Former roads minister Michael Daley caught speeding
THE man behind tough laws that cracked down on speeding drivers says he’ll take his latest speeding fine ‘on the chin’ and won’t appeal his licence suspension.
NSW
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NSW Labor Deputy Leader, Michael Daley, says he will withdraw a legal appeal against a suspension of his driver’s licence for a speeding offence.
“After reflecting on this issue over the past 24 hours, I have decided to cop the suspension on the chin”.
Mr Daley has already paid an $884 fine for the driving offence and received the demerit points. The suspension is for three months.
Former roads minister Michael Daley will have his licence suspended after he was caught driving 78km/h on the Eastern Distributor on August 8 — a whopping 38km/h over the limit as there were roadworks at the time.
The deputy state Labor leader said he wasn’t “aware” of the stiff penalties despite him driving them through state parliament.
In 2009, when he was roads minister, Mr Daley introduced the demerit points scheme that means a driver caught speeding 31km/h to 45km/h over the limit receives “a three- month suspension, five demerit points and a $647 fine”. “I wasn’t aware there was a law in place to have an automatic three-month suspension for 30km or over,” he claimed.
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Mr Daley said “to the best of his knowledge” he had never been penalised for speeding, claiming he hadn’t “lost a point” off his licence in more than 30 years. But he backtracked yesterday afternoon when he owned up to being booked for speeding four times — in 1988, 1989, 1999 and this year.
“Since my initial statement, I have now had the opportunity to view my driving record and to correct my memory. I should have obtained my driving record before I spoke to media outlets today. Unfortunately I did not and I made a mistake,” he said.
As well as being told his licence would be suspended for three months from November 14, Mr Daley received a five-point penalty as well as a $884 fine.
“I am very disappointed in myself because I am a careful driver and haven’t lost a point off my licence in over 34 years. I fully accept that I made a mistake and immediately paid the $880 fine and accepted the loss of points with it,” he said.
“However, I was surprised to then receive a notice that my licence would be cancelled for three months after this one mistake. I have elected to go to court to ask for leniency … as is every citizen’s right.”
Mr Daley, the member for Maroubra and roads minister for 12 months from September 2008, said he believes the court should show him “leniency” and despite introducing tough measures to crack down on speeding and beef-up punishments, Mr Daley said his punishment was “a bit harsh”.
His protestations are a far cry from his statements when he introduced a tough demerit point scheme. “There is no such thing as safe speeding … the more you speed, the more harshly you will be punished … there is no place for these drivers on our roads,” he said in 2009.