8/2/2019 RACV Transport Quill - Stephen Drill and Amelia Harris

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SECOND

Herald Sunheraldsun.com.au

CHRISTMASBARGAINS

HOW TO MAKE BIG SAVINGS

BOAT PEOPLE BACKDOWN ON NAURU DETENTION

SPEED CHEATS

REPORT

PAGE 2

PAGES 8-9

GIFT OF LIFEFOR ANNIEIt will be a very special

Christmas for Annie afterlifesaving surgery gave her

the best gift of all

OUR LITTLE MIRACLE:PAGE 7

Picture: TIM CARRAFA

DAYSTO GO

COUN

TDOWNTO

O GOCHR

ISTMAS

2

EXCLUSIVE: CLARKE WRITES

SPORT

BOXING DAYBATTLE PLAN

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2011 CITY: PARTLY CLOUDY. MAX: 31. PAGE 71 $1.10*(Incl. GST)

Legal loophole lets50,000 leadfoots

pay to beat demerits

VICTORIAS

TRAGIC TOLL

SPECIAL REPORT:

PAGES 20-21

EXCLUSIVEStephen Drill and Amelia Harris

SPEEDING drivers arekeeping their licencesbecause they are exploit-ing a legal loophole topay a fine to beat gettingdemerit points.

Up to 50,000 rogue driverseach year pay a fine to avoiddemerit points.

T h e H e r a l d S u n ha slearned the pay-to-speedclause has boosted govern-ment coffers by $112 millionin three years.

T h e l o o p ho l e a l l o w smotorists to cop an extra$717fineon topof theirorig-inal traffic fine if they do nottell police who was drivingat the time of the offence.

The points attached to theoriginal fine are not recordedagainst any drivers licence.

There is no limit to thenumberoftimesa driveroracompany can pay the extrafine to avoid demerit points.

A police source said caband truck drivers were theworst offenders, with com-panies blatantly allowingdrivers to stay on the road.

The revelation comes as

the Herald Sun today re-ports that more than 11,000 years have been lost due tofatal accidents on Victoriasroads already in 2011.

Road safety campaignershave called for the farcicalloophole to be immediatelyoverhauled.

The sooner we can getthese idiots off the road thesoonerwe canstart toreducethe carnage, said RoadSafespokesman Andy Milbourne.

If people go nuts behindthe wheel, they have to bemade accountable for it.

R oad s M inis ter TerryMulder last night said hewould close the loophole

next year after he was toldabout the matter by theHerald Sun.

In the past three financialyears, there were more than1 5 8 ,0 0 0 c as es of d riversd od g ing d emerit p ointsfrom speeding and red lightfines. Company drivers arealso using the loophole.

Police figures show thatdishonest drivers pay an ex-tra $717 failure to notify adriver fine and the demeritpoints attached to the initialfine are never chased up.

This is just the tip of theiceberg in terms of demerit

point rorting, the policesource said.

When you look at thetransport industry, theyknow who the drivers are atall times.

A t r a n s p o r t i n d u s t r ys o u r c e a d m i t t e d t r u c kdrivers used the loophole.

The fine comes in andthe company gives them asimple choice: pay the finesor lose your licence andyour job, he said.

P o l i c e D e p u t y C o m -missionerKieranWalshesaidhe would look at tougherpenalties for drivers whoabused the loophole.

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4 Herald Sun, Friday, December 23, 2011 heraldsun.com.au

NEWS FOR BREAKING NEWS heraldsun.com.au

Horror end to familys Christmas shopping trip, but ...

Boy cheats deathAngus Thompson andMichelle Ainsworth

A FIVE-Y EAR-OL D b oycould be home for Christ-mas despite receiving life-threatening injuries when

hitbya car outside hishomeyesterday.Zulfiquar Ali had just re-

turned from buying Christ-mas gifts with his motherand two sisters when he washitafter steppingoffa businFrawley St, Hallam, afternoon.

Thecarwas believedto beovertaking the bus when itstruck the boy.

Witnesses saidtheyfeared

for the boys life after theytried to treat serious cuts tohis head at the scene.

Paramedics took the boyto the R oy al ChildrensHospital in a critical con-dition suffering head andchest injuries.

His father, Ewaz, who waswith his son last night, saidhis wife and daughters wit-nessed the horrific accident.

My wife rang me at 12.30saying someone had hit myson, he said. My daughteris veryshocked,my wife,me,

all of us.But Zulfiquar regainedconsciousness hours later,and his father said he couldbe home in a matter of daysto give the Christmas pres-ents he bought yesterday.

It depends on the doctorwhen he comes home. Hemay stay here (in hospital)one day, two days, threedays, Mr Ali said.

He said his son was verybrave.

My son is very good, verysmart, Mr Ali said.

The male driver of the carwas assisting police withtheir inquiries.

Meanwhile, a woman diedand another two were flownto hospital after a head-oncollision on the Surf Coast.

Thewoman, inher 20s,wasdriving towards Torquaywhen she lost control at thecorner of the Surf CoastHighway andMt DuneedRd,

Mt Duneed, about 11.30am.Police said the woman ap-

peared to swerve into on-coming traffic while trying

to avoid what was believedto be garden pots on theroad. Her car was hit by acar heading in the oppositedirection.

