Hey guys
Just wanted some advice.
I got a parking fine. I know I wasn't there at the time, because I was working.
Do parking inspectors have to take photos of the car?
I believe the rego was taken down wrong
Any help
Parking Fine - Do Inspectors Have to Take Photos ?
Comments
Wait, people copy plates? What is this trickery I'm unaware about? How does this work?
False registration plates. A very common offence believe it or not.
Yep, happened to father in law.
Funniest part, it was a rogue off duty cop that first spotted the other car driving illegally. This cop took it upon himself (read: vendetta), to pin the FIL. Needless to say, when it was identified that the cop was not following procedure, and that it was the FILs car, this copper got a sweet talking down to from his superior.
@tomsco: Wow, talk about deja vu all over again…you've described almost word for word an incident that erroneously implicated my car over 20 years ago on the Central Coast…the scariest part was that even to this day I have never been to that particular district.
If it hadn't been for a very savvy & approachable Chamber Magistrate, it could have escalated into a very troubling episode indeed!
Nah not on car sales, the fines from feb. Ill send them a letter thanks mate
No, they don't have to take photos by law, but the vast majority of parking inspectors are told to do so to expedite the infringement process. In the absence of a photograph, usually a sworn statement from the parking inspector is considered enough evidence to issue an infringement.
If you were genuinely not there, and you can prove that (eg. by means of a witness/alibi, proof of attendance at an appointment elsewhere, etc), I would strongly encourage you to take this matter back to the infringement issuing agency with your evidence, or present such evidence in court.
If the registration is noted incorrectly, you should inform the infringement issuing agency. However, the infringement won't be waived because of this; it'll just be reissued with the correct registration and forwarded to the intended recipient.
I suspect they mixed one letter. I got a z in my rego and i think the person had a S instead. Hopefully they have a photo
It could also be the permutation of a 5 in place of an S, or a 2 in place of a Z. But the main thing I'd be looking at is not what evidence they've got, but what evidence you have to prove you weren't there at the time of the alleged offence.
Remember, with a sworn statement from the issuing officer they can easily pin you, and in a case of your word against theirs I'm pretty sure you'll know who will win. So the idea will be to chase them for their evidence, but at the same time gather your own evidence which exonerates you.
I got you man, only thing is it happened 25 feb which makes it hard to get evidence. I think it would make sense to send a photo to the client. Should not be word against word. Everyones human and can make a mistake.
I had a speed camera fine sent to me for a car that wasn't my own.. They just had someone look at the photo and say whoops.
The thing is, infringements based on a speed camera or red light camera must be backed by an image of the vehicle at the time the alleged offence occurred. Parking infringements have no such image requirement, and unless the infringement issuing agency has a photograph of the offending vehicle on file it'll be a case of their word against the OP's.
Guys do you know if they write down the model of car, colour etc in there notes?
Guys do you know if they write down the model of car, colour etc in there notes?
there is no need for that kind of details.
A photo would clear all that
Yes they do! Colour & make of the car is captured.
Yep they told me the car captured was silver. Lol mines black but they dont have a photo.
Hope the fine gets canceled
Do parking inspectors have to take photos of the car?
some nsw councils has inspectors that do drive by photo shoots from inside their unmarked vehicles. they then upload three or four images to the sdro website for the owner's enjoyment at cost of $248 (more or less depending on the location and signage).
does fines victoria offer this service?
Im not sure in VIC would be good if they can provide the photo. So you can log onto a website and see them?
So you can log onto a website and see them?
yes. the sdro website is streamlined for viewing and paying fines. the designer/s did a good job.
https://www.apps06.osr.nsw.gov.au/mypenalty/Authentication.j…
in VIC all Parking inspectors are required by law to take a photo when issuing a fine.
The machine they use for printing the fine has an attached camera, the fine will not print until a photo is recorded, they are required to take a fine of the car rego as well as the sign indicating the parking restrictions.. if the space has a ticket machine they are also required to take a photo of the parking ticket (or lack of one)
Dispute the fine and they will send you the photo (usually for a fee, you can usually go to the council and view for free, some councils also have an online portal where you can view the pic) if the photo shows its your car, you are best simply paying the fine.in VIC all Parking inspectors are required by law to take a photo when issuing a fine.
Even though that is 100% false, I'm prepared to give you everything I have if you can link to any law that verifies what you've just said.
Please don't give the OP misleading information as that will only use up his/her time chasing something that might not even exist.
This might help your case:
How is an internal review of a parking fine conducted?
