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2 months ago we received an infringement notice from Auckland Transport stating we had used the T3 lane at 8.17 am on Onewa Road, Northcote, Auckland without 3 people in the car at the time. We knew we had 3 people in the car, because we carpool to work, all 3 of us, to the same place every day. So we disputed this and requested Auckland Transport to provide evidence there were not 3 people in the car at the time. Eventually they sent through a video taken by their traffic camera on the street. After slowing the video down frame-by-frame we were able to spot the third passenger in the backseat and photographed the stills. We also wrote a letter each, certified by a Justice of the Peace, stating we were in the car at the same time. We sent these photos and letters to Auckland Transport as a final dispute, only to receive a very delayed reply saying they couldn't see anyone in the photos and their original decision to fine us still stands. The only other dispute option left is to go to court, otherwise because this has dragged on for so long the payment has gone to Baycorp and been delayed until 04/12/2013. We know we are in the right, but we can't seem to win against Auckland Transport, who don't seem to care about people. What can we do? Is it viable to take the matter to court or would it just be a waste of our time?

We have heard of similar incidents where Auckland transport has waived the fine when they were not 100% certain that three people weren’t in the car. It is worth pursuing if you are certain of the facts. If you are an AA Member you can e-mail your contact details to aatech@aa.co.nz and we will try assist.