South Australian court staff caught speeding, running red lights or using phone

They work in the justice system but dozens of South Australian court cars have been caught on the wrong side of the law. See how they racked up $26k in fines.

Cars leased to South Australia’s court staff racked up 59 speeding, red light and mobile phone fines in the past five years. Picture: Kevin Farmer

A Courts Administration Authority car racked up more than $2000 in speeding fines and 10 demerit points in just a six-minute period.

The car was caught going more than 20km/h over the 50 km/hour speed limit on Harris St in Stirling North, near Port Augusta, twice on January 25, according to data obtained by The Advertiser under Freedom of Information laws.

The authority says that its cars can be driven by judicial officers, which include judges and magistrates, and other courts staff.

At Stirling North, the car was detected going 74km/h at 10.19am, before being caught again going 71km/h at 10.25am. Each fine cost $1028.

Documents show that 59 expiation notices totalling $26,527 were issued to 46 fleet vehicles registered to the authority between January 1, 2020 and February 1, 2025.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE WHERE COURT CARS WERE CAUGHT

A court vehicle was caught doing 24km/hr over the speed limit on Harris St at 10.19am. Picture: Released under FOI

Six minutes later on the same road, the same vehicle was caught doing 21km/hr over the speed limit. Picture: Released under FOI

Of those, 47 were for speeding and five were red light violations. The other seven included a mobile phone offence captured on Port Rd, Hindmarsh.

The 46 vehicles represented half of the CAA’s fleet. Twelve were issued multiple notices.

An authority spokeswoman said: “Traffic expiation notices issued to the CAA are forwarded to the person identified as driving the vehicle involved in the offence.

“The corporate fee automatically levied on companies is removed and demerit points are instead incurred by the offending motorist, who is responsible for paying the fine.”

The spokeswoman said judicial officers could obtain a car as part of their remuneration package for the length of their appointment, but they were not above the law.

“If CAA staff and judicial officers accumulate too many demerit points, like all drivers they will be disqualified from holding a driver’s licence.”

A person driving a court fleet vehicle was fined for using a mobile phone while driving. Picture: Released under FOI

The peak time for traffic infringements by courts cars was between 4pm and 5pm, when a dozen offences were recorded.

Hutt Rd through the parklands south of the Adelaide CBD was the location of the most offences, with six.

Other hotspots were Greenhill Rd, Goodwood Rd, Walkerville Tce and Prospect Rd.

Five notices were issued in January this year alone, compared to just six in all of 2024. From 2020 to 2023, an average of 12 were issued per year.

Several SA judicial officers have found themselves on the wrong side of the law for driving offences in the past.

In 2019, Magistrate Simon Milazzo lost his licence for seven months and was fined $1000 after he was caught driving while almost twice the legal blood-alcohol limit on Anzac Hwy, Glenelg North.

In January 2014, Supreme Court Justice Anne Bampton was disqualified for eight months and fined $1300 for hitting a female cyclist while driving with a blood-alcohol reading of 0.121.

It is not suggested that Her Honour was involved in any of the expiations described above.

In May 2002, District Court Judge Neal Hume was fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for 15 months after being caught 16km/h over the speed limit, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15, in January of that year.