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STATE ROADS AND TRAFFIC (OFFENCES AND
PENALTIES) AMENDMENT BILL 1991
NEW SOUTH WALES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament)
The objects of this Bill are:
(a) to amend the State Roads Act 1986:
* in relation to certain offences involving heavy vehicles (in particular
overloading); and
* to increase the penalties for certain offences; and
* with respect to the disposition of revenue from penalties under that Act;
and
(b) to amend the Traffic Act 1909 to enable cancellation of licences and vehicle
registrations for default in payment of fines and penalties for offences under the
State Roads Act 1986; and
(c) to amend the Local Government Act 1919 and the Transport Administration
Act 1988 consequentially.
Clause 1 specifies the short title of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 provides that the proposed Act commences on a proclaimed day or days,
except for the purposes of the amendment made by Schedule 1 (8), which commences
on assent.
Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to the Schedule of amendments to
the State Roads Act 1986.
Clause 4 is a formal provision that gives effect to the Schedule of amendments to
the Traffic Act 1909.
Clause 5 is a formal provision that gives effect to the Schedule of consequential
amendments to other Acts.
State Roads and Traffic (Offences and Penalties) Amendment 1991
SCHEDULE 1--AMENDMENT OF STATE ROADS ACT 1986
Increased penalties
Schedule 1 (2), (4) and (5) make amendments that increase the penalties for certain
offences (in order to make them consistent with the penalties for comparable offences
under the regulations).
Appropriation of fines etc.
Fines and penalties obtained in respect of offences under the State Roads Act 1986
are currently paid directly to the Roads and Traffic Authority Fund in accordance with
section 78 of the Transport Administration Act 1988. Schedule 1 (3) inserts a new
section 84A into the State Roads Act 1986 which provides that fines and penalties
recovered in respect of offences under the State Roads Act 1986 are to be paid at first
instance to the Consolidated Fund and subsequently channelled to the Roads and Traffic
Authority Fund.
Liability of vehicle owners
Schedule 1 (4) repeals and re-enacts section 99, which deals with the liability of
persons who own or have custody of a vehicle in cases where the State Roads Act 1986
or the regulations under that Act are contravened. The section, from the time of its
original enactment, has had the effect of making the persons concerned liable for such a
contravention, subject to certain available legal defences. In the section, as re-enacted,
the nature of these defences is altered in certain cases.
In whatever circumstances the offence is committed, it is a defence if the defendant
satisfies the court that the defendant:
· did not know of the contravention and could not reasonably be expected to have
known of it; and
· had taken all reasonable steps to prevent such a contravention.
If, however. the defendant is a corporate body, it will be necessary, in order to satisfy
a court that the defendant did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have
known of the contravention, to satisfy the court that no one concerned in the
management of relevant affairs of the corporation had knowledge of it or could
reasonably be expected to have had knowledge of it.
cases where the contravention of the Act arises from overloading a vehicle, the
defendant (unless able to satisfy the court that he or she did not have custody or control
of the vehicle at any relevant time) does not have a good defence if the defendant cannot
satisfy the court that either:
(a) the load had been weighed; or
(b) the defendant, or the driver of the vehicle, was in possession of appropriate
evidence from which the weight was calculated.
Regulation relating to weight of loads on heavy vehicles
Schedule 1 (8) amends Schedule 3 (Savings and Transitional Provision for the
avoidance of. doubt as to the continuing effect of Ordinance No. 30C made under the
Local Government Act 1919. The amendment makes it clear that the repeal of clause 12
Other amendments
Schedule 1 (1) amends various provisions to convert the penalties for offences from
specific monetary amounts into the current equivalent in penalty units. The penalty unit
has its basis in section 56 of the Interpretation Act 1987. At present, 1 penalty unit is
equivalent to $100.
Schedule 1 (6) and (7) make consequential amendments.
SCHEDULE 2--AMENDMENT OF TRAFFIC ACT 1909
The amendments to section 18B allow a penalty notice to be issued under that section
in respect of offences under the State Roads Act 1986. This has the further consequence
of allowing cancellation of licences and vehicle registrations in the event of default in
payment of fines and penalties imposed as a consequence of the penalty notice.
SCHEDULE 3--CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT OF OTHER ACTS
This Schedule amends the Local Government Act 1919 as a consequence of the
amendment made by Schedule 1 (4) and amends the Transport Administration Act 1988
as a consequence of the amendment made by Schedule 1 (3).