Long time lurker, first time poster, be gentle :)
So, early morning heading into the sun with visor blocking the sky on a six lane inner city road. I see a green traffic light on my far left and a clear road ahead and decided to take a right turn into a side road, only to realise, once I had turned, that the visor had been obscuring a red right turn arrow.
I can afford to pay the $400 fine and the 3 points don't threaten my licence, but I didn't knowingly or recklessly do the crime, so I'm wondering if it's worth taking it to court and making the case?
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Update: thanks all, fine paid, moving on.
OP, you are lucky you didn't kill somebody.
This fine is a wake up call that your driving is currently not good enough. IANAL, but appealing it would generally be seen as a lack of respect for your responsibilities as a driver which in other states could add further penalties.
If you want to spend more money, see a lawyer.
But if you were truly blinded, consider reporting the intersection to the TMR, with location, time, date and direction of travel and a suggestion of how they could make the lights more visible in those conditions. Of all the professionals out there, road safety engineers seem most open to criticism about their designs from the general population.