The ACT Government may be forced to change signs at a dirt car park in the city's south after a man successfully fought a $79 parking fine in court.
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In what his barrister suggested was a campaign against ''Third World'' parking policy, Adam Geoffrey Keighley refused to admit liability for the ticket because he could not see the signs.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker yesterday morning agreed Mr Keighley, who had been charged with disobeying a no parking sign, had no case to answer. And the chief magistrate ordered the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to pay the 24-year-old's costs of $1500, despite the prosecutor's objections.
Mr Keighley's barrister, Chris McKeown, argued his client should be awarded costs because his legal action was beneficial to the community and would force Roads ACT to review the signage.
''He took the view that this wasn't correct, and that 'we're not living in a Third World country, you can't fine me for something I didn't know','' Mr McKeown said.
A spokesman for Territory and Municipal Services said Roads ACT would review the chief magistrate's decision and take any necessary action ''as quickly as possible''.
Mr Keighley parked a Toyota sedan in the patch of land between Captain Cook Crescent and Flinders Way in Manuka, next to a child-care centre, in December last year. The area had been signposted as a no parking zone, and the driver returned to the vehicle to find a parking fine slipped under his windscreen wiper.
But in court Mr McKeown argued the signs did not comply with Australian road rules because they were not visible from the inside of the car park, but rather from the footpath outside.
The barrister argued the law required the signs to be clearly visible to the person to whom they are intended to apply.
In unsuccessfully opposing Mr Keighley's bid for costs, the prosecution submitted it was a parking fine matter and could have been argued without hiring a lawyer.