$134M FINES FARCE
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Innocent’ drivers facing jail time
TENS of thousands of Gold Coast drivers are risking jail time by getting behind the wheel every day, not knowing their licences have been suspended.
Police have admitted it is becoming common for motorists to unwittingly rack up dozens of fines thanks to new electronic tollway systems and digital speed cameras.
GOLD Coast motorists owe more than $134 million in unpaid fines, with many of them unaware that the automatic suspension of their licence can put them at risk of a possible jail term.
A Bulletin investigation has found that drivers in the Gold Coast region are responsible for 80,000 unpaid fines.
In terms of money owed by Coast drivers to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry, tolls account for $28 million, followed by speeding ($23 million), driving offences including disqualification and dangerous operation ($19 million), vehicle offences including registration and defective parts ($14 million) and parking ($9 million).
Transport and Main Roads data shows 20,875 licences belonging to Coast drivers have been suspended in the past 12 months due to nonpayment of fines.
While some motorists are serial defaulters, lawyers and police confirm drivers often do not know about their debt to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry.
Motorists found guilty of unlicensed driving are disqualified from holding a Queensland driver’s licence for at least one month, up to a maximum of six months but repeat offenders risk high fines and a jail term of up to 18 months.
Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy believes drivers should be given an initial warning rather than lose licence points if caught for a non-driving related offence like outstanding fines.
If caught a second time, Dr Goldsworth supported a substantial fine as a deterrent.
“There should be a first warning (for not paying). Next time, there are no excuses,” he said. “You have a driver’s licence for driving, this attaching penalties to a licence for non-driving issues – I don’t think that is relevant,” he said.
Queensland’s peak motoring body, the RACQ, is also opposed to drivers losing demerit points for not paying fines.
Some drivers would have excellent driving records and in other cases the non-payment could have occurred due to a system breakdown like changing their rental address.
RACQ executive general manager advocacy Paul Turner said: “If you speed, drinkdrive or commit an offence that endangers other drivers, you should have your licence docked demerit points.
“It’s all about removing repeat offenders.
“To link demerit points to debt collection – that sends the wrong message.”
Mr Turner admitted some motorists refused to pay fines and urged drivers to “pay their fines and pay them quickly”.
But he also pointed to several breakdowns in the system, particularly for Coast motorists heading north to work on the Pacific Motorway and unfamiliar with the toll roads.
The E-Toll tag could malfunction or be defective and drivers might think they have paid a fine, ignore a fresh request or change their address without alerting authorities.
Some motorists who have organised a direct debit system have been shocked to find a backload of unpaid fines after their new credit card number was not recognised by the system.
Traffic lawyer Mark Bamberry, from Bamberry Lawyers, said some of his clients were unaware their licence had been suspended because the Transport Department did not have their updated address.
Some licences were suspended over SPER debts as small as a few hundred dollars, he said.
“Generally it’s because they haven’t been able to either pay the fine or that they’ve breached their repayment agreement,” Mr Bamberry said.
“It’s not as if they’re driving dangerously or driving inappropriately.
To link demerit points to debt collection – that sends the wrong message
PAUL TURNER
“It’s more a means by which the Queensland Government can force people to meet their financial commitments.”
Treasurer Curtis Pitt has urged residents to pay outstanding debts and if they were struggling financially to contact SPER about paying different instalments.
“Unpaid penalties registered with SPER were already rapidly approaching $1 billion when the LNP was in office – a direct result of the LNP deci-
sion to automatically refer all toll road fines to SPER,” he said. “Because of this the debt pool balance reached $1 billion shortly after 30 June 2015.
“Because of this decision, toll fines worth $124 million were added to SPER’s books last year.”
Mr Pitt said the LNP’s sole motive in implementing this failed policy was to fatten up SPER for outsourcing to the private sector. He said the new Government would better manage the front end of fine management processes to limit the number of unpaid fines referred to SPER.
Both Mr Bamberry and Gold Coast Road Policing Unit boss Senior Sergeant Bradyn Murphy urged drivers to keep the address on their licence updated.
“We do get some people (who we pull over) who genuinely didn’t know they had a SPER fine,” Sen-Sgt Murphy said. “The important thing we say to people is update your address with Queensland Transport.
“You are required by law to have the correct address.”
Government documents reveal the location of 235 mobile camera sites on the Coast, including 15 cameras on the Pacific Motorway between Pimpama and Mudgeeraba.
Senior Sergeant Murphy said the priority of police was to maintain “high visibility’’ to deter speeding motorists.