Herald Sun

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2011

CITY: PARTLY CLOUDY. MAX: 31. PAGE 71

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SPEED CHEATS
It will be a very special Christmas for Annie after lifesaving surgery gave her the best gift of all
OUR LITTLE MIRACLE: PAGE 7

PAGES 8-9

CHRISTMAS BARGAINS

HOW TO MAKE BIG SAVINGS

SPORT

BOXING DAY BATTLE PLAN

E XCL EXCLUSIVE: CLARKE WRITES XC

GIFT OF LIFE FOR ANNIE

Legal loophole lets 50,000 leadfoots pay to beat demerits

VICTORIAS TRAGIC TOLL

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EXCLUSIVE

Stephen Drill and Amelia Harris SPEEDING drivers are keeping their licences because they are exploiting a legal loophole to pay a fine to beat getting demerit points.
Up to 50,000 rogue drivers each year pay a fine to avoid demerit points. The Herald Sun has learned the pay-to-speed clause has boosted government coffers by $112 million in three years. The loophole allows motorists to cop an extra $717 fine on top of their original traffic fine if they do not tell police who was driving at the time of the offence. The points attached to the original fine are not recorded against any drivers licence. There is no limit to the number of times a driver or a company can pay the extra fine to avoid demerit points. A police source said cab and truck drivers were the worst offenders, with companies blatantly allowing drivers to stay on the road. The revelation comes as the Herald Sun today reports that more than 11,000 years have been lost due to fatal accidents on Victorias roads already in 2011. Road safety campaigners have called for the farcical loophole to be immediately overhauled. The sooner we can get these idiots off the road the sooner we can start to reduce the carnage, said RoadSafe spokesman Andy Milbourne. If people go nuts behind the wheel, they have to be made accountable for it. Roads Minister Terry Mulder last night said he would close the loophole

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SPECIAL REPORT: PAGES 20-21

next year after he was told about the matter by the Herald Sun. In the past three financial years, there were more than 158,000 cases of drivers dodging demerit points from speeding and red light fines. Company drivers are also using the loophole. Police figures show that dishonest drivers pay an extra $717 failure to notify a driver fine and the demerit points attached to the initial fine are never chased up. This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of demerit point rorting, the police source said. When you look at the transport industry, they know who the drivers are at all times. A transport industry source admitted truck drivers used the loophole. The fine comes in and the company gives them a simple choice: pay the fines or lose your licence and your job, he said. Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said he would look at tougher penalties for drivers who abused the loophole.

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Picture: TIM CARRAFA

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BOAT PEOPLE BACKDOWN ON NAURU DETENTION

REPORT PAGE 2

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Herald Sun, Friday, December 23, 2011

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NEWS

FOR BREAKING NEWS heraldsun.com.au

Boy cheats death

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A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy could be home for Christmas despite receiving lifethreatening injuries when hit by a car outside his home yesterday. Zulfiquar Ali had just returned from buying Christmas gifts with his mother and two sisters when he was hit after stepping off a bus in Frawley St, Hallam, after noon. The car was believed to be overtaking the bus when it struck the boy.

Horror end to familys Christmas shopping trip, but ...

Pilbara boils at 49.4C

WESTERN Australias Pilbara region has been feeling the heat with the town of Roebourne hitting 49.4C on Wednesday, the second-hottest December day recorded in Australia and the hottest in WA. High temperatures continued in the region yesterday, with Onslow Airport recording a maximum of 49.2C about 1pm local time, before a sea breeze brought some relief. That was the secondhottest December day on record in WA and the thirdhottest December day in Australia, close behind Roebournes records from the day before. Numerous other sites in the Pilbara recorded temperatures of more than 45C on Wednesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Roebournes December record was only 0.1 of a degree behind the 49.5C recorded at Birdsville in Queensland on Christmas Eve 1972, and was the fifthhottest day recorded in WA. The hottest day recorded in WA was 50.5C at Mardie in the Pilbara on February 19, 1998. AAP

Angus Thompson and Michelle Ainsworth

Witnesses said they feared for the boys life after they tried to treat serious cuts to his head at the scene. Paramedics took the boy to the Royal Childrens Hospital in a critical condition suffering head and chest injuries. His father, Ewaz, who was with his son last night, said his wife and daughters witnessed the horrific accident.

