A teenager was mistakenly accused of driving without a license while waiting for breakfast in the back seat of a motorcycle with the engine turned off. The court ordered that the fine be revoked.

The boy was sitting in the back seat of a motorbike that was still on, waiting for his brother to buy breakfast. However, a patrol officer found him driving without a license on the spot, and the court reversed the verdict and canceled the order. (File photo)

A young man surnamed Hu from Kaohsiung City had a previous record of driving without a license. In August last year, he was sitting in the back seat of a motorcycle that was still running on the side of the road, waiting for his brother to buy breakfast. However, he was deemed by a patrol officer on the spot to be "driving without a license again." He was fined NT$24,000 and forced to attend a road traffic safety class. The teenager was dissatisfied and filed an administrative lawsuit. After a recent trial in the Kaohsiung District Court, the judge found that the police officer's recorder was damaged and could not produce any objective driving footage. The judge determined that the police's fine was a "quick decision" and ruled to revoke the original sanction and exempt the teenager from the fine.

"I was just sitting in the back seat waiting for my brother to buy breakfast. The car started but I didn't ride at all!" The young man told the judge that he was parked on the side of the road the whole time and did not do anything to operate the motorcycle or drive on the road. The judge of the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court summoned witnesses at the scene and confirmed that another relative and friend was indeed buying breakfast at the time, and the teenager was just sitting on the motorcycle waiting.

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After the trial, the judge held that although the teenager was sitting on a motorcycle that was not turned off when he was stopped, "sitting on a motorcycle that was not turned off" does not mean that he was "driving." In addition to verbal accusations, the police could not produce any objective video or photos to prove that the teenager had cycled on the road. In the absence of objective evidence and relying solely on the subjective judgment of the police officers, the reason for the penalty was obviously too "quickly judged". The judge finally determined that the original punishment was in error and ruled to revoke the fine. The entire case can still be appealed.

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