Last updated 15 February 2019

If a person seeks to challenge an infringement notice, they should not pay the ticket and elect, on the notice, a court hearing. This will result in a summons being issued to them to attend court. Before doing this, it is always a good idea to get legal advice. Once a summons is issued, they will then need to attend court on the return date of the summons and plead not guilty, and the court will set a hearing date at which the prosecution will present their case.

Challenging a speed detection device

If the offence is speeding and the person intends to challenge either the accuracy of the speed detection device or speedometer, or the way in which the device was used, the person must await the summons, then attend court and plead not guilty and then serve the prosecution at least 14 days before the hearing date with a signed notice stating the grounds of the challenge. The notice must be in the approved form, and a copy of such an Intention to Challenge or Dispute can be obtained from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (ss 124(4)–124(5) Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) (TORUM Act)).

At the hearing, the prosecution may then call a highly qualified expert to give evidence to answer the challenge to the device. If they do, and if the person is then found guilty of the offence, the court is likely to order the person to pay the expert witness expenses, which can amount to several thousand dollars.

If no Notice to Challenge or Dispute has been served on the prosecution, they can give evidence that the device was accurate by simply producing a certificate to show that the device was tested and found to be accurate within a period of one year before the offence date. That certificate is then evidence that the device remains accurate for one year after the date of testing, even though this may not in fact be correct (s 124(1)(pa) TORUM Act).