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amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 9:35 am

(No this isn't a relocating post, no idea where else to post it.)

My son is in yeshiva in Australia. We just received a parking ticket in the mail to our address. He says he never drove in Australia or showed/gave anyone his driver's license.

We suspect that maybe someone else in the yeshiva received the ticket and gave his name, thinking that as an American he'd get away with it.

Question:

How do parking tickets work in Australia? If the car is not registered to his name, how can they blame him for the parking ticket? What evidence is there that he was the one driving? In America the ticket goes to whoever the car is registered to, and they are responsible for the ticket regardless of who was driving. If they want to claim someone else is responsible, they generally have to work it out with that person.

What consequences are there if he just ignores the ticket? He's leaving Australia at the end of the year. He did not drive this year nor does he have any plans to drive until he leaves. Can there be problems for him when he leaves the country?

doctorima

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 9:51 am

Not from Australia, but even if he never drove, is it possible that he rented a car, or allowed others to do so in his name, and now the rental agency is passing the parking ticket on to him?

ally

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:10 am

doctorima wrote:

Not from Australia, but even if he never drove, is it possible that he rented a car, or allowed others to do so in his name, and now the rental agency is passing the parking ticket on to him?

This. Even if another student gave his name, how would they have his address?

Raisin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:12 am

ally wrote:

This. Even if another student gave his name, how would they have his address?

they may have looked up his address in an online phone book, or know it?

Despicable thing to do though.

amother

Amber

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:16 am

I am Australian. I wouldn't leave this matter unresolved unless I planned to leave and never return.
He should write a letter to contest this parking ticket. If it is a respectful and justified letter they are usually more amenable than the American parking system.
ETA: they won't give him an issue leaving the country but there could be an issue if he returns.

ally

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:20 am

Raisin wrote:

they may have looked up his address in an online phone book, or know it?

Despicable thing to do though.

I think it's less far fetched to assume the bochur in question had something to do with the rental.

amother

Babypink

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:24 am

amother wrote:

I am Australian. I wouldn't leave this matter unresolved unless I planned to leave and never return.
He should write a letter to contest this parking ticket.

Where I live - parking tickets are left on the hood of the car, and filed by licence plate number. Eventually if left unpaid, the person who owns the car associated with the license plate will get a ticket in the mail. (if the car is owned by a car rental company they will usually have the right under terms of the lease to charge the credit card you left for the value of the ticket... but will also forward the ticket).

curious how things are done in Australia? Can a parking ticked be issued to someone other than the owner of the car?

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:30 am

No, he did not rent a car. Even if he did, wouldn't the ticket be forwarded by the rental car company, not by the city itself?

amother

Orange

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:48 am

I'm an Aussie.
If I were you, I'd call the principal and explain what happened and ask him to get to the bottom of the matter.

amother

Ivory

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 11:20 am

My husband was also in Yeshiva in Australia. He said the same thing happened to a friend of his. The friend had rented a car and had gotten a ticket via a trafic camera. The ticket came in the mail to his California address listed on the license he gave to the rental company and the ticket was directly from the city. The rental car companies cooperate with the city and send the tickets directly to the one who had rented the car on that particular day.

I would not call the principal. If it was him you would be getting your son in trouble with the Yeshiva.

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 12:43 pm

No, this was not a rental car. Whoever owns the car said my son was driving but he was not. We have the license number so my son can try to find out who owns the car.

Raisin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 2:07 pm

ally wrote:

I think it's less far fetched to assume the bochur in question had something to do with the rental.

Why would the son lie about this? Its a parking ticket, not a murder charge.

amother

Babypink

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 2:12 pm

Raisin wrote:

Why would the son lie about this? Its a parking ticket, not a murder charge.

Not saying that OPs son is lying... but some teens/young adults lie about all sorts of things when they think they are 'in trouble'.

It would be hard to lie about renting a car if mom and dad see the credit card bills.

OP - I hope you get a resolution quickly.

ally

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 2:33 pm

Raisin wrote:

Why would the son lie about this? Its a parking ticket, not a murder charge.

Because it doesn't make sense that the person who got the ticket could just transfer the charge to a random third party without that party being present or signing an affidavit.

ally

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 2:57 pm

amother wrote:

No, this was not a rental car. Whoever owns the car said my son was driving but he was not. We have the license number so my son can try to find out who owns the car.

Is there a number to call on the ticket? Maybe they can tell you who the car is registered to.

MagentaYenta

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 3:03 pm

amother wrote:

No, this was not a rental car. Whoever owns the car said my son was driving but he was not. We have the license number so my son can try to find out who owns the car.

And you know this because? Who told you it wasn't a rental? Did it say so on the ticket?

amother

Babyblue

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 4:49 pm

Another Aussie here. Do not leave the matter unsorted because that is WRONG , and people who are respectable, like those who learn in Yeshiva, and Federal Court judges, don't do the WRONG things. Although here it looks like someone else has done the wrong thing, you (or rather your son),still has to.sort it out.

Was no one else from Down Under reminded of this story?

http://www.smh.com.au/national......html

amother

Mint

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 5:01 pm

amother wrote:

I'm not Aussie but in the process of looking to immigrate there. I would say that their immigration laws are very strict and you never know what life circumstances would bring that your ds would want to go back, even just to visit.

Especially he just spent some time in yeshiva there, he probably has friends he may want to visit. What if someone sets him up with an Australian girl? Even if he never wants to live there, does he want to rule out ever visiting her family? This might all sound far-fetched, but never in my life did I imagine we would be moving there and here we are.

This is the sort of issue that is probably worth resolving now rather than potentially risking much greater issues down the line. The easiest way to resolve may be to go to the yeshiva parking lot, find out whose car it is, nicely confront the guy and tell him he should lay out the money.

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 8:57 pm

Such a classic imm thread! People weighing in despite having no relevant knowledge or experience, interrogating and cross examining the OP and assuming scandalous nefarious back story. Love it! 😂😂

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 9:09 pm

I do not believe it was a rental because number one, I trust my son. Number two, I once received a parking ticket with a rental (in the US) and I got a letter from the rental company, not the city. This letter was from the government, not from a car rental co.

The letter says, "the registered operator has nominated you as the responsible person for this offense."

I have no idea what the process is for "nominating" someone as responsible for your traffic ticket. Is it necessary to bring evidence that someone else was driving, or can you just say, "I wasn't driving the car, X was," and the court just accepts that?

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