Hi

My son had a bit of a run in with law a few weeks ago, he was caught drifting in his Skyline. He was finned for speeding and doing a burnout.

The car was also defected for a thumb size hole in the drivers seat and very minor crack in the seat belt buckle, these 2 defects attract a $258 fine each but the killer is the 3 demerit points for each offence.

Ironically we were looking to buy new seats for the car to replace the ripped one leading up to this offence, my son is at uni and works at night in a pub so his funds are limited.

We bought new seats from eBay for $143 a pair delivered to our door, much cheaper than the fine not to mention the loss of points.

The seatbelt was not in anyway dangerous or defective otherwise I wouldn't have let him drive the car without fixing it.

So he paid the fines, about $1250, then last week he got a letter in mail to say that he had accumulated 13 points, bye bye license for 3 months.

If he hadn't been driving recklessly the defect would probably not have been issued.

I've spoken to many of my colleagues in the motor industry, non was aware that defects would attract demerit points.

Steve

List of demerit defect offences

DEFECT NOTICES/LABELS
Use vehicle in breach of minor defect notice $258 1 point
USE VEHICLE NOT COMPLY WITH STANDARD Defective brakes $258 3 points
USE VEHICLE NOT COMPLY WITH STANDARD Defective seating $258

USE VEHICLE NOT COMPLY WITH STANDARD Defective steering $258 3 points

USE VEHICLE NOT COMPLY WITH STANDARD Seatbelt missing/defective $258 3 points

DEFECT NOTICES/LABELS Use vehicle in breach of major defect notice $344 3 points

jeez thats a bit he wouldnt be from the penrith area would he they are very strict out my way

Hi

We live in very quiet leafy Lugarno. He drives a very low red Skyline cop magnate, they got him coming home from work, he also has a bug but he doesn't like leaving it outside work.

Steve

Could you possibly take a photo of the hole in the seat ?

This is the first Ive heard of it as well !!

Hi

The seats are in the bin now, I wonder if he had a seat covers would they have helped. There were no springs or anything poking out, just hole where you could see foam.

Steve

wow!



Thanx for the heads up, news to me also

Had NO idea that you could get Points for defects- scary stuff. My guess is that he was picked on because of the car and the drifting offense. That's a killer, sorry to hear about it

arhh! that's BS.

wtf is wrong with this world. dirty bastards!

Hi

On the RTA website it mentions such and such rule in 2007, si it may have been introdeuced then, there was talk of nationalising road rules. I'm pretty sure that they have a similar rule in Qld, a friends son got done up there.

There no question, getting caught drifting brought him to the attention of the cops.

Steve

Doing burnouts and drifting on the way home from work? What does he do on his days off?

We would most likely have the car impounded over here in SA if we got caught doing that.
T54

whats the issue with steering & brakes? you didnt mention anything relating to them....
IF its in decent condition it may of beeen worth arguing, could of just got the copper on a bad day...

last i saw the skyline it didnt look much different to the 10000s of other 'lines & pintaras floating around all over the country

We can't get sideways anymore??? What is the world coming too??
The fines and demerits are not in keeping with the either the incident or the car.
System does seem to be more about $ than it is about saving lives (my 2c: oh and I am in my mid forties; not an 18yo)

a good lesson early on, hopefully attracting the attention of the law for him and others in his situation will teach them a lesson they can carry with them... saving money and grief to themselves and others in the future.
I remember being caught speeding when young and it taught me a lesson that's lasted 30 years

well no license makes life hard , He should think twice about it next time, when he get his license back.
As long as his mummy and daddy aren't runner him around to work etc, now that he doesn't have a license,

ps a seat cover would of been good.
the rules are funny.
If you had mags and wheel nuts missing or broken BAD.
but you could only have two wheel nuts on each wheel under a hub cap GOOD. As you not allowed to removed hub caps to check..

aah reminds me of when I was young and stupid !!!
life was good back in the days of the automatic cordia turbo highway patrol cars a mildly hotted bug could usually outrun em not now these commodores and falcons hammer

Do the crime, do the time.

So he got done on this one.

USE VEHICLE NOT COMPLY WITH STANDARD Seatbelt missing/defective $258 3 points

In Vic, that drift/ burnout offence would be 2 days impound plus towing, impound fees on top of fines.
2nd offence is 3 months impound
3rd offence lose car forever.

Im pretty sure next time its 3 months paying the government to hold your car and neglect it and the time after that they keep it

Saw a Cordia get pulled over the other days by the cops, and it wasn't even blowing smoke (must have run out of oil) . Not sure what he did wrong, but given the traffic we were in it wasn't speeding.

Most likely driving a Cordia will attract attention from the cops by itself. They're now rare enough to have the cops remember who you are, especially if you've got form.

Personally I preferred the look of the Starion (I was in primary school and yet to develop taste). Didn't they used to run Starions in touring cars?

that's just the biggest load of crap I've heard!!!
Seriously, losing points for defects??!!!! and this came about 4 years ago, never heard of it till you mentioned it Steve.
Sounds like the pollies passing this through in the quiet early hours of a morning, so that the public don't get the chance to dispute it.

The timing sounds about right when the clown (can't remember his name) that was running for Bondi (what ever that electorate is) he was pushing to get cars impounding if you were caught doing burnouts and the like. It could have been passed at the same time so no one knew....

Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if I was driving a courtesy car and the cops pulled me over for a RBT (and in case your wondering, yes, I'm a sensible driver) and the cops deemed the car defective, would I have to wear the defective fines as well as the accumulation of points against my license??

Seriously, the next thing this government is going to want from all of us is our blood as the money is obviously not enough!!

Doesn't "Use vehicle in breach of major defect notice" imply that he was driving after being defected??

Having paid for my share of police xmas parties in my 20's I sympathise BUT whether you agree with the law it is still the law and one which we all have to adhere to. Best thing I can think of is keep your nose clean and car up to scratch and you wont be put in this situation. Secondly know the rules, seeing how the internet is not being used as it was intended (ie: porn) the laws are considered in the public domain once posted on a website, so bookmark the RTA site folks is all I can recommend and check in on it now and again.

Conform or Walk , nice choice. Unfair laws will always be circumvented, as they should.
Laws are there to insure public order not to be used as a tool of abuse or control. My2c

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig S Saw a Cordia get pulled over the other days by the cops, and it wasn't even blowing smoke (must have run out of oil) . Not sure what he did wrong, but given the traffic we were in it wasn't speeding. Most likely driving a Cordia will attract attention from the cops by itself. They're now rare enough to have the cops remember who you are, especially if you've got form. Personally I preferred the look of the Starion (I was in primary school and yet to develop taste). Didn't they used to run Starions in touring cars?

Hi

I want to make it clear I'm not condoning what my son did, I just wanted to let people know about the defect issues attracting demerit points.

I put new Klippen seatbelts in both our bugs and the Skyline, all of them wont release from the fully retracted spot occasionally, mostly if your on a slight slope, so you have to move the car a bit to get them to release.


Steve