People usually want to avoid demerit points on their licence, but a Warrawong man wants the government to give him some.
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Dante Espinoza was caught speeding on the M1 Princes Motorway at Gwynneville while driving his wife’s car.
She ended up with the demerit points, the fine and a three-month suspension despite Mr Espinoza repeatedly informing the State Debt Recovery Office that he was driving.
The problem was exacerbated because the couple moved from Coledale to Warrawong just before he was caught speeding in March.
By the time he got around to changing their details, the infringement notice had already been mailed out to their old address and then sent back.
They didn't find out about the fine until his wife went for a driving test after spending a few months as a learner driver to get used to Australian road conditions.
“She had an overseas driving licence but she is still afraid of driving on the left-hand side,” Mr Espinoza said.
“Anyone with an international licence has to sit for a practical driving test.
“So went we go for that driving test we found out that her licence was going to be suspended a few weeks later.”
That suspension “put our life on hold”, Mr Espinoza said. His wife has a contracting cleaning business and he has spent the last three months having to drive her to her jobs.
“Someone had to do something – I said it was my fault, I was the one speeding,” he said.
“So she was ‘okay, stay home’. But it’s practically stopped our life.”
That suspension ends on October 25 and yet they have had no luck in getting the demerit points transferred to his licence.
Mr Espinoza said he wasn't going to let the matter rest.
“That’s going to be on her record,” he said.
“It’s going to be on my wife’s record that her licence was suspended for speeding. And that is not acceptable.”
A spokesman for Revenue NSW said they regretted the circumstances Mr Espinoza and his wife found themselves in but it highlighted the importance of updating details with Roads and Maritime Services.
This must be done within 14 days, the spokesman said.
He said Revenue NSW had to “work within the rules and procedures outlined by legislation”, which included the time-frame for nominating another driver.
However, they would look to remedy the situation the couple found themselves in.
“In this case Revenue NSW will take the steps it can – remove the penalty and suspension from the record of the person who wasn’t driving and re-issue the penalty to the driver,” the spokesman said.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
