speeding fine in Australia what can happen?

[holidayqueen]

Hi
My daughter rented a camper van with 4 people in Austraila 3 months ago. She paid with her visa but everyone took turns driving. She has now recieved a sppeding fine doing 69 in 60 zone. It has come to her home address she is still in Australia but not with the gang she hired van with. She is not sure who was driving on the day and does not have much money to pay this fine and has no way of getting it off the others. My worry is that it will come against her when leaving the country her year will be up in October and she hopes to get in to New Zealand for a while. it is 165 aus dollars should she pay it or what can happen if she ignores it. Does anyone have any experience of this

 

[dereko1969]

For peace of mind and for doing the right thing, paying €100 isn't much. She should of course seek a contribution from the others if she can, she must have some sort of contact details of the people she shared the car with.

 

[samanthajane]

Is she still in contact with any of the others? Although i doubt they would want to split the fine 4 ways.

Since you daughter was the 'owner' of the camper van since she paid for it with her credit card i think the fine will be her's to pay. If she knew for sure who was driving then i would assume she could transfer the fine, like you can do over here, but without that information it would probably be best just to pay the fine and not to have to worry about it.

Your daughter is in Australia so she must have some idea of the way things work in regards to this. Do they follow up with the fines ect. They might be a lot better at this than what we are.

I've had 2 speeding tickets where someone else was driving my car, replied stating i wasn't driving at the time and gave the information of the other person and 3-4 years later he's still not heard anything.

 

[mathepac]

... it is 165 aus dollars should she pay it ...

Yes. As her details are on the rental agreement the fine was issued to her (seems fair and resonable to me). Can she not use the Visa card that paid for the car hire?

... what can happen if she ignores it. ...

This is probably spelled out on the notice she received, but surely ignoring it is not an option? (actions, consequences, responsibilities, etc.)

 

[Stronge]

I have heard of two people who were in Oz in the past few months getting speeding tickets when they came home. One guy is a really slow driver and I really found it difficult to believe that he had been speeding even in a 30 mile zone!! As far as I know the fine was debited to his credit card by the hire company.

 

[csirl]

For peace of mind and for doing the right thing, paying €100 isn't much. She should of course seek a contribution from the others if she can, she must have some sort of contact details of the people she shared the car with.

Agree with this. Ignore it and you run the risk of getting a criminal conviction which may impact on your ability to travel in future years.

 

[Phibbleberry]

I got a couple of speeding fines when I was in Tazmania - I'm not a fast driver normally, but over there if you passed a house on one side and a shop on the other, it was considered a 'town' and therefore town limits applied - it was silly of me not to alter my speed accordingly, but it was my fault none the less.

I knew the fines were waiting at home for me (recieved an angry call from my mother, who had had permission to open my mail when I was away - 2 fines in the space of 17mins!)...

It happened in about the October, and I got home the following Summer...It was a fairly substantial amount, given there were two...but the following xmas, I paid it off for my own peace of mind, in case I ever went back...just sent a letter saying I'd been travelling since, and only realised I owed them at that stage...got a confirmation to say they recieved it so hopefully thats the end of it!

I'd get her to pay it back when she can afford it, but I definitely would pay it back...just in case!

 

[Locke]

Hi
My daughter rented a camper van with 4 people in Austraila 3 months ago. She paid with her visa but everyone took turns driving. She has now recieved a sppeding fine doing 69 in 60 zone. It has come to her home address she is still in Australia but not with the gang she hired van with. She is not sure who was driving on the day and does not have much money to pay this fine and has no way of getting it off the others. My worry is that it will come against her when leaving the country her year will be up in October and she hopes to get in to New Zealand for a while. it is 165 aus dollars should she pay it or what can happen if she ignores it. Does anyone have any experience of this

At the end of the day, whether it's right or wrong, her name is on the fine. It is better that she pays it or get s help paying it. I'd imagine it could count against her if she ignores it and even tries to return or be brought up when she is leaving

 

[Jimmyrct]

It's unlikely that the Aus police will link up the outstanding fine with immigration authorities so that they will catch her when (if) she returns to Aus (it's very unlikely that they will stop her leaving) but you never know what data bases will be like in the future. She might be prevented from entering Aus in the future.
The real risk is continuing to drive in Aus, on this trip or in the future, and being pulled over there. The police are very active on the roads and are generally cowboys. If she doesn't pay or respond to say that she was not driving, and she gets stopped by the police, they might take issue her with a Court summons (in some very remote areas (e.g.. the towns out in the desert on the road between Perth and Adelaide) you will be taken to a Court that day - or even held in custody overnight for an appearance the next day). She'll get a conviction, whether she attends or otherwise and the fine will increase.
She should simply pay but also state that she was not driving - that should take care of it.

 

[newyork]

The way it works in Australia is that if she can prove she was not driving on the day, then she does not have to pay. When she was caught speeding a photograph will have been taken, that all accused are encouraged to view, if she gets this and proves she wasn't driving she may get away. If she ignores it, they may come after her and the 165 will soon become 350. Believe me I have enough demerit points to prove it. End of the day if she is back packing or on holiday in OZ and can't afford $165, then she might have bigger problems.

 

[Yoltan]

This happened to me while working over there years ago. I actually got done twice. I'd definitely pay it though. I know for a fact that outstanding fines/bills can come back at you especially if she wants to returns. No offence but she obviously has the money if she's there til October and then heading on to NZ.