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Back in the 90's I moved to one side of Australia to the other, and to a different state, but I didn't change my drivers licence or car registration as required

Back in the 90's I moved to one side of Australia to the other, and to a different state, but I didn't change my drivers licence or car registration as required, because I figured the authorities had no way of catching me, and it was 10 times more expensive in my new state. When I got a ticket nothing happened because the two state authorities didn't exchange information about car ownership for parking and traffic violations. I ran up probably $20,000 dollars worth of tickets pretty quickly, given I could park with impunity in a place where parking was impossible or super expensive (central Sydney). Also various speeding tickets. Then I got a contract with the local driver licensing authority. My job: facilitate exchange of information between states for penalties associated with out of state plates. I know what you're thinking: just filter out anything to do with my licence plates. But that would be unethical (cough). And I'd get caught. As it happened, the first task was to apply it to trucks who were the worst offenders since they routinely travelled between states and there were obvious safety issues. So I asked my boss about when the same would be done for out of state cars, "out of curiosity". He said "20 years to never. It's too hard [for bureaucratic reasons]".

tokai 3y ago
>I know what you're thinking: just filter out anything to do with my licence plates. No not at all, I was thinking you sound like a selfish git.
chasing 3y ago
> I ran up probably $20,000 dollars worth of tickets pretty quickly, given I could park with impunity in a place where parking was impossible or super expensive (central Sydney). Also various speeding tickets. Hey, man. Cool hack. I’m sure everyone appreciated the dangerous driving and parking in handicap spots and bus lanes and what-have-you…
- TheHappyOddish 3y ago
  Or (as is implied in the stort), he simply didn't pay for parking around Sydney - very expensive - and the fines likely got interest and compounded. Don't assume the worst in people.
  - chasing 3y ago
    "I could park with impunity in a place where parking was impossible" -- I.e., parking where he should've have been in the first place regardless of expense. "Also various speeding tickets." -- The opposite of parking. "I ran up probably $20,000 dollars worth of tickets pretty quickly" -- I read this as "within a year or so I got fines totaling around $20k," which is fucking nuts.
    - dkjaudyeqooe 3y ago
      I can give you a rough breakdown: - mostly street parking over the 2 hour limit. I couldn't get a residency parking permit and I had no off street parking. - not paying or overstaying parking meters - loading zones, mostly on the weekend, I worked during the week - sometimes 'no parking' zones, but I wasn't stupid about it because you'd get towed - exclusively speed camera fines, I never got pulled over for speeding. - using high occupancy lanes with just the driver Keep in mind that a single parking ticket was up to $375 at the time. Speeding fines were minimum $300 (they're like $2000 now). The $20,000 is an estimate, since I never got the fines, that's over a couple of years. I later did register a car in state and ended up not paying fines again (somehow) which ran to about $15,000 over a year (At the time there was no effective punishment. They used to lock you up until you paid, but then some poor guy who refused to pay was put in prison and beaten to within an inch of his life, consequently becoming disabled for life, so they got rid of that. There is another funny story about how I narrowly avoided arrest a decade later for all these fines when walking into a police station to get the required police check for getting my Diversity Visa approval). Obviously there is a difference between not paying your fines and blocking buses or traffic. Besides it being stupid, if you get towed, are in a serious accident, or the police attends and they run your plates, then the jig is up, they've found you and you're toast. There was an element of risk involved at all times.
      - chasing 3y ago
        Sorry for insinuating one of your ~100 tickets (~$35k/~$350) over three years involved blocking a bus when in reality you were just being a constant low-grade nuisance.
photonerd 3y ago
I get the sense you’re proud of this story, and do not realize how negatively it paints you
- onetokeoverthe 3y ago
  [dead]
- iraqmtpizza 3y ago
  True. Anyone who takes a government job is morally low unless they're pulling some elite James O'Keefe-style exposé on corruption.
blamazon 3y ago
Never say never: Where I'm from, in 2019 a truck driver killed seven motoryclists[1] while driving on what should have been a suspended license because of inter-state inefficiencies, which were quickly fixed after public outrage. They actually even sort of fixed it too much while clearing out the backlog. [2] [1]: https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/01/massachusetts-man-suing-rmv-says-agency-failed-to-suspend-driver-charged-with-killing-7-motorcyclists-in-new-hampshire.html https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/01/massachusetts-man-suin... [2] https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/the-mass-rmv-issued-hundreds-of-invalid-suspensions-it-doesnt-plan-to-stop/2154875/ https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/the-mass-rmv-issued...

