$365 Boat Ramp Fine

[Gad]

NICO Brand had spent a night on the Pumicestone Passage fishing before an encounter with police that "flabbergasted" him.

He was fined $365 and given three demerit points, some advice on tightening and tidying his tie downs, and went on his way.

Caloundra police officer-in-charge John Mahony said boat ramps and car parks were road-related areas so normal traffic rules and regulations applied.

Full story: https://m.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/the-365-jetty-fine-that-left-coast-boatie-baffled/3181639/?ref=hs

 

PS. by the way…..  For folks who use trailer brake light, no. plate boards, it` also makes your trailer unroadworthy (if trailer doesn`t have attached lights, no. plate) if you drop your boat in and out of the water with your light board taken off and not attached to your trailer when driving in these car park/boat ramp areas also. People have been fined for this.

 

EDIT:  I put a new link in for this story as the old one did not appear to be working

 

 

 

[Luvit]

This doesn't seem like common sense to me. 

However whether we agree or disagree with the law it doesn't matter. Now that it has been highlighted we can choose to alter our behaviour or suffer the potential fine. 

Thanks for posting. 

PS I have respect for the police but in this situation it could have been handled so much better and done far more for the cause if a warning was issued and people made aware. 

[Gad]

from the government`s view common sense and revenue raising are not compatible, throw in insurance and deemed illegal acts? boatees need to be mindful of everything we do where ever we are.

[Luvit]

My judgement is still out on the raising revenue argument. To my way of thinking the more revenue the government has the more we will all benefit. 

For the record I do feel for this poor bloke. 

[Junky]

I'd like to see the statistics on deaths behind the wheel when pulling a boat out of the water. Fair enough if it was a weekly accurence but this is just plain robbery. Opportunism at its finest.

 

How about night time patrols keeping our equipment safe from the real law breakers. 

 

[kmcrosby78]

I don't think I've EVER put my seatbelt on after putting my boat onto the trailer (or when putting it into the water for that matter). Going to be challenging trying to make it a new habit .......  Poor bu99er.

[Doyley]

I never put a seatbelt on myself or the kids when reversing the boat in or taking it out. If something goes wrong I need to get them out quickly before the ute goes under.     Absolutely ridiculous 

[Terry H]

I thought I read or heard somewhere that he wasn't fined for an unsecured load on this injury-defying drive because it was "common practice" (to have it unsecured between the boat ramp and the rigging area).

The law is the law; but personally I think it's taking the piss. 

Apparently this came about because the police received some complaints from locals about drivers not wearing seat belts? 

 

[Gad]

11 hours ago, Junky said:

How about night time patrols keeping our equipment safe from the real law breakers. 

if they increase targetted checks at boat ramps and gather more revenue they could increase patrols and those that call for 'user pays' will be happy  

[rayke1938]

WE do not know the true circumstances but a couple of observations.

The conduct of some drivers at boat ramps leaves a lot to be desired. Some parents also need to show some responsibility  I have seen a few near misses with children playing and running around parked trailers.

I have been  stopped in a couple of operations. and in both of them all police were polite . In both of them there appeared to be cadets or new graduates involved and they were very keen and approached a senior officer for advice. ( I had a working tail light that was not as bright as the one on the other side]

Other time was just a please blow into the bag sir.

There was a photo in the courier mail of the operation that showed a trailer with only one mudguard on it.

So easy to criticize without knowing the full facts.

A copper would have to have one of the worse jobs around expected to cop all sorts of abuse from some drunken kid and then the next week go and knock on his parents door and say sorry mrs Jones but little johhny got pissed last night killed himself and a couple of other innocent people.

Have I been guilty of not wearing a seat belt on a boat ramp 

Yes.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Gad]

just to add a little clarity to the comments, you do not have to wear a seat belt when reversing.

 He was fined for not wearing a seat belt, not for having not secured his boat/load on the ramp, the allotted rigging space or a safe off ramp location not blocking traffic is the legal place to secure your boat/load.

 

taken from link:

quote {When a police officer approached Mr Brand and asked if there was any reason he was not wearing a seatbelt he was "dumbfounded".

"I said 'It's a car park' and she said 'it's not a car park, it's a public road'," he said.

"Is it really fair to expect someone to put a seatbelt on when he's on a boat ramp and comes up and parks 15m away?

"If I was really breaking the road rules why haven't I been fined for driving with an unsecured load?"}

when one is in a ‘public’ car park area and there are transport department road signs, stop, give way, oneway only etc and some may have pedestrian crossing markings normal road rules apply.

[Binder]

So one can then assume it is perfectly acceptable to do 50kph in the parking lot? the speed for unmarked suburban roads?

Used to be those sorts of areas had marked speed limits, and the law used to state if you were doing something where you would not be traveling over a certain speed (usually around what the car speeds were in such parking lots) you did not have to wear a seat belt.