When undertaking reviews of parking fines, the City of Melbourne takes into account all of the available information, including:
information collected by the parking officer who issued the notice
photographs taken by the officer (there is no legislative requirement for an officer to take photographs to support a parking fine, but most officers take photographs in the course of their work)
information provided by the applicant in their request for internal review (and any supporting documentation)
Road Safety Road Rules 2009 requirements
relevant provisions under the Victorian Infringements Act 2006 guiding the internal review of infringement notices.
Source: http://goo.gl/TmYX31
@KaptnKaos
While i am not going to search the interwebs for some kind of legal link, i suspect you might want to start packing up all your shit and sending it my way.My sister is a Parking Inspector for the city of Whitehorse in VIC.
As of January 1 2016
All parking infringements must be accompanied by the following:
1) Photograph of car clearly showing car registration plate
2) Photograph of the parking sign (and where possible its position in relation to offending vehicle)
3) Photograph of Parking payment ticket where one is required (or lack thereof)As of July 1st 2016 these photographs will be REQUIRED to be uploaded to civic compliance to be viewable on fines.vic.gov.au
before you go accusing me of giving FALSE information maybe ASK where i got my information from!!
The law changes THIS YEAR to protect drivers from getting fines and in an effort to relivee some of the pressure being put on the infringements court system (magistrates court)
Local councils were given a bit longer to implement the changes, Speeding etc was implemented last year (as in can be viewed FREE at fines.vic.gov.au) )BUT as of JAN 1 2016 ALL PARKING INSPECTORS MUST TAKE PHOTOS OR THE FINE IS NOT VALID
So, on the balance of probabilities, if somebody gave me two sources, one being a written council document and the second being heresay, I know what I'd believe.
As of July 1st 2016 these photographs will be REQUIRED to be uploaded to civic compliance to be viewable on fines.vic.gov.au
Errrr, I haven't heard anything to that effect. Besides, even if that were true, it's a long way from July.
BUT as of JAN 1 2016 ALL PARKING INSPECTORS MUST TAKE PHOTOS OR THE FINE IS NOT VALID
So you're saying that what you've written in all caps is right, but the City of Melbourne is wrong? Good going.
maybe ASK where i got my information from!!
Sure. What legal source did you get your information from? Unfortunately, going to court and saying "the sister of an OzBargain forum member said so" might not work as well as "Your Honour, the law doesn't state this".
I called them up today apprental they dont require a photo which is completely rusbbish o think.
So if they reject my claim im forced to pay a someone elses fine
You have been informed correctly - parking inspectors are not obliged to take photographs at law, it's just that most do. It's quite peculiar that people give advice on law that is downright misleading, but that's the Internet for you. Those who have implied that photos are required at law must be smoking the good stuff.
No, you wouldn't be forced to pay the fine there and then, you'll have many legal channels of appeal at your disposal.
Firstly, on receipt of your infringement, write a letter to the issuing agency outlining your circumstances. If you have anything to back your story up, provide that too.
Wait for them to get back to you. If your appeal is rejected, you will have the opportunity to take your case to court. Before making this decision, ensure that you have material to defend yourself. By that I mean material that proves you were not there at the time.
That could be a statement from a third party, a receipt for a transaction you made at that time at another location, an appointment letter, timeline records from your phone (if you have an Android phone with the right settings enabled) - anything.
If you are indeed deficient on this information and can't think of a single way to prove your presence at another location at the time the alleged offence was detected, do not proceed with court. In that case unfortunately you'll be better off paying the infringement.
Go to Google Maps, then go into the left hand side menu by swiping from left to right. You'll notice a menu option there "Your Timeline".
Click this and you'll be taken to today's timeline. At the top of the screen will be the present month and a drop down arrow. Clicking the arrow will produce a calendar. Swipe left and right on the calendar itself to scroll to February, then tap on "25" to produce the timeline for that particular day.
The timeline is a record of where your phone (as opposed to you) was located by Google throughout the day, but it can be very easily contended that your phone is always on you.
If your settings are correct, then you should see a map of where you've gone, and at what time. If you do have the timeline for the day concerned and it shows that you were not present at the infringement location, I highly recommend you provide that information to the council or court.
Thanks mate checked no data in it at all thanks anyways. They advised me no photo was taken but they recorded a silver car was recorded and mine is black so waiting to hear back
Hahaha what a joke. Is your mayor Darryn Lyons?? :P
The only thing I could think of is that they recorded the colour of the offending vehicle at the time of issuing the fine, but then they could just as easily claim that they recorded the colour wrong.
You know what would really help?
The make and model of the car that appears on the fine. Generally infringement issuing agencies don't verify the registration with Vicroads records. When an infringement is issued, the officer will record the registration number, make, model and sometimes colour of the offending vehicle. Each of these fields are entered manually, and then a ticket is printed to affix to the offending vehicle's windscreen.
