Mobile speeding fines issued in Darwin and Palmerston since January 2020 ‘unlawful’, court hears
EVERY single speeding ticket issued from mobile speed vans in Darwin since the beginning of last year is invalid as police laser guns were not tested in accordance with the law, a court has heard
Police & Courts
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EVERY single speeding ticket issued from mobile speed vans in Darwin since the beginning of last year is invalid as police laser guns were not tested in accordance with the law, a court has heard.
Tania Laurencont pleaded not guilty in the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday to two counts of speeding after police allegedly clocked her doing 49km/h in a school zone and 93km/h in an 80km/h zone in Darwin and Palmerston last year.
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In arguing for the charges to be thrown out of court, her lawyer Ray Murphy, said the speed guns used by officers in the vans were not tested according to the requirements of the Traffic Act.
Mr Murphy said the law made it clear the devices had to be tested in accordance with the manufacturer’s manual, which specified that the distance across which the laser was fired in testing had to be precise.
Two police auxiliaries gave evidence that the distance used for testing the cameras each day at the new Palmerston police station — standard practice since January last year — was 27.4m.
But Mr Murphy said that distance converted into 81.03675ft, when the US manufacturer’s manual specifically stated “a fraction of a foot will not do”, rendering the tests unlawful.
“This is black and white — the operators of that device have to have done a fixed distance check which they have, (but) they’ve both conceded that the distance in that fixed distance check is a fraction of a foot,” he said.
“Not only have they not done it (lawfully) on these two occasions, they’ve not done it ever since the ‘range’ that they’ve described at the Palmerston police station has been in place, since January of 2020.
“Because those tests were not conducted (lawfully), the use of the device was unlawful and because those tests were not conducted it couldn’t (lawfully) be used to detect the speed of my client’s vehicle or any other vehicle on those days.”
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Prosecutor James O’Brien maintained there was no failure to comply with the requirements of the legislation.
“Once the device is gazetted, once (authorised) persons check it on an annual basis, check the veracity of the device, it stands at law as something your honour can rely on,” he said.
Judge Tanya Fong Lim reserved her decision after noting the potentially “far ranging consequences” her ruling could have.
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