I have 15 Unpaid Speeding Tickets

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:17

You may well ask why I have not paid them.

1. They earn good money to the government but hardly affect safety.

2. Some speed limits are nonsense. I have a few going through the military village on the mountain road from Famagusta to Girne. 50/kh on such a derelict road is ludicrous.

3. There are some loopholes in the law, I used them and got acquittal on speeding before but nothing has changed, everything intact.

4. Like most people I slow down and then get back to normal after the camera. However I am a forgetful person, much more than most and hence I get caught more often. I hardly ever exceed the normal 100 kh limit because I consider that dangerous.

5. If I pay up it means that I accept the points and thus the license will be taken away for a few months. For the first 100 points you get a ban for 3 months. After that it doubles for every 100 points in 15 months. This is the main reason.

ismet

britvic



Joined: 05/09/2008
Posts: 3039

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:21

15 Unpaid speeding tickets? I am shocked to the core!

jillyjugs


Joined: 21/07/2010
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:28

3. There are some loopholes in the law.





do please share them with us.

cronos


Joined: 26/10/2008
Posts: 2093

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:34

Jillyjugs.....I suspect that just knowing the loopholes is not enough.



You need to be able to argue the point with voracity,and confidence....in Turkish !!!

dougskud



Joined: 04/04/2008
Posts: 356

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:39

Hello Everyone good morning



I truly am amazed at the posting by Ismet.



My impression of him from various of his postings is that of a highly intelligent man with strong moral values and yet we learn from this posting he chooses to flaunt the law with impunity.



How can this be tolerated by the courts?



I know of English Tourists held at Ercan and refused permission to catch their flight until the fine has been payed.



How can such double standards be acceptable?



regards Doug.





P.S. I agree many of the cameras are money traps but that's the law!!

dizzycows


Joined: 12/05/2009
Posts: 2736

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:48

Oh Elko2, you bad bad boy you, you know we ladies like a bad boy, thats why you have made it known on this forum..... now wheres that big stick to thrash you ...... lol

basheer



Joined: 22/12/2008
Posts: 949

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 11:50

on a british license you pay a cash fine and no points correct? just a memo on your passport details

on a cypriot license you are of worse off points are applied



so I guess hold on to your british license for NC

like I said earlier it takes two yrs for the authorities to catch up on your traffic offences

laptarunner



Joined: 02/11/2009
Posts: 217

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 12:01

On a recent visit to the police station, to make a statement after a minor accident, sat in the office, looking at noticeboard with a good 100 driving licenses pinned to it, including a couple of UK license. Policemen said they were ones that had been banned.



So a UK license is treated in the same way.

simbas



Joined: 16/07/2007
Posts: 5943

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 12:15

I was upheld at Passport Control a few years back , due to a speeding ticket and told to report to Famagusta Police Station the next morning , asked if i could go to Iskeke but was told no !the time on the ticket they gave me was about the time we were leaving the airport en-route to our Villa , i could swear i was'nt speeding and i saw no cameras either . I should have asked to see the picture but at the time , you just wanted it sorted . I was given a fine and 25 points against my licence and was told if i get to 100 points i would not be able to drive in NC

Simbas

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 12:31

msg. 5

Dougskad,

You wrote "How can this be tolerated by the courts? "

Can you be more specific please? Tolerate what. The courts are there to uphold the law and that is what they do exactly. Let me give you a few examples:

1. If the charge does not match the law, what do you expect the judge to do?

2. If the speed limit is not there in accordance with the law, what do you expect the judge to do?

3. If the calibration of the radar is not done properly, what do you expect the judge to do?

etc. etc.



