More than 70 motorists owing $129,000 in unpaid fines were caught in a Sheriff’s blitz at Altona Meadows last week.
Western region police and Sheriff officers established a road block in Queen Street last Wednesday, netting 72 fine evaders representing 236 outstanding warrants.
The officers used automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to scan the number plates of cars for disqualified or unlicensed drivers, unregistered or stolen vehicles, and vehicles associated with outstanding warrants or unpaid fines.
Forty-six people with 139 fines between them paid up a total of $51,000 on the day.
Eight drivers had their wheels clamped and had to arrange payments to get their vehicles back. Nineteen drivers with 110 warrants worth more than $45,000 were given seven days to arrange payments or have their licences or registrations suspended.
It was the second time in less than three months that Altona Meadows has been in the Sheriff’s sights, with the previous blitz netting 77 drivers with 621 unpaid fines totalling more than $223,000.
Victoria’s Sheriff Brendan Facey said the operation was designed to find people who were deliberately trying to avoid paying their fines.
“The Sheriff’s office can apply a range of sanctions to ensure that people take responsibility for their unpaid fines,” he said.
“Paying your fines is not voluntary. If you do incur a fine, contact us to discuss your options and deal with it early before additional penalties apply.”
People can check if they have outstanding fines by calling Civic Compliance Victoria on 1300221249 or pay fines at fines.vic.gov.au
