Page 1509 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 March 2012
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Act 1999. That scheme substantially replicated the infringement notice scheme under the Motor Traffic Act 1936, which was repealed when the road transport legislation came into effect in 2000.
Infringement notice schemes are not unique to the territory or unique to road transport matters. There are elements of the infringement notice scheme for the road transport legislation that are specifically designed to take account of the different types of technology that may be used for that purpose, such as speed cameras or red light cameras. The infringement notice scheme for the road transport legislation also operates in conjunction with the demerit points system for driver licensing.
The demerit points scheme established under the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1999 is part of the national scheme for graduated driver licensing. Drivers in the various licence classes have different demerit points limits. They may incur demerit points for particular driving offences up to their demerit points limit during the three-year accrual period. The demerit points for various offences are set out in the schedule to the Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005. The advantage of demerit points is that they can be an effective deterrent for people who have a high capacity to pay and would not be effectively deterred from committing certain types of traffic offences by infringement notice penalties alone.
There is a national schedule of demerit points, although jurisdictions are also permitted to allocate demerit points for certain jurisdiction-specific offences as well if they wish. Points incurred by drivers travelling interstate can be recorded against their licence in their home jurisdiction under interstate recognition arrangements. Once a driver has incurred enough demerit points to reach or exceed that driver’s demerit points limit during the accrual period, the driver faces a period of licence suspension, cancellation or ineligibility. Essentially, this is a period of “time out” from driving as a consequence of poor driving behaviour over the three-year accrual period, although full driver licence holders may have the option of electing to be of good driving behaviour for 12 months instead of serving a period of licence suspension.
The interaction between the demerit points scheme and the infringement notice scheme is complex. Demerit points for an infringement notice offence are recorded against a person’s driver licence when the person pays the infringement notice penalty or requests additional time to pay, or when they are convicted or found guilty of the relevant offence. Demerit points are also recorded if the person fails to do anything and the time for responding to the notice ends. Demerit points are not recorded against the person’s drivers licence if the person makes an infringement notice declaration that nominates someone else as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence or if the notice is withdrawn or successfully contested in court.
It is the interaction between the demerit points system and the infringement notice scheme that has given rise to concerns that some people may be making false or misleading infringement notice declarations primarily to evade, or assist another person to evade, the demerit points associated with an infringement notice offence.
The Office of Regulatory Services has not infrequently received telephone inquiries from people wanting to know how many points they have left, and how many points
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