Simbas,

If you want to see the picture, you are supposed to go to headquartes in Nicosia, pay a fee and go there only at certain limited times. Do you think this is in accordance with the law? I don't think so and I will challenge it the moment I get a summons-inshallah

ismet

wanderer


Joined: 05/02/2009
Posts: 1653

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 12:35

Bash

Its a notional licence if you drive on a UK licence so if you get 100 points in 15 months you can't drive in the TRNC legally and your insurance would be void but the UK never gets told so back home your'e ok

Pat

I had to go to lefkosa to see the picture your'e supposed to pay to see the picture I didn't its quite impressive system seems to be internet based picture called up and there was wife sitting in the passenger seat

Ismet

I was done on the army base going over the mountain to Girni from Ercan

The camera there I understand as the soldiers are quite often walking up and down its the last straight before you climb so overtake that truck the reverse applies on the down hill

Wrong Limit

Open the Cratos hotel at Catalkoy new rows of shops either side of the road and a Lemar with two entrances raise the limit to 65 from the sensible 50 accident there every week

YFred


Joined: 06/05/2009
Posts: 1471

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 13:01

Few Years back I was stopped by Police for speeding on the Girne side of the mountain, the police asked for my Drivers License and where I am from in Cyprus. His comment afterwords astounded me. He said " you are from the same village as my chief, if I give you ticket he will only rescind it, so on your way".



Can we have more police like that please.



BTW why is there a sign on the Lefkosa side of the mountain that says "Girne Kaza Bolgesi". Is it only the Girneli's that are allowed to have accidents there?

snakes



Joined: 28/10/2008
Posts: 1512

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 13:07

Elko2 fit one of your limiters to your car !! regards Barry

Sideways



Joined: 21/01/2009
Posts: 529

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 13:12

Calibration of speed camera's should certified every 12 months, quite possibly they are not done every 12 months here.



" Failure to follow APCO or manufacturers rules on calibration/re-calibration will not make a prosecution invalid. What it will do however is give the defendant excellent grounds for pleading not guilty and thereby forcing the police to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. Where they have failed to meet the standards prescribed by the manufacturers (not necessarily APCO as those recommendations are good practice only) it would be relatively easy under cross-examination, to cast doubt on the prosecution evidence thereby forcing the bench to return a not guilty verdict."

greenman


Joined: 16/02/2008
Posts: 526

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 14:33

Confession: Had my first speeding ticket in UK after 40 years of clean licence. Drove carefully passed a known speeding camera (and my sat nav reminded me) then picked up speed again only to be caught by a mobile camera just after the fixed one, so was surprised when the ticket arrived. I was offered the option of paying the £60 fine and have points or attend a 'speed awareness course' for £70. Being cynical, my thinking is that now the speeding penalty money goes directly to the treasury, by offering the courses the money is kept by the police authority and is a good little earner. At my course there were 20 people, and the same number at another course in the morning. So £2800 for a days work - not bad eh??

And of course, I no longer exceed the speed limit!!!!!!

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 19:23

msg. 15,

Was the course of any use? If we had a similar course here, I would ask why the police cars and the politicians always drive at high speeds. No wonder why our MPs have a special sign on their number plates to indicate that either them or their spouses are MPs. Disgusting.

ismet

spider


Joined: 03/01/2009
Posts: 5527

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 19:33

Hi elko2 I think you are most helpful and could you please tell me when you were awarded your title..and do you think we could have one for the funniest admin because it would be very hard to pick between Simbas and No1 !!



Perhaps you could help me with my question that I have posted a thread on with regards to blank threads that we cant seem to get onto,I am sure you must know the two threads I am referring to..thanks for your help.





Spider,X

greenman


Joined: 16/02/2008
Posts: 526

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 22:10

message 16. Of course it wasn't Ismet.

The purpose of the course was to extract money for the police authority. In many parts of the country the local authorities are turning OFF speed cameras as they are too expensive to maintain (it was a different story when the LA's were collecting the revenue, the cameras were then vital in saving lives) In my area they are keeping the cameras, but I'd love to see how many people are given the option of the speed awareness course. My bet would be on the majority of speeders (even though the cut off is 10% + 6 mph over limit)

LaptaMike


Joined: 07/10/2009
Posts: 1679

Message Posted:
14/08/2010 22:41

I got done in UK years ago for doing 102mph on an empty motorway in my 2 seater convertible sports car. Court gave me a 2 week ban and £118 fine. CPS were extremely pis*** off.



