A speeding ticket
Stand up
For all my life I've allowed myself to be intimidated into compliance by bullies and authoritarians, but no more. These days I make a stand for what I believe is right.
Certainly, on getting a speeding ticket, the easiest response is to simply pay the fine, but my contention is that we want our police to be using their judgement rather than mechanically applying rules for the sake of the rules as opposed to their intended purpose.
Last updated: 2023-04-07
Rule of Law
Alas for some, dangerous driving is an adrenaline hit, and so we value police intervention to keep our roads safe. At other times people just simply unintentionally make a mistake of little consequence and there are even cases when breaking a rule may be the safest course of action.
Click the thumbnail to view the plaintiff's court records, from New Zealand police. That also contains my original e-mail on why I requested this hearing. Complete documents of evidence will be included with my submission.
2023-03-28 dubious speeding ticket
Booked accommodation in Christchurch for my dogs and I. Yesterday we drove all the way from Karamea to stand trial in Christchurch for dog leash infringements later in the week. Phenomenal expense to try defending myself against a soulless machine of New Zealand authority, but if I don't stand up their shit will just keep coming. Today was dedicated to printing and filing my affidavit and evidence (Note: the case against me was ultimately dropped).
Having done all I needed, relaxed that evening, I was driving with my dogs for a run on the beach.
It was a route I had driven frequently ever since Lucy was a puppy.
I am familiar with the road and speed limits and fully aware it was a popular speed trap with police.
In fact it's the same Dyers Rd that I mentioned further down, in relation to a previous offense
.
Tama had his head out the window so I was not wanting to go fast as the wind causes inflamation of his tear ducts.
I noticed a car accelerating hard towards me on the other side of the road. Recognized it as a police vehicle and thought they must have just got an emergency call on their radio.
Sure enough he switched on his flashing red and blue lights, but then unexpectedly slammed on the breaks and maneuverd to do a U turn. It seemed stange that he initially had been accelerating. I looked at my speedometer that registered 72kph in a 70 speed limit. I thought "Well it can't be me", but I was wrong!
This cop pulled me over, gave me a pedantic lecture about the speed limit as if I had done it deliberately. He alleged I had been doing 88kph and sneered that I would be getting a fine in the post. He already knew my name and didn't want to see my ID, nor take the opportunity to breath test me for drugs or alcohol.
While I don't have any evidence of what speed I would have been doing I don't believe for a minute that I was going that fast. I want to see his evidence and I want to know when his system would be due for calibration check and the result thereof. His actions make me suspicious he may have been gaming the system. Is he getting incentive payments like a "productivity bonus"?
A doppler radar will give instantaneous speed relative to the police vehicle, but it needs to subtract their speed to get mine. That could be a mechanical linkage thus incurs lag, so I want to know what the manufacterer says about their accuracy under heavy acceleration and I want to know if that has even been tested.
Given the pitiful response of police to all the hate crimes that eventually ran me out of town this kind of policing is not a service I am willing to fund. It's not creating "safer communities together". It's just adding to us living in fear of making mistakes while under creepy surveilance.
I've lost all respect for these wankers!
2022-06-30 Defense Affidavit
In the District Court Christchurch
No: CRN 22009111513
In the matter of traffic infringement offence
Informant: New Zealand Police
Defendant: Ms. Frilly Angelica Perduta
Next event date: 30th June 2022
I, Frilly Angelica Perduta, of Christchurch, retired, swear/affirm:
1 Plea of Guilt
1.1 On considering the evidence provided by officer APAX56 I wish to enter a plea of guilty, but with extenuating circumstances that I present here for the court to consider.
2 Circumstances
2.1 The speed limit goes from 100 kph right down to 50 on a straight road with excellent visibility. (exhibit A)
2.2. Having seen no speed restriction on the way in, this came as a surprise and I realized I must have gone the wrong way.
2.3 Concurrently there was a delivery van ahead of me. They slowed right down almost to a stop and started indicating left, presumably they were looking for a delivery address, or maybe to turn into Leeston Rd, which Google maps shows is a side street immediately to the left there. (exhibit B)
2.4 I had only just started decellerating. I could see an oncoming vehicle in the distance (which we now know was the police car). On the spur of the moment I decided it would be safest to overtake swiftly, rather than slam on the brakes, but in doing so I failed to check if I was within the speed limit. Note: The officer's notes confirm she was traveling towards me and that I did overtake near the Leeston rd turnoff.
2.5 I was not intentionally wreckless, nor was I in a hurry, but due to stress and preoccupation maybe I reacted late. None the less I'm not convinced my maneuver wasn't one of the safest I could have taken at the time.
3 Ruled by Fear?
3.1 As explained in the e-mail requesting this hearing, not only was I sleep deprived and distressed, I was preoccupied thinking about court action against ongoing hate crimes and harssment, that police don't have time to deal with (exhibit C).
3.2 I felt my explanation had been trivialized by the officer. The police report identifies me as MALE (all in capitals). My driving license does not gender me, but after medical examination and irreversable surgery my sex was ammended on my birth certificate (exhibit D), yet sometimes I do feel there is hostility against me for being transgender although I have no ill intent towards anyone.
