Grrr

OP

the policman insists i wasnt wearing it but put it on when we got stopped, but i swear thats not the case, im so annoyed. the person with me who wasnt wearing one also got fined which is fair enough but i cant believe i got fined when i was wearing one and had been the whole journey

Reply 4

pumpkin7

13

how can they do that if you were wearing one?

Reply 5

OP

i really dont know how they can do it, but i swear i was wearing it

Reply 6

member169510

17

Can you not just say "prove it", and see what happens?

Reply 7

pumpkin7

how can they do that if you were wearing one?

Because they thought they saw she wasn't.

They probably just saw you friend wasn't and it made them think you weren't. Taking it to small claims or whatever won't help, as witnesses in the car don't count I believe. Not if there's only one of them anyway.

Reply 8

OP

yeah, my friend has said she'll pay they fine and everything but i feel guilty about that, especially seen as she'd paid petrol to take me ice skating and stuff. So i guess i'll have to find the money. We did try arguing.
I love policemen, dont get me wrong, but its stuff like this that give them a bad name

Reply 9

JumpingJonny

Can you not just say "prove it", and see what happens?

Think about it mate.

If that was the case, no arrest ever made would be valid unless the police filmed them doing it.

Word of police v. your word = police victory.

In this case the OP is unlucky and can't really do anything about it. Sorry!

Reply 10

member169510

17

TommyWannabe

Think about it mate.

If that was the case, no arrest ever made would be valid unless the police filmed them doing it.

Word of police v. your word = police victory.

In this case the OP is unlucky and can't really do anything about it. Sorry!

Yeah when you put it like that, unlucky OP :frown:

Reply 11

OP

haha, thanks for your sympathies guys, any of you wanna give me thirty quid?

Reply 12

L i b

19

Cezmerelda

yeah, my friend has said she'll pay they fine and everything but i feel guilty about that, especially seen as she'd paid petrol to take me ice skating and stuff. So i guess i'll have to find the money. We did try arguing.
I love policemen, dont get me wrong, but its stuff like this that give them a bad name

If you didn't do it then don't pay it and take it to court. A policeman only has to have suspicion of a crime to issue a penalty ticket: if you're innocent, you're expected to let it lapse and wait for your court summons (which may well never come if the CPS are overloaded, or simply don't believe there is enough evidence against you).

I think police are too overzealous in giving out tickets these days, but it's down to you to take the issue further if you didn't do it.

TommyWannabe

Word of police v. your word = police victory.

Well, saying police officers are lying is a bit wide of the mark, but saying they misinterpreted or were mistaken about something is another matter, particularly when you've got a witness on your side.

Reply 13

L i b

Well, saying police officers are lying is a bit wide of the mark, but saying they misinterpreted or were mistaken about something is another matter, particularly when you've got a witness on your side.

As far as I can guess you'd never get anywhere. There isn't much interpretation - the officer saw (supposedly) the OP with her seatbelt on. Regardless of whether he was right or wrong things will always work in his favour.

And as I mentioned I'm sure that you can't call witness to people in the car at the time. Especially if said witness wasn't wearing a seatbelt....

Reply 14

OP

TommyWannabe

As far as I can guess you'd never get anywhere. There isn't much interpretation - the officer saw (supposedly) the OP with her seatbelt on. Regardless of whether he was right or wrong things will always work in his favour.

i know its gonna be in his favour, but it just isnt fair!!

Reply 15

L i b

19

TommyWannabe

And as I mentioned I'm sure that you can't call witness to people in the car at the time. Especially if said witness wasn't wearing a seatbelt....

Of course you can, don't be ridiculous. Plus, if the other person pays her ticket, then she won't be convicted or ever have been convicted: the fact that she wasn't wearing a seatbelt would be completely inadmissible and irrelevant in a court.

Cezmerelda

i know its gonna be in his favour, but it just isnt fair!!

On what basis do you assume our court system isn't fair?

Reply 16

lodzinski

take them to court and ask them to prove it! you have a witness, and unless the officer has proof, the police will almost certainly drop the charge.

Reply 17

L i b

Of course you can, don't be ridiculous. Plus, if the other person pays her ticket, then she won't be convicted or ever have been convicted: the fact that she wasn't wearing a seatbelt would be completely inadmissible and irrelevant in a court.

Do you actually have any legal experience just out of curiousity? I'm sure that I've read somewhere that most of the time you can't call a witness from the same car, unless they were kidnapped or something hehe. I think I read it in regards to being on the phone whilst driving. A passenger said she wasn't but they dismissed it.

I might be wrong and if you know then I accpet that completely. Will see if I can find my little case thing.

Reply 18

OP