Driver fined for not wearing Seatbelt at BoatRamp (Qld)- Interesting!

 I wonder if this would apply in WA? 

 

 

 

 

Police and government departments checked vehicles and vessels at four boat ramps at Golden Beach.
The $365 fine that left a boatie Nico Brand baffled on the Sunshine Coast

QUEENSLAND fisherman Nico Brand had spent a night on the Sunshine Coast’s Pumicestone Passage before an encounter with police that “flabbergasted” him.

He saw a host of police officers and Department of Transport and Main Roads officers at the public jetty next to the Power Boat Club at Golden Beach as he pulled his boat up to the pontoon on a Sunday morning in March.

He passed them as he backed his van onto the ramp, loaded his vessel then drove about 15m within the parking area before stopping to tie down his boat the Sunshine Coast Daily reports.

If you don't wear a seatbelt at a boat ramp you could cop a $365 fine?

When a police officer approached Mr Brand and asked if there was any reason he was not wearing a seatbelt he was “dumbfounded”.

“I said ‘It’s a car park’ and she said ‘it’s not a car park, it’s a public road’,” he said.

He was fined $365 and given three demerit points, some advice on tightening and tidying his tie downs, and went on his way.

A couple of weeks later Mr Brand asked for the fine to be reviewed.

“I wanted to know where’s the fairness where you’ve backed into a waterway where the chances of rolling backwards into the water are far greater than hitting someone at 5kmh,” he said.

“Is it really fair to expect someone to put a seatbelt on when he’s on a boat ramp and comes up and parks 15m away?

“If I was really breaking the road rules why haven’t I been fined for driving with an unsecured load?”

Caloundra police officer-in-charge John Mahony said boat ramps and car parks were road-related areas so normal traffic rules and regulations applied.

Nico Brand.

“The legislation states that if the vehicle is in a forward motion on a road-related area then the seatbelt is to be worn,” Senior Sergeant Mahony said.

“You do not have to wear a seatbelt if you are reversing, however, prior to the vehicle commencing a forward motion following a reversing action you have to wear a seatbelt.

“Now at the same time obviously police quite often act with discretion and depending on the circumstances police may wish to use their discretion when making the decision to issue or not issue an infringement notice.”

He said Mr Brand’s query about why he was not fined for having an unsecured load was an example of police using discretion.

“That’s normal boat ramp etiquette; you prepare your boat prior to getting into that (ramp) area and you leave as soon as you can and go and secure your boat nearby,” he said.

Snr Sgt Mahony said high-visibility police operations, like the one in which Mr Brand was stopped, were as much about educating drivers as enforcing the law.

 

“It’s well documented that even low-speed traffic accidents can cause significant injuries to the driver and occupants, and the wearing of approved seatbelts significantly reduces injuries to drivers and passengers as a result of vehicle accidents,” he said.

Mr Brand has since received an answer to his review request telling him the fine was appropriate and explaining he could pay it or contest it in court.

He has not decided what to do next but said drivers should not have to wear seatbelts on boat ramps.

“Everything’s underwater and now you’ve got to climb in and put a seatbelt on?” he said.

“While you’re in the water you’d want to jump out as quick as you can if anything goes awry.”

Originally published as The $365 fine that baffled boatie


 

 

 

 

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Flaminghedgehog's picture

Posts: 58

Date Joined: 19/04/15

Public road?

Fri, 2017-05-26 18:00

Might be worth arguing that in court. Is a carpark a public road? This article says otherwise although in NSW www.lindsaytaylorlawyers.com.au/in_focus/index.php/2015/07/is-a-public-car-park-a-public-road/#.WSf7cTc2tUQ

Copper must have been having a bad day

Jackfrost80's picture

Posts: 8016

Date Joined: 07/05/12

You can bet your bottom

Fri, 2017-05-26 18:52

You can bet your bottom dollar the Coppers wouldn't get involved in a minor bingle in the carpark.

That being said putting in a seatbelt is a reflex action for me and I wear it between the ramp and the wash station. Takes an 8th of a second to undo so I don't like his chances of getting off with his defence.

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choc's picture

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Date Joined: 05/01/12

 Depends on the carpark. If

Fri, 2017-05-26 18:57

 Depends on the carpark. If carpark is within the road reserve road rules still apply. 

Posts: 326

Date Joined: 18/10/10

WA laws

Fri, 2017-05-26 18:59

Legally, you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are: The driver of a vehicle travelling in reverse. In possession of a current medical certificate authorising exemption. Doing work which requires getting in and out of the vehicle frequently, and the vehicle does not travel faster than 25 km/h. Under the age of 12 months and in a taxi, if there is no suitable child restraint available. A taxi driver carrying passengers after dark. Pregnant with a current medical certificate exemption. You could probably argue point three for an exception. Either way the copper who fined this bloke was a bit of a lunatic clearly

opsrey's picture

Posts: 1200

Date Joined: 05/10/07

another poor example of Police breaking the bonds with community

Sat, 2017-05-27 08:49

Yes the bloke had broken the law. Yes the law was never meant to apply in the circumstance. Yes no one will ever be saved from crash injury in a boating car park by wearing a seat belt.

so all the Police did was further break the community bonds we so desperately need them to maintain.

stupid is as stupid does, and the Police own it in this instance. 

