PEOPLE accused of offences on the state's roads and trains have flooded authorities with almost 90,000 letters of excuse in just four months, with one in five beating the rap.

Drivers and train travellers blamed "mental incapacity", keys locked in cars and faulty ticket machines to avoid paying fines. In the four months to April 14 this year the Office of State Revenue received 87,520 letters - 729 per day - from people offering excuses to avoid paying a fine.

Data from the Office of State Debt Recovery (SDRO) obtained under freedom of information laws shows 18,275 - 152 per day - were successful in stopping the fine.

Of the total number released by the Office of State Revenue, 13,913 were cautions given after a fine was found to have been correctly imposed - 4657 of those because the motorist fined for illegal parking, speeding or travelling through a red light claimed a 10-year clear driving record.

There were 43 cautions issued for offenders who claimed they had a mental illness or intellectual disability.

A further 4362 penalty notices were not actioned because it was found the offence had not been committed or there were "mitigating circumstances".

A spokeswoman for the Office of State Revenue said it was believed most of the excuses citing "mental incapacity" related to alleged offences on trains.

"Most of these would be RailCorp [fines] ... a lot of people have been identified as homeless or drug and alcohol-affected," she said.

More than 200 RailCorp passengers were given the benefit of the doubt when they claimed they were not familiar with the NSW rail ticketing system. Almost 30 drivers beat parking fines by stating their keys were lost, stolen or locked in the car.

More than 491 motorists said their vehicle had broken down and a further 301 claimed a faulty parking ticket machine or parking meter.

Fines were imposed on the wrong vehicle, owner or person in 118 cases and were sent to 34 dead people.

The Fines Act was amended in 2008 to give "all law enforcement officers the discretion to give a caution instead of a penalty notice".

"There are all sorts of reasons why fines have been 'no actioned'," the Office of State Revenue said.

*****

FINES SO FAR .... AND HOW WE AVOID THEM

CAUTION GIVEN

. Clear Driving Record: 4657

. Mental Incapacity - Person responsible has mental illness or intellectual disability: 2313

. MPS - first offence for non-display of mobility parking permit: 1730

. Request / decision from issuing authority (cautioned): 1315

. Parking - Valid ticket supplied: 935

. RailCorp - Had valid ticket or concession card: 777

. RailCorp - First offence for regular ticket holder / juvenile: 428

. P Plate - L or P plates correctly displayed at start of journey: 348

. RailCorp - Regular customer failed to obtain ticket due to extenuating circumstances: 323

. Change For Meter - Seeking change for meter or ticket machine: 282

. Medical - On medical grounds: 275

. RailCorp - Not familiar with NSW rail ticketing system: 220

. 1st Offence - not display P or L Plate: 174

. Resident Parking - first offence for non-display of permit: 95

. Keys - Keys lost, stolen or locked in vehicle: 28

. Animal - Animal not under effective control offence was a one-off incident: 12

. Owner Unknown - Insufficient details to confirm vehicle owner: 1

. Grand Total: 13,913







NO ACTION TAKEN

. Request / decision from issuing authority (No actioned): 1356

. Breakdown - Vehicle had broken down: 491

. Faulty Meter - Faulty parking ticket machine or parking meter: 305

. Issuing Authority - Issuing officer error: 233

. Emergency - Medical or other: 209

. Stolen Vehicle - Vehicle or plates stolen at time of offence: 170

. Continuous offence: 139

. Wrong vehicle/ Owner/ Person: 118

. Loading Zone - Vehicle authorised to use zone: 80

. Bus & T-Way - Multiple offences; second penalty incurred travelling in opposite direction on same road within 3 minutes: 76

. Unregistered - vehicle was registered / due to transport authority error / due to fine default by owner - driver unaware: 63

. Emergency services or Authorised Vehicle: 47

. Deceased Person: 34

. Duplicate penalty notice: 25

. FTN - Stat dec received / parent penalty invalid / parent penalty sent to wrong address: 24

. SDRO Error - Administration error by SDRO: 21

. Issuing Authority failed to respond to request for further information: 20

. Ticket Parking - Had valid parking ticket: 11

. Emergency services direction, police arrest or witness: 6

. Incorrectly Issued - Camera penalty withdrawn before issue: 5

. MPS - MPS holder parked within timeframe permitted: 4

. Reasonable Diligence - Claim accepted: 4

. Other reasons (No action): 921

. Grand Total: 4362



Originally published as How Sydneysiders avoid paying fines