Melbourne man ordered to pay $30,000 in traffic fines racked up by unknown girl
A Toorak businessman is vowing to fight $30,000 in traffic fines that he has been ordered to pay, even though someone else racked them up.
Harry Chojna's problems began eight years ago when he sold his car and the number plates ended up on a bright pink Toyota.
Now, the 68 year old is living every motorist's worst nightmare, copping the huge fines and 23 demerit points for driving infringements he never committed.
“Everything seems to blur into nothingness until you finally see the registration plate of the car and you say 'hang on, I traded that car in eight years ago,'” Mr Chojna said.
That car was a black Jaguar but somehow the number plates, looking slightly different, have now resurfaced on a pink Toyota Yaris, which is racking up fines almost on a daily basis.
“Why, after eight years, they are now on a bright pink Yaris driven by a girl, I have no idea,” he said.
Frustratingly for him, Mr Chojna said his complaints about the fines fell on deaf ears.
“I was annoyed at being bullied. These people weren't listening to me, they said it’s a possibility…somebody will come to your house and demand you pay or they will try and confiscate your car,” he said.
Ironically, Mr Chojna made his money by helping police to control road speeds in the 1970's by converting car speed-dials from miles to kilometres.
He said the current fines system was not working and needed to be fixed. “It’s not hard to fix,” he said.
Civic Compliance Victoria said in a statement that it was suspending the fines pending a further investigation.
Vic Roads also released a statement, just two lines in length, which said they too would investigate and continue to work with Mr Chojna.
In the meantime, Mr Chojna’s message to the driver of the pink Yaris was: “Own up, slow down. What you are doing is unfair”.
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