Losing demerit points due to driver distraction can put you at risk of losing your drivers licence. Here are your options.

Driver distraction is a major contributor to deaths and serious injury on SA roads. In an Australian Road Safety Foundation survey, a whopping 79 per cent of Australian motorists admitted to general risky behaviour. SA police figures show that between 2015 and 2019 43 per cent of fatalities and 48 per cent of serious injuries were attributed to distraction. So far, 24 lives have been lost on SA roads in 2020 (08 Aug) due to driver distraction.

Some of the traffic offences which can result from driver distraction include:

Despite the obvious dangers, a third of SA drivers surveyed admitted to regularly using their mobile phones in the illegal hand-held mode. SA drivers caught using a mobile phone while their vehicle is
either moving or stationary in traffic (for example, waiting at traffic lights) will be issued with a $544 fine, as well as a loss of 3 demerit points.

Drivers in receipt of a traffic infringement notice may wish to challenge their fine. Your options are either to defend the matter if your lawyer can identify a defence, or you can apply for a reduction of the demerit points if your offending was trifling in nature, or other proper cause exists relating to your driving behaviour.

Either way, it is important not to pay the fine, for even if you are guilty, once your fine is paid you will automatically lose the demerit points that we could otherwise have reduced to avoid a Notice of Disqualification issued by the Department of Transport and Infrastructure.

At your earliest opportunity, contact a Scammell & Co. traffic offence lawyer to discuss your options.

For further information about our traffic and driving offence services please click here.

*This information is current at the time of publication. For accurate legal advice, please contact Scammell & Co on 08 8440 270.

Your options if you have been wrongly accused of speeding due to a malfunctioning speed gun

If you have received a speeding fine but believe it a has been issued in error due to a malfunction of the speed gun, you may have recourse.

If you elect to be prosecuted and defend a speeding allegation, there is always a presumption of innocence and prosecution must prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that the offence was committed. One of the things that prosecution need to prove for speeding charges is that the device used to detect the vehicle is accurate. Prosecution are allowed by the law to rely on a certificate, signed by a senior police officer, that certifies that the speed gun used was reliable and the speed alleged is accurate.

Speed guns are required to be calibrated every 12 months and a report be issued which states that the gun is accurate to within a specific margin of error. In addition, police are required to perform tests on the day that the device is used. The results of these tests are then used when producing the certificate.

In Supreme Court judgments published in July 2018 Justice Peek held that prosecution could not rely on the certificate because the daily testing by police doesn’t show that the devices are accurate to within +2/-3kph and found that the defendant did not need to prove that the device was inaccurate, but only that the daily testing done by police didn’t prove that the device was accurate to the extent claimed in the certificate.

A statement has been issued by SAPOL confirming that they are assessing the judgments “to fully comprehend if changes need to occur”. In the meantime, it is likely that defendants will continue to successfully defend speeding charges.

Image courtesy of The New Daily.

*This information is current at the time of publication. For accurate legal advice, please contact Scammell & Co on 08 8440 270.