in and says it just so happens he was coming home from bunnings in the opposite direction and he thought I was doing at least 120. I then had the option of taking $100 and 3 points for careless driving or they were going to ream me with hoon law and yellow the car.

On reflection they didn't have a whole lot and it seemed like a massive coincidence the other cop saw it but I was a young bloke and had them at my house catching me off guard and accusing me of all sorts of things in front of my missus so I copped the fine.

[Skitzo]

No point in lawyering up, would be a waste of cash now. You admitted to commiting the offence. You signed your statement which shows this. What time they knocked on your door doesn't change this.

[fourseven]

You tell me, you're ok with the police coming to your place at 10pm regarding some misdermeanor traffic offence? Fair enough if they were serving a VRO relating to a family dispute matter, but that is not the case.

Anyway, he signed it, admitted doing 77km over. Good luck fighting it, you'll need deep pockets my friend.

No, of course I wouldn't be OK with it. But I'm also not naive to think that the Police will give a fuck what time it is when something pops up on their list for tasking, and it's most certainly not intimidation.

And yes the big lesson here is don't do anything, don't say anything.

[fourseven]

This is why they came at 10pm, to catch you off guard and admit to it, and now they can persue you for reckless driving.


http://files.sharenator.com/implied_facepalm_RE_Twilight_Stupidity_Effect-s646x501-57572.jpg

[Sandy]

He was 77km/h over the speed limit going through a set of lights, that is fucking dangerous! Man up and accept the penalty.

[-Luke-]

CSB:
I then had the option of taking $100 and 3 points for careless driving or they were going to ream me with hoon law and yellow the car.



That sounds dodgy as fuck (the cops method not the story) Did they ask you to pay on the spot with a cheque made out to Mr C.Ash....???:)

[Fukushima]

Not really all that dodgy.. Took the fine to the post office and paid it and didn't weave traffic in the middle of the day anymore.

Fourseven you don't have to watch a million cop shows to know that making people uncomfortable is a great way of getting them to admit something...

[shifted]

Just out of curiosity, if you were to take this to court, would you be able to use an excuse such as you were under the influence of alcohol and signed the form etc. along with the rest of your excuses there (tired, etc. etc.)

Seeing as that would "impair" your judgement of the whole situation?

[fourseven]

Fourseven you don't have to watch a million cop shows to know that making people uncomfortable is a great way of getting them to admit something...

If they wanted to make him feel uncomfortable, they would've rocked up at 2am in the morning, handcuffed him, put him in the paddy wagon and taken him back to the Police station for a video taped interview and charged him. Instead they came around and wrote down notes on what he had to say without a gun to his head, and he signed it. Sounds like he got off lightly to me.

Cops shows != real life.

[d1mitch]

He was 77km/h over the speed limit going through a set of lights, that is fucking dangerous! Man up and accept the penalty.

my thoughts aswell.
speeding thorugh traffic lights is always a risky situation. and you can tell those speed camera lights from miles away obviously if your not speeding ridiculously.
like other have said, now that you signed it admitting guilt it will be a hard task to get off of

[Macca]

End of the day he was doing 77kmh over the limit through an intersection. Bend over and take what you deserve.

Police don't sort through joblists to "target" people. It comes up on the screen and they go serve it. Suprised they didn't take the car

[Mad_Aussie]

No sympathy from me. Seen enough people get cleaned up at intersections to know never to speed through one, and 77k's over the limit through a set of lights? Madness.

That's the sort of thing that I agree warrants you losing your car, license and anal virginity.

[fsbk]

i think you will find that "signing something" is not an admission of guilt. if it was a sworn statement or similar, then yeah you might be fucked. if it was just signing on the ticket, it is in no way an admission of guilt. if you want to fight it in court/downgrade you still can, regardless of what you signed.

[sprint347]

You could have declared you didn't know who the driver was, copped the $1k fine and it'd be all over.

There are plenty of suitable places in Perth to take your car for a strap, legal or otherwise. Nearly 80kmh over through an intersection that's busy enough to require a camera is stupid. If you want to wipe yourself out fine but don't take an innocent family with you.

It's easy to sit on the fence and cast stones, I was no angel 'back in the day' but I think in this instance you have to take your medicine. I'm suprised you didn't end up on the news with your car impounded.

6 months isn't a bad stint, a member on here copped 2.5 years for a similar infringement on the freeway late at night.

[Fukushima]

Sounds like he got off lightly to me.

I agree.

[Lui]

Not really trying to get out of it, I knew it was coming. Just really trying to see my options, maybe minimise fine or charges, but most importantly just wanna postpone suspension for 6months untill I head o/seas for a yr.

[Lui]

Ok and it was 4am, roads deserted, it was stupid but still.

[-Luke-]

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[Macca]

Ok and it was 4am, roads deserted, it was stupid but still.

lol that is like grabbing a gun and shooting it down an empty street.........except for that bloke who was unlucky enough to be walking his dog across the road.

[BOSS 290]

Oh fuck me, here we are on a car forum having a go at someone that's done 77km over the speed limit, and some have the audacity to have a go at him. So none of you have ever committed a traffic offence, done a burnout, travelled well in excess of the speed limit?

He didn't crash or kill someone. Fuck some of these high horses must need helicopters to get you folk on.

[fourseven]

Time and place. Neither of those were executed very well if it was through an intersection that is busy enough to warrant a fixed speed camera.

[gazza750]

my son just got done 63 k over limit court took 5 weeks from time cops came to house about it he got 6 months loss of license and $1200

[ossie cossie]

So, what you are trying to do is postpone the enevitible ban, until you are out of the country, so it wont have any effect on your driving while still in OZ. In my opinion, i hope it doesn,t work for you, 77kph through a set of traffic lights deserves a loss of licence that you have to serve while you are here in OZ. Happy holidays. :) DO THE CRIME, DO THE TIME.

[bentx]

notes taken at the time is what you signed, doesn't really matter if you sign it or not, you'll still have 3 cops in court as witnesses saying you said you drove if you wanted to defend it. owner onus comes into play anyway if another diver isn't id'd, it doesn't just magically "go away".

you're lucky you didn't kill anyone - that's the only positive to come out of this. not getting your car seized is just the icing on your cake.

why is it that ppl are crying intimidation and like 10pm is too late etc etc. shit, what ever happened to manning up to shit if you game enough to go thru with it????

you wanna drive at 150km/h+ do it on the track, not through an intersection.

[colt75]

So, what you are trying to do is postpone the enevitible ban, until you are out of the country, so it wont have any effect on your driving while still in OZ. In my opinion, i hope it doesn,t work for you, 77kph through a set of traffic lights deserves a loss of licence that you have to serve while you are here in OZ. Happy holidays. :) DO THE CRIME, DO THE TIME.

yeah righto..
off your high horse buddy.

[JBAE]

agreed was stupid but MEHHH fcuk we all do stupid shit... and if you can fight it and win then GOOD ON YOU!