Tom M's picture

Posts: 662

Date Joined: 22/09/15

 Well what a waste of tax

Sat, 2017-05-27 10:50

 Well what a waste of tax payers money, in the mean time drug runners are rampant, people are being burgled, assults are happening. Wish the police would get their priorities right and protect the public, not booking people in low risk activities to raise revenue.

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Tom M

Posts: 23

Date Joined: 01/01/70

could of just given him a warning and reminded him of the

Sat, 2017-05-27 11:09

 apparent law. but no, typical cop fuck authority rush at it's finest. gotta get the quotas up

Posts: 82

Date Joined: 29/03/13

 Very poor targetting non

Sat, 2017-05-27 13:23

 Very poor targetting non issues like this.  My son has had a couple of stupid fines, eg crossing a solid white line, same fine as highway speeds with opposing traffic, double demerit points for a public holiday (6), big fine, all he did was cross the white line to enter an angle park in a country town shopping strip to park in an angle parking area, you know, just like everyone does.  Quotas impacting on common sense and the whole police and safety issue gets bad PR even on more serious issues like speeding etc.   

Fair enough if they were targetting unroadworthy trailers and DUI kinda stuff, but this is just stupidity

cheers

Rod

 

crano's picture

Posts: 694

Date Joined: 04/11/09

Cops

Sat, 2017-05-27 13:36

 Had cops checking safety gear in coral bay last week. Surely they could find some thing more important to do and leave that sort of thing to other bodies.

Posts: 408

Date Joined: 23/11/09

Really

Sat, 2017-05-27 19:28

how often do you see DoT in Coral Bay. Not that f'n often I can tell you. Should be more of it. There is a lot of dickheads on this water that take shit for granted and end up needing rescuing, I'm guessing you don't volunteer for any of those ?

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 Last time I was there 3 yrs

Sun, 2017-05-28 08:30

 Last time I was there 3 yrs back the cops were there in the carpark using the radar gun on boats coming toward the marina along with DOT.

DOT are there fairly regular especially during the holidays

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The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

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Date Joined: 23/11/09

For all you cop bashing fuckwits

Sat, 2017-05-27 20:02

 that really don't have a fucking clue about shit, here you go. This is WA. Not Queensland. And just because one idiot cop decides to hand out a dodgy ticket, which perhaps you are probably not getting the whole story about anyway, don't paint all cops with the same brush. That would be like me, as a cop, saying, 'I have to deal with some real fuckwits in my job everyday. Therefore each and every member of the public is a fuckwit'.

Yes. Ok. You got me, I very much agree with that statement.

But Anyhoo. This is out of the road traffic code 2000 WA

Unless the context requires otherwise, these regulations apply to persons, vehicles and things on roads only, and where a provision of these regulations requires, or prohibits, the doing of any act or thing, that requirement or prohibition relates to the doing of that act or thing, on a road.

And this is the definition of a carriageway under the same regulation. Ok. Carriageway means the black stuff and everything up to the property boundary lines for you fuckwits that can't quite follow this.

 

carriageway means a portion of a road that is improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, and includes

carriageway the shoulders, and areas, including embayments, at the side or centre of the carriageway, used for the stopping or parking of vehicles; and, where a road has 2 or more of those portions divided by a median strip, the expression means each of those portions, separately;

so read. It understand it instead of believing all the bullshit on forums.

as for me, I'll be keeping an eye out for you lot and your safety gear, vehicle speed, seat belts in car parks ec etc.

as for this forum I am done

get fucked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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big john's picture

Posts: 8725

Date Joined: 20/07/06

Hey

Sat, 2017-05-27 20:06

Try being a Collingwood supporter!

Don't take things to much to heart muppet, I'm a school teacher, I rarely read anything positive about us as an occupation. Water off a ducks back.

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Jigs available online in my web store!

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What a muppet !Did Miss Piggy

Sat, 2017-05-27 20:37

What a muppet !

Did Miss Piggy give you a knock back ?

Posts: 76

Date Joined: 29/04/14

 Yeah dude time for a career

Sun, 2017-05-28 16:15

 Yeah dude time for a career change I reckon, either that or a bit of anger management. (I would probably delete your post too the wrong person sees it and you will be in shit up to your bottom lip)

sea-kem's picture

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Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Why would that be craytail?

Sun, 2017-05-28 17:30

 Why would that be craytail?

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Lastchance's picture

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Date Joined: 02/02/09

Haha, what a post, that's the

Fri, 2017-06-02 14:53

Haha, what a post, that's the spirit Muppet! Im always doing dodgy shit like drink driving with the boat on, no safety gear at all, heaps of illegal substances on board, undersized fish and rego issues. Next time you see Lastchance (Silver Preston Craft) getting around the North West you better pull me over as I deserve to be caught!
Actually Im only joking mate, I sold it to a mate in Dampier last week and I now live in Darwin, but it would have been pretty funny seeing the new owner Scotty getting harassed! (Also everything I wrote was fictional)
Have a good one mate

OOH YEH's picture

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Date Joined: 16/06/15

Wow true colours

Sat, 2017-05-27 20:46

sorrry for you to deal with the public maybe it's time to get out !!!!! 

