July 9, 2015 2:00pm by David Farrar

Not a slur

A Wellington teenager issued with a motoring ticket from the future has had to fight for five months to avoid paying it in the here and now.

Jack Foot, 19, admits he was in breach of his restricted licence when he was pinged with a $100 fine in Taranaki St for having an unauthorised passenger in his car on January 22.

But the police officer who issued the ticket dated it for October 22, 2015 – which Foot argued should make it invalid.

So there is no doubt he broke the law. The officer just made a date error.

Not yes that may invalidate the ticket, but this doesn’t mean he didn’t break the law, so the sense of indignation below is unwarranted:

But Kate Foot said the apology and waiver was just a start, and she and her son expected more.

“We want the police to co-ordinate the return of Jack’s licence so we are not inconvenienced any more. We expect them to make sure there is no permanent scar on his driving record because, if he wants to get a heavy vehicle driver licence, a slur will put an end to that.

“And since he hasn’t been able to drive since police took his licence away, are they going to give him any reparation?”

A slur is unwarranted. It is not a slur when he was breaking the law. If he wants a heavy driver licence, then he should not keep racking up demerits. That is his third demerit by the age of 19 which suggests he has a casual regard for the road safety laws.

As for reparation – well no.