It's a mystery that your fine was not affixed to the car and posted instead. Although legal, it's rather odd. Point to be noted, Your Honour.
Now, given that the officer clearly posted the infringement to you, he or she would've had some time to review the offending vehicle's registration details with Vicroads. If so, that would result in two cases:
A. The officer entered the correct registration details, and the infringement listed the make and model of that vehicle
B. The officer erroneously entered your registration details, and the infringement listed the make and model of your car.
If it's A, but your registration appears, you're in luck.
If it's B, unfortunately it makes your case harder to defend.
It was from port phillip council its a complete joke. Hopefully some common sense comes into play. I looked up the rego with an s instead of z and its a silver car. This is a complete waste of my time. Hopefully hear from them by friday
Thanks Jim,
I didnt know it was the Law. If its my car i will pay the fine without any question. I know definitely its not mine as i use mine only for the train station and back. I heard some poeple say its my word against them them, Photo will clear the sitation.
The area i got fined is a couple of hours from me which makes it even funnier.
Rarely but bastard may get a fine and stick it to others windscreen, in case someone pay without reading closely.
Make sure you come back one day and give us an update. Good luck!
Will do, Cheers mate
Guys finally got the photo of the car, the rego plates are to blurry and funny enough the car is a silver ford territory. I have a completely different vechicle and color. Its a small nissian pulsar, i explained this in the letter but they wont drop the fine. I called them up and they said i need to send my rego papers which i dont have as bought the car from a dealer 6 months ago. Looks like i have to take a day off work on tuesday just to deal with this
Seriously?! Completely different car, and they wtill wont drop the fine? That is so f'ed up. This is such a waste of time for everyone.
I have to take the day off on tuesday to go vic road to get evidence of me rego as they dont believe me gona cost me 20 bucks from vic roads. The whole things a joke. I going to have a go at management on tuesday, cant belive how smart the council is
Another option you could consider is if you're already going to have to pay for $20 registration papers + take a day off from work then consider making it a day in court. To do this, read the back of the parking fine to get the instructions for how to contest the ticket (ie. deciding to go to court). Its unlikely the council will take you to court since they will escalate the issue to a manager to review before deciding to go ahead.
Its a no brainer for a judge. You present your correspondences from the council. The photo you were provided of the wrong car. Your car's registration papers. Judgement will probably be in your favour. You ask the judge for the council to pay court fees.
Ta da. You still took one day off, paid for $20 registration papers, only had to present your registration details to one person (ie. the judge). Someone at your local council gets a stern talking to and maybe worse. The council might review procedures so other car owners are saved from the same issue. Council in future will review your cases and grievances more seriously next time before asking you to take a day off from work.
Thats good idea think i will go this way. The system is bull honestly because if they didnt have the picture it would be against the officers word. I think a picture with clear rego viewable should be the requirment to proceed.
Do you know how long it takes to get a date at court.
@silkysmooth: Other OzBargainers will need to advise you on civil lawsuits as I'm not from a legal background and not been in any law suits. My issues never reach arbitration as they are quickly solved by 3rd party intermediaries (eg. NSW office of Fair trading, Telecommunications Ombudsman).
If the council is determined then you'd get a sommons letter in the mail which has a court date many months away. Courts prioritise civil suits much lower priority than Criminal cases so the wait for a date is ridiculous and depends mostly on your court's caseload.
Since the claimant is the council trying to extract funds from you then it means the onus is on the council's lawyer to push for everything (ie. book a court date, make contact with you, etc). There's no way you can force a court date unless you want to initiate a suit against them.
You'll definitely be given plenty of time to print out your registration papers and organise your defence. The legal cogs tend to churn very slowly unless its Police related.
I still don't think you'll get to see the inside of a court. There's usually heaps of things before then (eg. letters of demand, debt collectors, boards of review, they withdraw last minute before entering court, …, etc). You'll probably get many scary letters, these are just pressure or delay tactics trying to wait you out till you change your mind and just pay the fine. Just keep writing back to the letters saying you've already responded to the parking ticket by choosing to go to court, then wait for them to send next scary letter and rinse repeat.
Guys finally they have dropped the fine only after hours on the phone as they wantes me to re write another letter. I finally rang the complaint department so were shocked that not one person did a quick rego check to discover my car was not the same. They realized that the last letter was supposed to be a Z. She will apprently go though all my phone calls and review the whole process. I also had to spend 20 bucks to vic roads getting evidence of my car which im trying to get them to refund me. I guess im trying to prove a point with them. Thanks for all your help peoples
I believe they normally take photos. Just send a letter contesting it asking to see the photo of the car.
It would be funny if you request and get an response saying they have chosen to withdraw it (because they took the rego wrong).
Other option - your cars not on carsales is it? Someone could've copied your plates.