A New South Wales driver was pulled over on the Pacific Highway and fined $325 for a little known driving law he didn’t even realise he was breaking.
Tim Aguis also lost three demerit points for his actions. His crime? The unforgivable act of driving in the right-hand lane for 1.5 kilometres.
“Now the reason I’ve stopped you is you’ve been driving in the right hand lane, not overtaking anyone,” the cop tells him, as shown in dashcam footage obtained by 9 News.
“I didn’t know that was against the law,” Aguis replies.
“It is. Any [road with a] speed limit over 80 kilometres per hour you have to drive in the left,” says the cop.
He later adds: “Today is the day when our boss actually has us targeting this offence.”
Arguis took the matter to Kempsey Local Court out of principal, and successfully had his penalty cut to a $200 fine and no loss of demerit points.
But now road safety experts are questioning why the cop was so hellbent on fining him in the first place, with the cop appearing to reach speeds of up to 220 kilometres per hour just to catch the guy.
“When it’s over an offence which wouldn’t get more than a few hundred dollars in fines it’s just not justified to add to the risk profile,” road safety expert John Lambert told 9 News.
Anyway, take note: driving in the right-hand lane on a road with a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour? Illegal. Don’t do it.
