Sydney driver collapses in shock after he is slugged with a $387 fine and 10 demerit points for common act behind the wheel
A driver fell to the ground in shock after being handed a huge fine for allegedly using his phone while behind the wheel, but he claims he was holding on to his wallet.
The 62-year-old man was driving in Bankstown, south-west Sydney, when he was caught by a mobile surveillance camera on April 1.
He received a letter in the mail on Tuesday informing him that he had been caught using his phone and that he had been fined $387 and therefore lost 10 demerit points, double the normal amount.
His son Husni Tarmizi was with his father when he opened the letter and said the 62-year-old immediately went into shock and needed help to be lifted off the ground.
Mr Tarmizi said the photo should exonerate his father, and the family has already appealed.
The photo shows the man holding a $50 bill in his right hand, which is on the steering wheel, lending credence to his claim that the item in his left hand was his wallet rather than a phone.
A Sydney man who collapsed after being fined for being on his phone has instead claimed he was holding his wallet and said his phone was safely stored in a holder (pictured)
‘I went to the computer and downloaded the image and I could clearly see it was a wallet [in his hand]“You can see his phone is in the cradle,” he said Yahoo.
“In his left hand you see the wallet and in his right hand he’s holding a $50 bill.”
Mr Tarmizi explained that his father is ‘old school’ and hardly uses his phone.
The 62-year-old had left home to fill up his car at the gas station around the corner from his house.
He was struck by the exorbitant number of penalty points after they were doubled because it was Easter Monday.
The father is now on the verge of having his driver’s license revoked as NSW offers a maximum accumulation of 13 points before the driver’s license is revoked.
Mr Tarmizi said he was “a bit scared” of his father’s reaction to the fine as he suffers from a heart condition.
“For the older generation, where they don’t understand the technologies and things like that, it’s scary,” he said.
Mr Tarmizi confirmed he has appealed the fine after others told him to dispute the fine, and is awaiting a response.
Another man, Frank Singh, was given the same fine despite never owning a mobile phone – or even a computer – and took Revenue NSW to court.
He was fined $362 after being caught by a mobile phone detection camera on the Pacific Motorway in the Northern Rivers region of NSW last September.
His son has appealed the infringement and is awaiting a response (stock image)
Images captured by the traffic detection cameras showed Mr Singh behind the wheel, holding an object in his left hand and looking down.
“It could be my wallet,” he said when asked what the item could be.
Although Mr Singh admitted he could not remember exactly what he was doing at the time, he believed he may have put his wallet on the passenger seat after paying for the fuel.
Despite facing thousands in legal fees if he lost the appeal, the 77-year-old stood his ground and Revenue NSW eventually withdrew the fine following a review.