My wife rang me at 12.30 saying someone had hit my son, he said. My daughter is very shocked, my wife, me, all of us. But Zulfiquar regained consciousness hours later, and his father said he could be home in a matter of days to give the Christmas presents he bought yesterday. It depends on the doctor when he comes home. He may stay here (in hospital) one day, two days, three days, Mr Ali said.

He said his son was very brave. My son is very good, very smart, Mr Ali said. The male driver of the car was assisting police with their inquiries. Meanwhile, a woman died and another two were flown to hospital after a head-on collision on the Surf Coast. The woman, in her 20s, was driving towards Torquay when she lost control at the corner of the Surf Coast Highway and Mt Duneed Rd,

Mt Duneed, about 11.30am. Police said the woman appeared to swerve into oncoming traffic while trying to avoid what was believed to be garden pots on the road. Her car was hit by a car heading in the opposite direction. The woman, who was alone in her vehicle, died at the scene. Two women, who were trapped in the second car, were flown to The Alfred hospital.

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DHS 23-DEC-2011 PAGE

Health charity probe

Grant McArthur
state politics reporter A CHARITY that counts Premier Ted Baillieu among its patrons will be quizzed by Consumer Affairs amid concern about its registration as a fundraiser. The Mental Health Foundation Victoria charges up to $16,000 a table at its gala Crown casino fundraising event. But its financial records from last year do not list a single cent going to charity. Consumer Affairs Victoria yesterday confirmed the foundation had not been registered as a fundraiser for at least the past three years. A CAV spokesman said officers would contact the foundation to explain its obligation to register as a fundraiser, unless it qualifies for an exemption. The foundation, established by psychiatrist Prof Graham Burrows in 1981, is a charitable organisation drawing attention to mental health. Other patrons of the foundation include Health Minister David Davis, Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge, and federal cabinet minister Simon Crean. A State Government spokesman said the Premier would not comment. Prof Burrows could not be contacted.

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The gain in Spain

ECONOMIC gloom is taking a back seat in Spain as the lottery billed as the worlds richest dishes out $3.27 billion around the nation. A top prize of $934.64 million dubbed El Gordo (The Fat One) was split yesterday among the holders of tickets bearing the number 58268. The number appeared on 1800 tickets, giving winners $519,244 each for their $26 tickets. The lottery aims for a share-the-wealth system, rather than a single jackpot, and thousands of numbers yield at least some kind of return to ticket buyers. Spain is struggling to emerge from a recession that has lasted almost two years and left the nation with a eurozone-high 21.5 per cent unemployment rate.
AP

Close call in cliff fall

A MAN has been rescued from the side of a cliff after falling 25m while trying to get mobile phone reception. The man, in his 20s, was walking with a friend near waterfalls outside Beechworth when he stumbled shortly after 5pm yesterday. The Country Fire Authority and State Emergency Service rescued the man using ropes and a stretcher after the alert was raised by his friend. An SES spokesman said the man was conscious and breathing and it had taken some five to 10 minutes to walk him out. He was taken to hospital + by ambulance.

Speed loophole
Enforcer: Toby Mitchell remains in hospital after being shot in Brunswick last month.

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Drivers who collect 12 demerit points in any threeyear period lose their licence for at least three months or agree to go another year without attracting more fines, according to VicRoads. By not owning up to the fines, drivers close to losing their licence avoid taking the points. Mr Mulder said: Dangerous driving is not on too many families are devastated by road tragedy. Historical loopholes will be dealt with.

Bikie dodges airport enemies

BIKIE enforcer Toby Mitchell was escorted from Melbourne Airport for his own safety in the days before he was shot. The Bandidos hard man was ushered from the airport after enemies were suspected of waiting to meet him. Australian Federal Police agents met Mitchell as he disembarked from a dom-

Mark Buttler
estic flight in November. The Herald Sun has been told the former kickboxer did not want to leave by an alternative exit, but was persuaded to do so by the AFP agents. The AFP said it provided escorts to travellers off airport premises where there is a concern for

their safety and security. The AFP can confirm that a person known to police was escorted recently from Melbourne Airport to ensure peace and good order were kept, it said in a statement. Mitchell has refused to help detectives investigating the daylight attack in which he was shot outside a gym in Weston St, Bruns-

wick, next to the Bandidos clubhouse, on November 28. He collapsed in a nearby supermarket carpark. Mitchell lost a kidney and part of his liver. Mitchell remains in the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he has suffered complications in his recovery. No charges have been laid over his shooting.

drills@heraldsun.com.au Editorial, Page 38

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