Gold Coast pensioner fined hundreds after passing rego camera

A Gold Coast pensioner received fines of almost $1000 after a simple mistake was picked up by a traffic camera many people don’t realise exists. Here’s how he got caught.

Drivers alert for speed cameras, red light cameras and even mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras are being warned about another hidden hit.

Southport pensioner Mike Cox, 76, was stunned to receive fines of $920 weeks after a trip to pick up a friend from Brisbane Airport.

His mistake? He’d forgotten to pay his registration – an error picked up by cameras on the Gateway Motorway that read the number plates of passing vehicles.

“I was going to Brisbane Airport to pick up a friend,” Mr Cox said.

“I’ve never missed it (paying rego) before.

“I don’t think I’ve ever even got a traffic ticket. It was just circumstances.

“I was having radiation treatment for cancer and I just missed it.”

Pensioner Mike Cox, 76, at his Southport home. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Mr Cox said he subsequently realised he had been sent an email reminding him his registration was due. He did not see it at the time, both because he was undergoing treatment, and he is not confident with technology.

“I’m not really computer literate. I got scammed once and I nearly lost money so I’m very cautious,” he said.

“It’s easy for people to get caught (forgetting to pay rego), very easy.

“There’s no sticker on your car to refer to.”

Mr Cox said he wanted to warn others to make careful note of when their registration was due. He had not only had to pay the fines sent to him, but also shell out for new registration plates. As a pensioner those costs had “hurt”, but he was more concerned that he had been driving without third party insurance.

“What scared me more is I was driving around for three months (without rego) without knowing,” he said. “I could have lost everything.

“Thank God I don’t drive the car a lot.”

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