tokai 3y ago

>I know what you're thinking: just filter out anything to do with my licence plates. No not at all, I was thinking you sound like a selfish git.

chasing 3y ago

> I ran up probably $20,000 dollars worth of tickets pretty quickly, given I could park with impunity in a place where parking was impossible or super expensive (central Sydney). Also various speeding tickets. Hey, man. Cool hack. I’m sure everyone appreciated the dangerous driving and parking in handicap spots and bus lanes and what-have-you…

TheHappyOddish 3y ago
Or (as is implied in the stort), he simply didn't pay for parking around Sydney - very expensive - and the fines likely got interest and compounded. Don't assume the worst in people.
- chasing 3y ago
  "I could park with impunity in a place where parking was impossible" -- I.e., parking where he should've have been in the first place regardless of expense. "Also various speeding tickets." -- The opposite of parking. "I ran up probably $20,000 dollars worth of tickets pretty quickly" -- I read this as "within a year or so I got fines totaling around $20k," which is fucking nuts.
  - dkjaudyeqooe 3y ago
    I can give you a rough breakdown: - mostly street parking over the 2 hour limit. I couldn't get a residency parking permit and I had no off street parking. - not paying or overstaying parking meters - loading zones, mostly on the weekend, I worked during the week - sometimes 'no parking' zones, but I wasn't stupid about it because you'd get towed - exclusively speed camera fines, I never got pulled over for speeding. - using high occupancy lanes with just the driver Keep in mind that a single parking ticket was up to $375 at the time. Speeding fines were minimum $300 (they're like $2000 now). The $20,000 is an estimate, since I never got the fines, that's over a couple of years. I later did register a car in state and ended up not paying fines again (somehow) which ran to about $15,000 over a year (At the time there was no effective punishment. They used to lock you up until you paid, but then some poor guy who refused to pay was put in prison and beaten to within an inch of his life, consequently becoming disabled for life, so they got rid of that. There is another funny story about how I narrowly avoided arrest a decade later for all these fines when walking into a police station to get the required police check for getting my Diversity Visa approval). Obviously there is a difference between not paying your fines and blocking buses or traffic. Besides it being stupid, if you get towed, are in a serious accident, or the police attends and they run your plates, then the jig is up, they've found you and you're toast. There was an element of risk involved at all times.
    - chasing 3y ago
      Sorry for insinuating one of your ~100 tickets (~$35k/~$350) over three years involved blocking a bus when in reality you were just being a constant low-grade nuisance.

photonerd 3y ago

I get the sense you’re proud of this story, and do not realize how negatively it paints you

onetokeoverthe 3y ago
[dead]
iraqmtpizza 3y ago
True. Anyone who takes a government job is morally low unless they're pulling some elite James O'Keefe-style exposé on corruption.

blamazon 3y ago

Never say never: Where I'm from, in 2019 a truck driver killed seven motoryclists[1] while driving on what should have been a suspended license because of inter-state inefficiencies, which were quickly fixed after public outrage. They actually even sort of fixed it too much while clearing out the backlog. [2] [1]: https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/01/massachusetts-man-suing-rmv-says-agency-failed-to-suspend-driver-charged-with-killing-7-motorcyclists-in-new-hampshire.html https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/01/massachusetts-man-suin... [2] https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/the-mass-rmv-issued-hundreds-of-invalid-suspensions-it-doesnt-plan-to-stop/2154875/ https://www.nbcboston.com/investigations/the-mass-rmv-issued...