Pensioner calls out TMR over second bungled mailout

TMR’s admission last week that it incorrectly reissued 16,401 Car Registration Notices, has prompted a Brisbane pensioner to step up his push for an apology over an incorrect letter essentially telling him he could lose his licence for a second seatbelt offence.

The photo sent to Ian Olsson allegedly showing the passenger not wearing a seat belt. Picture: Contributed

The state Transport Department has made a second admission about mailing out incorrect information on traffic and seatbelt fines after a Brisbane pensioner called for an apology.

Brisbane retiree Ian Olsson said he had been battling TMR for a year for an apology after he received a letter saying he would lose double demerit points for driving a second time with a passenger not wearing a seatbelt within 12 months of being fined.

Mr Olsson paid TMR $1078 in 2022 after a photo-camera fine which allegedly showed him driving a car with a front-seat passenger who was not wearing a seatbelt properly.

He said months after paying the fine, he received the TMR courtesy notice informing him he stood to lose eight further demerit points — and ultimately his licence — if caught on camera with a passenger not correctly wearing a seatbelt within 12 months.

Under Queensland traffic regulations, the loss of double demerit points for a seconf offence in 12 months only applies to drivers who are not wearing seatbelts and to drivers who have a passenger who is under 16 and who is not wearing a seatbelt.

The legislation about double demerit points.

“I want the state to apologise for sending out a letter which contained the wrong information and caused a great deal of stress to me and my family,” he said.

“The courtesy letter said that if I was caught on camera a second time in 12 months with a passenger incorrectly wearing a seatbelt, I would lose a further eight demerit points which would mean I would automatically lose my licence.

“When I checked the website and the regulations, the penalty is only for four demerit points, which would not mean a loss of licence.

“The department needs a complete overhaul of the way it corresponds with the public and a proper vetting of the information it is sending out publicly.

“This month’s admission that TMR incorrectly sent out 16,400 incorrect registration notices is further evidence of the need for a complete overhaul in that department.”

More than 689 people signed a petition Mr Olsson set up calling for the state to issue clearer photographs with all traffic infringement fines, including for seatbelt breaches.

Since his fine, the penalty for seatbelt offences has risen to $1161 and four demerit points and covers offences for drivers not correctly wearing a seatbelt, as well as drivers not ensuring passengers correctly wear a seatbelt.

A TMR spokesman said the department became aware of an issue impacting some drivers who received camera-detected infringements for passengers not correctly wearing a seatbelt in late 2023 and had recently rectified the anomaly.

The spokesman said under the legislation, double demerit points after a second offence within 12 months only applied to drivers not correctly wearing a seatbelt and drivers not ensuring passengers aged less than 16 years correctly wear a seatbelt.

“As it is not possible to determine passenger age using camera enforcement, double demerit points do not apply for passenger offences detected by cameras,” the TMR spokesman said.

“It was identified that minor clarifications were required and these changes were made immediately.

“As part of the rectification work, TMR reviewed all customer correspondence templates to ensure accuracy.

“Correspondence templates now make it clear that double demerit points apply for multiple seatbelt offences relating to drivers not correctly wearing a seatbelt as well as drivers not ensuring passengers aged less than 16 years correctly wear a seatbelt.

“Only a very small percentage of people who received camera-detected seatbelt infringement notices were affected.

“On discovering the issue, TMR urgently contacted all impacted customers, corrected the system issue and commenced correcting customer traffic histories.

“This work has been completed and all impacted customer traffic histories are now correct.”

Mr Olsson’s request for the apology followed a statement from the state’s new Transport Minister Aspley MP Bart Mellish last week.

Brisbane pensioner Ian Olsson was fined for being the driver of a car with a passenger allegedly not correctly wearing a seatbelt. Picture: Contributed

Mr Mellish admitted the department had incorrectly reissued 16,401 Car Registration Notices and that it was forced to refund 945 customers who had responded and paid the second incorrect notice so promptly that their payments had to be refunded.

He said the mail-out mistake was a manual error made by a mail house vendor contracted to TMR and the new procedures were now in place to ensure it would not happen again.

“The Department of Transport and Main Roads was able to contact the overwhelming majority of customers to advise of the error prior to receiving any payment,” Mr Mellish said in a statement.

“A total of 945 customers responded so promptly to the incorrect notices that their payments had to be refunded.

“The duplicated mail out was caused by manual error on behalf of a mail house vendor contracted to TMR.

“A processing anomaly resulted in a requirement for the vendor to manually re-run a file

dated October 21, 2023.

“Human error resulted in the vendor incorrectly selecting a file dated 21 July 2023 for processing.

“Under general operating conditions, human intervention is not required to facilitate file processing.

“The vendor has since introduced mitigations that include enhanced archiving procedures and a peer check during instances of manual intervention.”