Country Court overturns speeding conviction
After eight years court allows Victorian policeman off the hook, due to inadequate speed restriction signageA Victorian policeman who argued that his eight-year-old speeding fine was unconstitutional has had his conviction overturned in the Victorian County Court.
Leading Senior Constable Trevor Bergman was caught travelling at 54km/h in a 50km/h zone in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Keysborough in 2005. Bergman challenged the constitutional validity of Victoria's road rules, citing ADR regulations that stipulate speedometer accuracy of 10 per cent.
Were the case successful, Bergman's battle could have seen tens of thousands of speeding tickets rendered invalid, but Judge Paul Lacava dismissed the argument. The judge also refused to hear evidence from Bergman's colleague and former senior policeman that speed cameras were revenue raising devices and little else.
However, the court quashed Bergman's speeding fine and conviction after the judge ruled an 80km/h speed zone applied to the area due to a lack of proper signage.
Judge Lacava said that a painted speed limit on the road did not constitute proper signage and therefore the 80km/h speed limit sign posted on a joining road still applied because that road did not end at an intersection.
It was ultimately a Pyrrhic victory for Bergman, who estimates that in sticking to his principle the case had cost him in excess of $3000, the original fine a fraction of that amount at $250.
Picture courtesy of Alex Simms, via Wikimedia Commons
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