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White line fine hypocritical, says rider

U-turn rider slams police hypcrisy crash accident traffic offence white line

A rider who clipped an unbroken white line at the end of a painted traffic island on the Centenary Motorway, Brisbane, has had his fine upheld in court.

Tristan Holland claims it is hypocritical for Queensland Police to fine him while not fining the driver whose car he it when it performed an illegal u-turn across double white lines.

He claims he didn’t touch the white line and challenged the matter in court.

Police relied on blurry photographic evidence from a body cam taken about 90m from the scene.

Tristan Holland police hypocrisy white line
Police infringement notice photo

Tristan says the fine was upheld in court last week.

“The magistrate stated that if it was on the basis of the video footage alone it would have been thrown out,” he says.

“When I mentioned safety during cross examining the QPS officer I was shut down as it was deemed not relevant.

“At the end of the day the officer stated that that intersection is notorious for this offence to occur so ergo the offence was deemed to have happened even though his line of sight at distance (90m) was impaired.”

White line hypocrisy

Meanwhile, Tristan says a driver who caused him to crash his motorcycle into their car after dangerously crossing a painted traffic island has not been fined by police.

“This morning I had a car do an illegal u-turn off a ‘turn left with care’ slip road right in front of me leaving me with nowhere to go,” says Tristan who was “battered and bruised”.

His 2016 Suzuki Hayabusa was damaged, but still rideable.

Tristan Holland police hypocrisy
Tristan’s Busa at the scene of the crash

He reported the crash to Police Link, but says it was deemed a “non-reportable traffic incident” because no one was taken away in an ambulance.

“That means the QPS will not investigate nor issue any infringement notice to the driver,” Tristan says.

U-turn rider slams police hypcrisy crash accident traffic offence
Red Busa dent on door

“There is no doubt the crash occurred because of the damage to the car’s door and my bike, plus the driver admitted fault to his insurance company.

“So why no infringement notice?U-turn rider slams police hypcrisy crash accident traffic offence

“I find it interesting that QPS will not investigate this, but will hound drivers/riders for allegedly crossing a solid white line based on questionable video footage from 90m away.

“So if you break the law, cause an accident, provided no one is injured, then you don’t loose any demerit points.

“But, if you break the law, hurt no one and police have video footage you are treated like a criminal.

“On the plus side, the driver has accepted liability for repairs. I will have to wait until 2020 to see if they accept liability for CTP insurance.”

 

  1. Hi I have been on two wheels for over 50 years
    Not big on social media but here I go
    Had a few fines for minor things like lane changing without indicators etc
    I grew up on bikes without indicators and did not have to wear helmets!
    Had a few offs because of avoiding bad car drivers & bad road conditions and over-doing it a couple of times
    I rarely do lane-splitting due to not trusting the car drivers, had mates have doors open and vehicles moving etc.
    Don’t think car drivers know about lane-splitting.
    Seen cars chop across lane markings etc without a care.
    Having been in many countries overseas I have observed that most driver are courteous compared to here in AU
    Think there is a attitude issue here
    I’m a HC licensed driver and have had issues with TPT Dept
    However Tristan appears to be a victim of the system
    Congratulations on taking the line issue to court
    Lesson here; The collision with car should be reported to Police to allow for future reference even if Police do not want to attend
    If the Police determine that it is not reportable it should be still recorded in their logs, good for future reference and insurance
    Got to have eyes front & back of your head
    Ride safe
    75GL1000/82CBX1000

  2. I may have said this before but anytime you drop your bike as a result of someone’s stupidity other than your own TAKE THE AMBULANCE RIDE!
    It should cost you nothing but time but it can save your life.
    Wether it’s just to record the incident for insurance purposes or to make sure that that bruise doesn’t kill you! DVTs can occur from sitting in a plane for too long so getting one after bouncing off the pavement is to be expected. You may be just a little sore and think you’re okay but many people have died from minor injuries due to complications.
    There is a case of a guy who fell off a ladder at work went home and died, he told his wife she sort compensation the insurance company told her to go jump in a lake. Why?
    Because he went home instead of the hospital.

  3. What I find…interesting…about the charge for clipping the solid line is in court the cop said “… that intersection is notorious for this offence to occur so ergo the offence was deemed to have happened even though his line of sight at distance (90m) was impaired.” What that is saying is there is both something wrong with the road design there PLUS there is obviously revenue targeting of the spot. With the court’s collusion, the public, especially motorcyclists, have no chance.

  4. This article just goes to prove that policing by traffic cops is all about the revenue, it has nothing to do about safety or justice.

  5. … was he following the car that did the U-turn or coming the other way? Damage to the RHS of the car suggests he was following … say no more, sadly. I have sympathy, but …

  6. I’ve read this article dozens of times & any timeline is blurred.
    So did the rider ‘clip’ the white line after trying to avoid a vehicle doing an illegal U-turn, then collide with the vehicle & go down OR was this two separate incidents?
    How is it possible to clip a white line ‘on camera’ yet the accident where the rider collides with a vehicle ‘illegally turning’ & drops the motorcycle isn’t recorded?

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