Victoria Police has withdrawn a $1600 fine handed to a 17-year-old learner driver for having a driving lesson with her mum during stage-three coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
But, driving lessons will remain banned in the state under tough COVID-19 social distancing laws, meaning other learners could be fined.
Hunter Reynolds, 17, and her mother Sheree were issued the $1652 on-the-spot infringement as they drove from their home in the bayside Melbourne suburb of Hampton to Frankston on Sunday.
Sheree told 3AW on Monday morning the police officer who fined them argued they were driving “too far from home”.
The drive from Hampton to Frankston takes about 36 minutes.
For those asking – yes – we’ve seen a copy of the actual infringement notice handed yesterday to a 17yo L Plater having a training drive with mum in the rain yesterday. pic.twitter.com/VjZTkNJVni
— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) April 6, 2020
The pair said they felt they had done nothing wrong and had planned to fight the fine in court.
In response to public outrage, Victoria Police has now withdrawn the fine and let Hunter off the hook.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton told 3AW on Tuesday morning the officer should’ve shown discretion and issued a warning to the pair instead.
“We will withdraw it because clearly that (law) wasn’t widely understood by the public,” Deputy Commissioner Patton said.
“But it has, to a degree, highlighted a significant issue in terms of something that needed clarity.
“Undertaking a driving lesson by itself, to go out and simply drive off somewhere to undertake a driving lesson with your parent – you are not able to do it.”
During the past 24 hours, Victoria Police has issued 77 fines to people breaching lockdown laws, bringing the total number of infringements to 377 since the new restrictions were introduced on March 30.
Since March 21, officers have conducted a total of 15,232 spot checks at homes, businesses and non-essential services operating across the state.
Meanwhile in Queensland, where the state’s borders have been sealed off completely, police have issued 174 fines and turned around 852 vehicles.
The post Victoria Police waive $1600 fine for learner driver caught out under coronavirus laws appeared first on The New Daily.
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