This is a case study on Exceed Speed Limit at 50/h above the limit.
Our client had been charged with driving 148km/h in a 100-zone. If you get caught going this quickly, you’re looking at a mandatory minimum license suspension of 12 months. Unfortunately the law in this area is very rigid and there are few defences you can raise.
What is alleged to have occured?
The client was in a terrible situation. There was a family emergency cross town and he did what anyone would do: he called an ambulance and then jumped in his car and drove there as quickly as possible to help out any way he could.
It was high stress and the situation at the other end was unclear. His mother-in-law had had an accident and it was unclear exactly what the situation was. He only knew that there was blood everywhere. Even in a situation like this, it is very unlikely to achieve the available defence of ‘necessity’. It may seem crazy, but that is the law.
What happened at court?
We acted on the client’s behalf at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on a charge of Exceed Speed Limit.
We understand this area of the law well and we know that if you get caught going that fast (exceeding speed limit 50km/h above the limit), the most important thing we could do for the client is to make sure that the client’s license gets suspended for only the minimum period.
But it wasn’t going to be easy. The magistrate can easily impose a longer sentence with a conviction and a big fine. These problems can snowball really quickly.
We had to create context for the magistrate. He had to paint a clear picture in a very short time to illustrate to the magistrate how crazy the circumstances were – this doesn’t happen every day.
Submissions were made to the magistrate about the client’s driving history, his professional accomplishments, and the exact nature of the family emergency was recounted.
What was the result?
The magistrate acknowledged that she was bound by a mandatory license suspension, but gave a very lenient sentence considering that the speed recorded was nearly 50km/h above the limit.
The client received only the minimum 12-month license suspension, a $400 fine, and did not receive a conviction. The magistrate also did not ‘disqualify’ the license and was instead ‘suspended’ – meaning after the 12 month period, the client can start driving immediately without doing any tedious paper work. This was an excellent result for a case of Exceed Speed Limit especially one at 50km/h above the limit.
Related case studies
Our client had been charged with driving 148km/h in a 100-zone. If you get caught going this quickly, you’re looking at a mandatory minimum license suspension of 12 months. Unfortunately the law in this area is very rigid and there are few defences you can raise.
What is alleged to have occured?
The client was in a terrible situation. There was a family emergency cross town and he did what anyone would do: he called an ambulance and then jumped in his car and drove there as quickly as possible to help out any way he could.
It was high stress and the situation at the other end was unclear. His mother-in-law had had an accident and it was unclear exactly what the situation was. He only knew that there was blood everywhere. Even in a situation like this, it is very unlikely to achieve the available defence of ‘necessity’. It may seem crazy, but that is the law.
What happened at court?
We acted on the client’s behalf at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on a charge of Exceed Speed Limit.
We understand this area of the law well and we know that if you get caught going that fast (exceeding speed limit 50km/h above the limit), the most important thing we could do for the client is to make sure that the client’s license gets suspended for only the minimum period.
But it wasn’t going to be easy. The magistrate can easily impose a longer sentence with a conviction and a big fine. These problems can snowball really quickly.
We had to create context for the magistrate. He had to paint a clear picture in a very short time to illustrate to the magistrate how crazy the circumstances were – this doesn’t happen every day.
Submissions were made to the magistrate about the client’s driving history, his professional accomplishments, and the exact nature of the family emergency was recounted.
What was the result?
The magistrate acknowledged that she was bound by a mandatory license suspension, but gave a very lenient sentence considering that the speed recorded was nearly 50km/h above the limit.
The client received only the minimum 12-month license suspension, a $400 fine, and did not receive a conviction. The magistrate also did not ‘disqualify’ the license and was instead ‘suspended’ – meaning after the 12 month period, the client can start driving immediately without doing any tedious paper work. This was an excellent result for a case of Exceed Speed Limit especially one at 50km/h above the limit.
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DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 23/10/2019
