Judge rules traffic fines lost in post no longer an excuse

A CIRCUIT court has put the brakes on motorists who escaped bigger fines and the risk of more penalty points by claiming they didn’t get mailed a fixed penalty notice for speeding.

Motorists convicted in the district courts had appealed speeding cases to the higher court on the basis they had not received the initial fines in the post.

As a result, thousands of drivers avoided stiffer penalties and, in many cases, judges had also struck out the summonses or given the motorists a chance to pay the fixed fine.