seatbelt fine?

[luz008]

A friend of mine received a £30 fine last night for not wearing her seat belt.
But she was, she got pulled over, never moved and when the police came to the window she was still wearing it. They just issued the ticket and didn't listen to anything she was saying.
Is there any way she can protest this or do anything about it? its ridiculous, she's the nicest person ever and i just dont want some cop on a statistics chase to take the piss.

[tricky69r]

What a bummer. I would ask the officer to provide proof as the old saying is 'innocent until proven guilty'. Hopefully they would have a camera in the front of their car recording the incident which in theory would be in your friends defence that she didn't put it on once she was clocked by the coppers?

[Kieron]

If it goes to court she will come off worse. Min court fees are something like £60. Its a cops word against hers so I'm afraid shes better to pay the fine and forget it ever happened.

[luz008]

thats what has pissed me off soooooooo much, she's done nothing wrong, is now having to pay a fine that she can't really afford and there's not much she can do about it

[4parajon]

Thats shocking thats is.
Is it worth her paying a visit to the officers station and asking to see the Inspector???

[Joe-Tait]

I wouldnt take them to court as people have said above, but i would pay the police station a visit

[mogsmex]

I got done for the same, got pulled over wearing it,copper said he saw me 5 mins earlier not wearing it,

I had had it on since I pulled off my drive, left me in the same position, was half tempted to go court out of principle but knew it would end up costing me even more in the long run, so I paid it

it really really really wound me up at the time, but unfortunately I had to put it down to one of those things to not allow myself to get eaten up with the unfaireness of it

[NorthernBloke]

This is a very worrying thread as anyone could be "caught" in the same way if the police don't have to prove you weren't wearing the belt. Just seems that there's no way to dispute this, as how do you prove you were, so it's got to be based on trust and that issuing officer is not taking the piss.

Perhaps you could get details of arrest/tickets issued by that particular PC under Freedom of Informaton Act or something similar as if he's doing this regularly that's got to leave him open for prosecution? Might be worth consulting a solicitor - unless there are any on here?

I know there a couple of coppers on here, it would be good to hear your opinions on this thread on general.

[meXEco]

Bloody piss takers...i saw a Cop show last week, a guy got pulled for suspected drink driving-breathalysed him and was nearly twice the limit, but a 'clerical error' meant he got off scott free.

Another one where the cops were looking for a burglary suspect but happened upon a couple of guys having a spliff in a car park-so stopped looking for them and wasted an hour booking them for a bloody spliff-burglars were never found.

See far too many of these stories where minor offences are drawn out yet the big law breakers seem to have the law on their side.

[justmental]

go to the station and ask to see a inspector and ask if there is any video of her not wearing the belt if there that should like to see it. if there is no footage of it then just pay it as you don't won't costs on top

[para144]

I was pulled over in my old RS2000 road car once, I wound down the window & the police woman then asked me.... 'is there any reason why you are not wearing a seatbelt sir'.

I was a bit bemused & said.... 'I'm strapped to my seat with a 6 point rally harness, does that not count?'.

I assume that when she was following me she couldn't see any diagonal strap of a normal seat belt & pulled me over.

She looked really embarrassed but still gave me a producer

[NorthernBloke]

'i'm Strapped To My Seat With A 6 Point Rally Harness, Does That Not Count?'.