The government is fining itself by forcing truck drivers to cough up on wracked up speeding fines while on the job. Truck drivers are being forced to take days off of work to contest the tickets in a court as the government seemingly refuses to do anything about the matter.
The State Debt Recovery Office proceeded to issue the fines even though the licence number on the infringement notice itself clearly identifies the vehicle as a fire truck.
The Fire Brigade Employees Union said the situation beggared belief and it has issued a directive that members refuse to pay.
“It’s bureaucracy gone mad,” secretary Simon Flynn said. “It’s the Government fining itself, then spending a massive amount of money to sort out that it doesn’t need to pay its own fines.
“We think it’s ridiculous and if the Government doesn’t fix it, we’ll be telling our members to drive to road rules when they go to emergencies.”
As it stands now, firefighters could be forced to take time off work to challenge fines in court, leading to staffing shortages.
Not only that, the Government would be obliged to pay officers hundreds of dollars in overtime.