Posts: 3246

Date Joined: 15/08/09

True colours ^

Sun, 2017-06-04 21:14

 How would you know? Do you know him?

Posts: 82

Date Joined: 29/03/13

 I was an emergency worker

Sun, 2017-05-28 07:36

 I was an emergency worker for many years and had a good relationship with the police.  i nearly always thanked them for the job they do for our community.  Seems to me that the world is a different place for cops, seeing the worst lots of the time and getting abuse.  On top of that, decrees coming down from government etc re quotas.  When I bought a new car last year, the salesman and the customer care person were both ex police who had quit because of all the crap and we talked at length about how more and more restrictions put on being able to give out a warning (when appropriate).  Then scum who should be jailed get off by working the system and all the time put in by police ends up being an apparrent futile effort.

Every occupation and sector of the community has a variety of personalities and it's always the few who stuff it for the many

Thanks to all you cops out there, chin up and thanks, we'd be stuffed without you :-)

Cheers

Rod

sea-kem's picture

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Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Another point to remember is

Sun, 2017-05-28 15:32

 Another point to remember is that a police officer they are by default a fisheries officer? I'll stand corrected.

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Date Joined: 15/08/09

^ Yes Andy -

Sun, 2017-06-04 21:05

 They are Ex Officio - Fisheries Officers. 

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Date Joined: 31/12/11

Wouldn't want to J walk if Muppet was on the beat.

Fri, 2017-06-02 15:28

I could hardly believe that rant !!! I didn't think there was too much flack getting pointed toward police in general ? Just over policing, which society doesn't need.
Something I was told a time ago, if you write a letter like that maybe wait until morning and read it again !
Because surely you don't believe what was written in the heat of the moment to be true.
Have a nice day officer.

Jackfrost80's picture

Posts: 8016

Date Joined: 07/05/12

Muppet screams out as the

Fri, 2017-06-02 16:50

Muppet screams out as the bloke that was picked on in high school and joined the WAPOL to get that respect and power he craved so much only to realise he didn't have the social skills to be an effective officer so he was busted down to the traffic section and would book his own grandmother for rolling over a Stop line. The kind of Copper that also umpires D grade ammos on the weekend and overofficiates the game coz being a copper doesn't quench his thirst for power and then hands out red and yellow cards to anyone that challenges his decisions.

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Alan James's picture

Posts: 2204

Date Joined: 30/06/09

...

Fri, 2017-06-02 21:39

Frosty, you really are a wanker at times.  You openly profile Muppet in a derogatory manner without knowing him.  I hope you never have the need to call the police for assistance.  Poor form champ.  Muppet obviously had a bad day, we have all been there, move on folks.  I am sure most on here have at times later regretted hitting the Save button.

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Date Joined: 18/01/12

.

Fri, 2017-06-02 22:07

 Hmm, began typing about an hour ago similar, that Muppet has been on here quite a long time as a respected contributor but thought fuck it and deleted.

Just a bad day...

Have to agree somewhat that at times, JF, you have just been in full troll mode, maybe having bad days yourself?
Happens to all of us.

____________________________________________________________________________

 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

Jackfrost80's picture

Posts: 8016

Date Joined: 07/05/12

Thanks for the kind

Sat, 2017-06-03 09:46

Thanks for the kind words.

I've actually described the town copper that worked in the town I played footy for years ago. And yes he did book his own grandmother but he umpired ressies instead of D grade ammos. Was great entertainment watching the flurry of cards and send offs.

He also used to crack the shits in social settings when people had a varied opinion to him and argue and crack the shit further and threaten to target them once on shift.

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Lastchance's picture

Posts: 1272

Date Joined: 02/02/09

I feel you have simply made

Sat, 2017-06-03 11:56

I feel you have simply made pretty much the same type of generalisation that ole Muppet did yet you have been jumped on harder. I had to laugh reading it mate as Ive also experienced the exact profile you discussed (albeit his brother, not grandparent!) in the past. Haha, I must hate all cops too now!

MJ's picture

Posts: 362

Date Joined: 23/06/09

Spot on!

Sat, 2017-06-03 11:48

Couldnt agree more Alan.

 

 

 

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Date Joined: 30/12/09

 You must have to much time

Fri, 2017-06-02 22:20

 You must have to much time on your hands jack to come up with shit like this. I don't know muppet from a bar of soap but your comment here is just what most people would expect from a crack head and not from you. What are you doing? At least the guy is serving to protect the general public the likes of your missus and kids when you can't be there and yet here you are giving him shit on a public forum. Who's going to protect your family whilst you are out fishing and you can't get there immediately.

you would be preying like fuck that the cops there to handle the situation. Piss poor form mate imo.  

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Coastrunner's picture

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Muppet loses his shit

Fri, 2017-06-02 17:10