sustained loss of traction

[dnalunchie]

just did some quick research, if i get convicted

"the court MUST disqualify the driver for a minimum of 6 months"

there is no way in hell the that pathetic skid justifies loosing my license for 6 months. 6 minutes maybe even 6 days no way 6 months......

This might help you mate, a similar thing happend to me about 2 years ago, I too had a perfect driving record and I went to the law library at uni and read a few cases and yes if you are convicted the courts HAVE to take away your liecense for 6 months at least. The only way out of it is to concinve the cop that he should get you with a lesser charge but once it gets to court your pretty much stuffed, I spent 2k on my lawyer to fight something that you pretty much CAN NOT get off from.

The moral of the story, court appointed lawyers are win when you know your definatly going to lose

[d1 mule]

ok i just cant see how the punishment fits the crime. its $&#$% ridiculous

[flygt4]

plead not guilty right to the end.

when i got charged with excessive acceleration i went to court 3 times, the 3rd time they withdrew the charge as it didn't meet the criteria for the offence.
it turns out sometimes when officers want to be a prick they just go fishing and hope you plead guilty. if its a borderline case or it will be hard to prove (which will be hard if you admitted it) the police prosecutor will sometimes decide its not worth the effort and withdraw it.

what i suggest you do is visit the police station and see if you can get to speak to the snr sgt (essentially the officers boss) before it gets to court. if you present yourself nicely, explain the situation, he may ask the arresting officer if he wants to drop the charge, if you're lucky they will decide the 28day impoundment is punishment enough.

[85AW20v]

Wasn't it just your clutch slipping that caused the increase in revs - especially after 483,000km??

[frost]

its cos your in christchurch bro.

bingo!!! almost as bad as nelson cops,

[flygt4]

its not restricted to one area, there are the odd prick cops everywhere you go. most of them actually arent too bad, it just seems some have been doing it a little too long. You will also find some stations have a zero tolerance for certain offences at times, and as they have to write up everything they do it can be hard for them to let you off with a warning. you have to remember most of the officers you deal with are just bottom of the food chain.

when i got arrested recently at my house, I told the 4 nice officers at my door I would play nice as long they treated me with a certain level of respect, which included no handcuffs as we left my house, and getting me processed as quickly as possible. to their credit they did exactly that, and even apologised for having to arrest me (that got no conviction either btw)


I'd be finding a lawyer that specialises in traffic offences and getting their opinion. they will be able to request all the information the police have so you know what you are dealing with. they also generally go to the courts with you and take you through the process, which makes it a bit easier.

[B1NZ]

my previous driving record is pretty good 1 speeding ticket 2.5 years ago and a red light causing a accident almost 6 years ago.
cheers

You call running a red light causing an accident pretty good? Hopefully you get taken off the road for a while so you can think about things for a while

So you have never made a mistake while driving then? Never had a moment of in attention?

Explain exactly where I said I was perfect? Running a red light is a serious offence which can lead to death of an innocent party.

If someone close to you was killed by someone running a red light would you call it a moment of inattention?

[Alex B]

Yes I would, because that's exactly what it is.
In the eyes of the law its about as much as a serious offense as turning into the incorrect lane.

Lady at work in her 60's recently did this because she was looking at the next set of lights, with some sets of lights so close together that's not exactly a hard mistake to make either.

[rollaholic]

does anyone else want to know what flygt4 got arrested for

[jakesae101]

yes i do

[ihavelift]

yes i do

^^ + 1

[flygt4]

lol its a secret

[Brick]

indecent exposure?

[dnalunchie]

lol its a secret

spill!

[thegreatestben]

I hope it involved telling that ex of yours to GTFO

[S T E A L T H]

ok - as you've already figured out I see, if convicted you WILL lose your licence for 6 months. (not more, no less). You'll also get a fine + court costs somewhere in the region of $600-700 total.

Options are:

1) Plead guilty. You will have a 15 min meeting with a duty solicitor on the day, prior to your appearance. He will first check if the police have filed the charges correctly - it's been known to happen that they haven't, if thats the case you are free to go . Realistically slim chance of that. If you drove to court on the day, the DS will also request the judge to start your 6 month suspension from midnight that day, so that you can still legally drive home.
The outcome of this - you walk away with a smaller fine + it's easier and cheaper to get a work license should you decide to get one.

2) Plead not guilty. the judge will then schedule another hearing for a later date (usually 1-2 months). Upside is you can still legally drive during this time (once the intial 28-day suspension finishes) and you have time to get a decent/cheap lawyer to represent you and get a limited license if you lose.
Downside is if you get found guilty anyway they will impose a bigger fine. There's a possibility of your lawyer arranging a deal with the police prosecutor where you plead guilty to careless driving rather than dangerous = 3 months license loss instead of 6.
Being in CHCH I would say chance is against you.
There have been cases (2 that I know of) where people had the charge dismissed after showing data logs from engine management computers (showing they never exceeded XXXX rpm, or a certain speed) but not an option for you seeing as presumably you dont have such a device in an old van.

If you are going to fight it prepare to cough up around $6000 for legal fees + another $2000 for a work licence should you lose.

The cost that different lawyers charge to arrange a work license varies MASSIVELY from 1 lawyer to another, so shop around.

The cheapest option is to plead guilty and drive carefully and sedately for the next 6 months (shouldn't be a problem in a Hiace ) and don't do burnouts in stupid places...or anywhere at all for that matter.

[d1 mule]

cheers, iv got the numbers of 2 lawyers specialising in traffic offences so will go see them during the week and see what they have to say about it.

[flygt4]

thats a pretty accurate summary, except those costs are a bit generous i think.
A limited license could probly be had for around $1200, and depending on the lawyer, assuming 3 trips to courts as stated you could probably defend the charge for under 2k if you shopped around. my assault charge cost me $800 for 3 trips to court, and I had to file a special application for discharge without conviction which was reasonably time consuming. if you beat the charge obviously you wouldnt have to apply for a limited license anyway.

I wouldnt rely on a duty solicitor, if you're very lucky you'll get some really amazing partner from a huge firm doing their thing, but more likely you'll get someone at the bottom of the food chain who's only purpose is to guide you through a guilty plea easily.

A good lawyer who's local to the specific courts will help your cause too, as they will be familiar with the prosecutors and judges etc, and can often get some (unofficial) indication of how the police will present their case before the day arrives. They also managed to get me called on days when there was a judge sitting so i had to go back less times and it cost me less.

Oh and judges vary greatly from person to person too, some are very good at seeing things for what are and using their common sense, but some are just grumpy old men.

[Mr Revhead]

Does your Hiace look like a work hiace
or a boys hiace. Ie tints and slammed

[pjay]

Does your Hiace look like a work hiace
or a boys hiace. Ie tints and slammed

This