T h e w o m a n , w h o w a salone in her vehicle, died atthe scene.

Two women, who weretrapped in the second car,were flown to The Alfredhospital.

Enforcer: Toby Mitchell remainsin hospital afterbeingshotin Brunswicklast month.

Bikie dodges airport enemiesMark ButtlerB I K I E e n f o r c e r T o b y

Mitchell was escorted fromMelbourne Airport for hisown s afety in the d aysbefore he was shot.

The Bandidos hard manwas ushered from the air-port after enemies weresuspected of waiting tomeet him.

Australian Federal Policeagents met Mitchell as he

disembarked from a dom-

estic flight in November.TheHerald Sunhasbeen

told the former kickboxerdid not want to leave by analternative exit, but waspersuaded to do so by theAFP agents.

The AFP said it providedescorts to travellers offairport premises where

t h e re i s a c o n c e r n f o r

their safety and security.The AFP can confirm

that a person known topolice was escorted re-cently from Melbourne Air-port to ensure peace andgood order were kept, itsaid in a statement.

Mitchell has refused tohelp detectives investigat-ing the daylight attack inwhich he was shot outside

a gym in Weston St, Bruns-

wick, next to the Bandidosc lub hous e, on Novem-ber 28.

He collapsed in a nearbysupermarket carpark.

Mitchell lost a kidneyand part of his liver.

Mitchell remains in theRoyal Melbourne Hospital,where he has suffered com-plications in his recovery.

No charges have been

laid over his shooting.

Healthcharityprobe

Grant McArthurstate politics reporter

A CHARITY that countsPremier Ted Baillieu amongits patrons will be quizzedby Consumer Affairs amidconcern about its regis-tration as a fundraiser.

The Mental Health Foun-dationVictoriachargesup to$16,000 a table at its galaCrown casino fundraisingevent. B ut its financ ialrecords from last year donot list a single cent goingto charity.

Consumer Affairs Victoria yesterday confirmed thefoundation had not beenregisteredas a fundraiser forat least the past three years.

A CAV spokesman saidofficers would contact thefoundation to explain its

obligation to register as afundraiser, unless it qual-ifies for an exemption.

T h e f o u n da t i o n , e s t -ablished by psychiatristProf Graham Burrows in1981, is a charitable organ-isation drawing attention tomental health.

Other patrons of the foun-dation include Health Min-ister David Davis, MentalHealth Minister Mary Wool-dridge, and federal cabinetminister Simon Crean.

A S t a t e G o v e r n m e n tspokesman saidthe Premierwould not comment.

Prof Burrows could not becontacted.

Close call

in cliff fall A MAN has been rescuedfrom the side of a cliff afterfalling 25m while trying toget mobile phone reception.

The man, in his 20s, was walking with a friend near waterfalls outside Beech- worth when he stumbleds h o r tl y a f t e r 5 p m y e s -terday.

The Country Fire Auth-ority and State EmergencyService rescued the manusing ropes and a stretcherafter the alert was raised byhis friend.

An SES spokesman saidthe man was conscious andbreathing and it had takensome five to 10 minutes towalk him out.

He was taken to hospitalby ambulance.

SpeedloopholeFrom Page 1

Drive rs w h o co lle ct 12demerit points in any three-year period lose their licencefor at least three months oragree to go another year without attracting morefines,according to VicRoads.

By not owning up to thefines, drivers close to losingtheir licence avoid takingthe points.

Mr Mulder said: Danger-ous driving is not on toomany families are devas-tated by road tragedy. His-torical loopholes will bedealt with.

drills@heraldsun.com.auEditorial, Page38

Pilbaraboils at49.4CWESTERN AustraliasPilbara region hasbeenfeeling theheatwiththetownof Roebournehitting

49.4Con Wednesday,thesecond-hottest Decemberdayrecordedin Australiaandthehottestin WA.

High temperaturescontinuedin theregionyesterday,withOnslowAirport recordingamaximum of 49.2Cabout1pmlocal time, beforea seabreeze brought somerelief.

Thatwas thesecond-hottest December dayonrecordinWA andthethird-hottest December dayinAustralia,closebehindRoebournes records fromtheday before.

Numerousother sitesinthePilbararecordedtemperatures of morethan45C onWednesday, theBureau of Meteorology said.

Roebournes Decemberrecordwasonly0.1of a

degree behind the49.5Crecordedat BirdsvilleinQueenslandon ChristmasEve1972, andwasthefifth-hottest dayrecordedin WA.

Thehottest dayrecordedinWA was50.5C atMardieinthe Pilbara on February19,1998. AAP

The gainin SpainECONOMIC gloom istakinga back seat in Spain as thelottery billed as the worldsrichest dishes out $3.27 bil-lion around the nation.

A top prize of $934.64 mil-lion dubbed El Gordo

(The FatOne) wassplit y e s t e r d a y a m o n g t h eholders of tickets bearingthe number 58268.

The number appeared on1800 tickets, giving winners$519,244 each for their $26tickets.

The lottery aims for ashare-the-wealth system,rather than a single jackpot,and thousands of numbers yield at least some kind ofreturn to ticket buyers.

Sp ain is s trugg ling toemerge from a recessionthat has lasted almost two years and left the nationw i t h a e u r o z o n e - h i g h2 1 .5 per c ent unemp loy -ment rate.

AP