Martin Round thought he'd beaten the system with a $2.80 traffic fine, but the court says he won't get off that easily.
Mr Round was caught on March 10 crossing a bus lane to pass traffic and turn a corner on his way to Mercy Hospital in Auckland.
He refused to pay the $150 fine for "unauthorised use of a special vehicle lane" and wrote several letters to Auckland City Council explaining that he had been acting lawfully traffic rules say you can cross bus lanes if you are turning on to another street.
The council told him that, if he wanted to dispute the fine, he would have to appear in court at a defended hearing. Having already spent at least two hours over several weeks writing letters and making phone calls to Auckland City Council, Mr Round an employment consultant who charges $200 an hour decided he would rather not waste any more time on the matter.
"They may be throwing out cases of sex offenders and the like, but they still find time to hear this one," he said. "I just thought it was interesting after reading about how they're overloaded with cases, and then they do this."
Earlier this year Justice Minister Simon Power mooted the idea of reducing the number of jury trials, saying the average wait for a district court jury trial was 12 months, and 16 1/2 months in the High Court.
Mr Round pleaded guilty to save time, but outlined his defence in a further letter to the council's prosecutor. Last week he received a notice telling him his case had been heard in court, and he was required to pay $1.50 in fines and $1.30 in costs.
Mr Round said that was close enough to a victory and he was not going to dispute the charge. "I put it on my credit card."
But the Justice Ministry says Mr Round is still liable for the full $150 amount of the fine.
General manager of collections Bryre Patchell said an error had affected 200 notices issued on August 28. "Anyone who received a notice for extremely small amounts will receive a fresh notice with the correct values, if this has not already happened.
"Technical errors that occur in the processing of fines do not absolve people from their liabilities."
Mr Round said he would "definitely not" be paying the full fine and, if necessary, would attend a defended hearing.
"And that will take, what, another two or three hours of court time."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/national/2845774/I-ll-pay-a-2-80-traffic-fine-but-not-a-cent-more