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Grandma fined $352 for honking a car that stopped in front of her – with a cop claiming 85-year-old’s behavior was ‘road rage’
- Alma Smith, 85, is suing her case after beeping on her horn, leading to a fine
- Sydney’s grandmother was shocked that she was the one who got a letter of formal notice
- Police said she used the horn ‘excessively’ when a car stopped in front of her
- Although the incident happened in June, it won’t go to trial until May next year
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A grandmother kept humming after she was fined for honking at a car in front of her — an action a police officer considered road rage.
Alma Smith, 85, was shocked to learn that she, not the other driver, was the one who was fined for the June incident for using the horn ‘excessively’.
She was driving to work in Myer in Roselands, a southwest Sydney suburb, when she had a near accident on Belmore Road in Riverwood.
“There were cars parked and this man just pulled out in front of me. I thought I was going to collide with him, so I pressed the brakes and the horn,” she said. 9News.
According to NSW law, you may only honk if you have to warn other road users about the position of your car or remove animals from the road. But the police claim that Mrs. Smith has been beeping for too long.
Alma Smith, 85, (pictured) is appealing a $352 fine for ‘excessive’ beeping of her car horn
She was run over a few seconds later.
Her son Warwick Smith said there was a police officer standing behind his mother counting the length of her horn.
According to Mr. Smith, three seconds is okay, but four seconds is not.
To make matters worse, the officer fined her $352.
“He said I had used the horn too much and unnecessarily and that’s like road rage.”
Mrs. Smith, who has been driving for over 60 years, stopped with a shock, then asked the officer if he was serious.
‘I could not believe it. Is this a joke? Don’t they have better things to do,’ she said.
In NSW you cannot beep your horn to say hello out of annoyance or frustration or to get someone moving when a traffic light turns green.
Ms Smith has vowed to fight the crime and will appear in court next May, nearly a year after the incident.
Alma Smith was fined $352 (pictured) for beeping her horn at a car that stopped in front of her
Alma Smith (pictured) goes to court to challenge a fine she received for beeping a car that slashed in front of her
By taking the case to court, she runs the risk of the fine being increased to $2,200.
But Mrs. Smith may have good reasons for getting out.
According to attorney Sam Macedone, if what she said is true, Ms. Smith was right when she used her receiver.
“I can’t see anywhere in the legislation that you can only give a short beep,” he said.