3.3 When stopped by police as opposed to speeding camera evidence, the addition of demerit points suggests a more concerning transgression, yet in this case I don't feel penalizing me after the fact is going to help create a safer community. It will just add to my distress everytine I need to drive somewhere.
Conclusion
I ask the court to acknowledge importance for police to use their judgement regarding effective application of their time and resources, by reducing the penalty on this case.
Signature of deponent:
Sworn/affirmed at:
2022-06-30 court hearing
I was expecting no hint of justice, so I brought my spy glasses along with every intention of covertly recording, however the guard at the door was alert and spotted them, so I had to leave them behind.
Signing in they offered me a free solicitor and I thought, why not. Now this guy was really on the ball. He would put the lazy profiteering assholes I've hired in the past to shame. He explained to me that by pleading guilty the only paperwork the JP would be presented with would be accusation from the police... not even including their evidence and statement of facts. He also explained that since the maximum penalty was $1000 they would probably decide something like $500 + court costs, thus making it a hell of a lot more expensive than had I just subserviently paid the $120 fine. He had an excellent grasp of my defense about overtaking safely and presented my case very eloquently.
Body language suggested however, that the JP might be a bit annoyed with me for putting them on the spot for such a piffling amount. He had just fined previous guy $750 + $250 court costs for doing 152kph in a dedicated overtaking lane. That guy did have several previous convictions for speeding, so I could imagine that in his case they decided he did need a wakeup call.
OTOH I have since learned of a Dunedin councilor that took a $12 parking ticket all the way to the high court (click the tab to view the article). Sometimes establishing legal principples is more important than the actual case and maybe there should be an official allowance for overtaking safely!
The JP gave me a lecture about the police keeping roads safe. In my favor was that I had no previous convictions. He checked a computer screen then noted that, had I been clocked at just 1kph slower, it would have been a lower offense category, so he was willing to reduce my fine to that, i.e. $80 + $30 court costs. Note that by the time I add my parking fee of $6 and a few incidental costs, I didn't save anything by defending my case.
Speed limits seem to be arbitrary, compare it with the speed limit on say Dyers road that rips through a busy industrial estate at 70km/h where there are often large lorries manoevering.
Police had recently said they were too busy to deal with my requests for help against shit stirrers. Ironically they did have time to threaten me for not paying fines, consequent to those trolls dobbing me in with false allegations that I was given no opportunity to contest. Now here they were applying pedantic rules once again, like soulless machines devoid of compassion, or consideration of circumstances. The lawyer however did explain that the police have no choice: Once they clock you, the infringement is registered and they themselves will get in trouble if they don't follow through.
The digital cage is closing in.
Reminiscent of Klaus Schwab's 4th industrial revolution plans, this is forcing each and every one of us to behave like cyborgs. I now feel a desire to fight to keep our police human, so that they too can use their judgement and focus on genuinely dangerous behaviour while dismissing those of little consequence.
Safer Society, or Extortion Racket?
This is not the first time I felt I was being ripped off with pretentious traffic infringements. Not that long ago I was fined $30 for doing 55kph in a 50 zone. On clear roads under good conditions with no traffic around these limits are easily exceeded. With many years of experience, I naturally drive at a speed I feel comfortable and in full control. It would divert attention from the road and potential hazards were I expected to watch my speedometer constantly. Pretentious police waffle about speed being a factor in accidents is BS and penalties after the fact are intimidation and profiteering. I even suspect cops are given incentives to get convictions that have nothing to do with making the roads safer.
Decades after divorce I returned to New Zealand and shipt my touring caravan with a few posessions in it from England. I intended to live in it while building my batch in the Marlborough Sounds and maybe do a bit of touring. I had been through a grueling battle with MAF to bring it in to the country and shall write about that separately, but I was finally on my way back up to Picton from Lyttleton when I noticed a cop car tail-gating me. I was well below the speed limit and couldn't think what his problem might be. I assumed he was having an issue with the UK number plates on my trailer, but I was aware that I could carry on using them for up to a year before needing to reregister the vehicle in NZ.
That cop was finishing his shift. Maybe he just wanted to get his weekly quota as he swithched on his flashing lights. I pulled over. He booked me for driving an unlicensed vehicle as well as driving on the wrong side of the road.
At a bend called Hog Swamp there had been some quail toddling along and so with a clear view I had cut the corner to avoid mowing them down. Certainly I did straddle the dotted white line, but AFAIK that is allowed, so I wrote to object to both charges. The police never replied, but took me to court. On arrival I was informed they were dropping the bogus unlicensed vehicle allegation, but the officer and a team of lawyers persevered with stories about foreign people driving on the wrong side of the road. FFS, I thought. In England I had been driving on the Left for decades, just like we do here. The cop alleged he hadn't seen any quail and so it was his word against mine.
Back then the magistrate found me guilty and made me pay the court costs too. Thus the system bullies us into silence as it sanctions every attempt to stand against excess and abuse by unelected officials in positions of trust.