My mate got done for drink driving. He hired the solicitor that gets all the footballers off and didn't even loose his license.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 00:40

msg. 6

Dizzycows wrote: "Oh Elko2, you bad bad boy you, you know we ladies like a bad boy, thats why you have made it known on this forum..... now wheres that big stick to thrash you ...... lol "



Of course I know that. So now I have a very good excuse. I better watch out for ladies with bad intentions

ismet

dizzycows


Joined: 12/05/2009
Posts: 2736

Message Posted:
15/08/2010 10:57

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
07/01/2011 19:10

At last I had two summonses for speeding, one fixed for Wednesday 5th January and the next today Friday 7th January.



On Wednesday when I entered the box in the courtroom, the judge asked me what I intended to do. I said that I will plead not guilty when charged. The judge asked me if I was driving at the time and I said I do not know because the police refused to show me the relevant picture. The attorney intervened and said that he can obtain and show me the picture but I said no thanks, its too late. The judge postponed the case to 3rd February.



Today I appeared again infront of the same judge. She asked me if the situation is the same. I said that its the same and went on to stress that when we have the trial I will object to the attorney when he tries to submit the photo in evidence. At this point the attorney intervened and said that the police has no legal duty to show me the photo. I said that the police does have the legal duty to show it to me. They have no right to refuse it on flimsy excuses like having to go to Nicosia to see it, or at certain hours only or on the payment of a fee.

On that point the judge said that obviously I have no intention to plead guilty and I said that it is certainly the case.

So roll on 3rd February when they will have no choice but to charge me and I will plead not guilty.

ismet

kavenkoy


Joined: 10/04/2008
Posts: 1787

Message Posted:
07/01/2011 19:30

hope you get it right elko lol



or your off smashing rocks lol



take care and good luck



kav

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
07/01/2011 21:26

I can't wait to hear about the look on their faces when you challenge them to provide evidence that the speed traps had been correctly calibrated BEFORE you were 'caught' on camera!

Denny


Joined: 09/12/2010
Posts: 261

Message Posted:
07/01/2011 21:29

That's the one that gets them off every time in the UK.

Hector


Joined: 26/08/2008
Posts: 2352

Message Posted:
07/01/2011 21:39

At least they wont seize your laptop or refuse you permission to leave the country. I also presume it wont take 60+ court appearances.

pollymarples


Joined: 08/08/2010
Posts: 1778

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 08:16

Hector, they seized my lap top but didn't take my passport, they still have the laptop as evidence for when I am

prosectuted. Quite funny really since the case I was reporting on (Geoff's) , was a case that allegedly should never have gone to court, he didn't do it. Be interesting to see how they get round that. If the case had never gone to court, I would not have been able to report on it, ergo I would still have my laptop OR would they have found another excuse to take it, just thinking out loud you understand, not accusing. You can see how

much it has affected my writing.............Can you really see our Ismet putting up with 60 plus appearances.



Good luck Ismet, but slow down your yaramaz boy!!

AnthonySmith


Joined: 14/05/2009
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 09:05

Ismet,

If I may address some of your points.

1. They earn good money to the government but hardly affect safety.

I thought money from the cameras was ploughed back into road safety schemes, like the barriers on the Lefkosa Girne highway and education. Surely a good thing?

2. Some speed limits are nonsense.

But do we have every Tom, Dick and Ismet making the decisions? Or a government setting rules for all?

3. There are some loopholes in the law, I used them and got acquittal on speeding before but nothing has changed, everything intact.

Loopholes don't make you right.

4. Like most people I slow down and then get back to normal after the camera. However I am a forgetful person, much more than most and hence I get caught more often. I hardly ever exceed the normal 100 kh limit because I consider that dangerous.

You don't give me much confidence in your driving.

No nastiness intended, but just addressing your points.

Ant

malsancak


Joined: 23/08/2009
Posts: 2874

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 09:56

They pulled me up and said I was doing 100mph but I said that I had only been driving for 15 minutes so if we wait here for another 45 minutes they'll find that I did 25 miles in an hour.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 10:00

Polly wrote:

"If the case had never gone to court, I would not have been able to report on it, ergo I would still have my laptop"



It reminded me of the 80 year old lady who appeared before a judge for hitting a parked car on the road. She claimed that the accident would not have happened if the other car was not parked there.



Anthony (msg 28),

Very fair comments, I cannot argue with those comments

ismet

PS: I am more careful now but I am sure at the end of all this I will force the police to show the relevant pictures to everybody with a ticket with no fee and at every major police station, not just Nicosia.

pollymarples


Joined: 08/08/2010
Posts: 1778

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 10:20

Good analogy Ismet, but still nonetheless true, if this 'silly' case had not gone to court, how could I have reportd on it? Whereas cars are parked legally/illegally everywhere and one only has to open one's eyse to se them.



Glad you are being more careful now, i.e not getting caught??

muffin


Joined: 03/07/2010
Posts: 83

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 10:37

I too was advised at the border the other day that I had an outstanding speeding fine and duly went to Girne police station to collect the paperwork. The fine dated back to March 2010 and when I asked why they had taken so long to contact me, was told that the courier was unable to find our address.



Obviously he didn't try very hard as a visit to the village Muhtar office would have resolved this!



I queried when the camera had last been recalibrated and was told that they did not know this. Asked to see the photograph and was given form to take to Lefkosa police station where the dept concerned is only open between 11 - 12 on two days a week.



Decided that it really isn't worth all the hassle and paid the fine.

cypgab


Joined: 09/01/2010
Posts: 338

Message Posted:
08/01/2011 20:05

Message 28 part 2.



I'd thought you were ignoring those issues but well said Elko.

hilda


Joined: 10/09/2009
Posts: 80

Message Posted:
09/01/2011 20:00

dougskud

I quite agree with message 5,i pray to god the man never kills anyone

May i ask you about your photo,is that your garden in North Cyprus ?,it is a really nice photo.

Regards

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
09/01/2011 23:06

Whilst in the Army in the 1960s I moonlighted nights and weekends driving taxis to put food on the table for, at that time 4, children. I was stopped by a motorcycle policeman who said he had clocked my speed for over a half mile at 47 mph in a 30 zone. I said that I had been aware that he was behind me as I had seen him turn about to follow me and that I was also aware that the town hall had instructed the police to crack down on taxi drivers. Thus if he clocked 47 mph it was due to his intent to close the gap on me. When I took my driving licence to the police station the next day I was in uniform and he came up behind the desk and said "why did you not say you were a soldier, things could have been different. I used to be in the Army and I was a Sergeant". I replied "and I bet you were a b.......d then as well" To this day I have the civil conviction certificate for a £5 fine. I guess I earned about £8 per week at that time. The kids did no go hungry but I did !

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
09/01/2011 23:47

Nobody likes to break the law on purpose but how many will refuse to defend themselves in court if they have a fair chance to obtain an acquittal? Let us be honest about it.

ismet

PS: My 15 tickets is the total since the fixed cameras became operational since 2007, so it is spread over four years.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
11/01/2011 22:24

How about this for evidence:

"BBC TV news programme "The Politics Show" revealed on Sunday that Gatso speed camera calibration procedures raise an anomaly that casts doubt on the evidence from around half the cameras.

The problem is that when cameras have been sent for routine annual calibration, about half of them had to be repaired before the calibration process was completed. This provides documentary evidence that around half the cameras became faulty at some point during the year before calibration"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiWPcz7CrY

ismet

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
11/01/2011 22:44

It seems Gatso Speed Cameras only work in one direction, so I'm guessing the ones in TRNC are not Gatso as such.

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
11/01/2011 22:45

Elko 2. Is this because the cameras are struck with bricks by passing motorists, set fire to, hit by shotgun pellets, blown up etc etc ? Like policemen, the lot of a speed camera, is not a happy one !

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
12/01/2011 09:07

The quickest [best!] way to 'take out' a speed camera is in the dead of night with a 'paint-ball' gun!

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
12/01/2011 09:56

If the paint ball breaks the speed limit... will the police get a lovely last shot of you 'taking out' their camera?

happyvally


Joined: 03/01/2011
Posts: 53

Message Posted:
12/01/2011 11:17

ismat bay i still think u on the rong side becaz u breaking the law.or u saiying if any body can get away with then it is fair.does not metter if it is write or rong but the law is there.i agree with u it hardly effect safty.