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TRAFFIC (PARKING REGULATION) AMENDMENT
BILL 1993*
NEW SOUTH WALES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill
as introduced into Parliament)
This Bill is cognate with the Local Government Bill 1993.
The object of this Bill is to amend the Traffic Act 1909 so as to transfer to that Act:
(a) provisions of the Local Government Act 1919 relating to parking meters; and
(b) provisions of the State Roads Act 1986 relating to the removal of broken down
vehicles and other obstructions from public streets and the towing away of
illegally parked vehicles on clearways or transit lanes.
Some changes (which are explained in this note) are made to the provisions
transferred from the State Roads Act 1986.
Clause 1 specifies the short title of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day or days to
be appointed by proclamation.
Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to a Schedule of amendments to the
Traffic Act 1909.
SCHEDULE 1--AMENDMENT OF TRAFFIC ACT 1909
Parking meters
Schedule 1 (3) inserts a new Part 3B (containing proposed sections 10Q10W) into
the Act. The new Part re-enacts the provisions of Division 13A of Part 9 of the Local
Government Act 1919 relating to parking meters.
Proposed section 10Q contains definitions for the purposes of Part 3B.
* Amended in committee--see table at end of volume.
Proposed section 10R empowers a council (with the approval of the RTA) to
install parking meters in metered spaces in public streets in the area of the council.
The council is authorised to set the relevant parking fees for those meters (subject to
any maximum fee prescribed by the regulations).
Proposed section 10S makes it an offence to damage, interfere with or
fraudulently operate a parking meter.
Proposed section 10T empowers a police officer, in an emergency, to direct the
removal of a vehicle or horse from a metered space or, if necessary, to cause the
vehicle or horse to be removed.
Proposed section 10U requires councils to bear the cost of installing and
maintaining parking meters and allows councils to collect the revenue received from
parking meters. That revenue is to be used to meet the costs of parking meters, with
any surplus available for use in providing parking stations.
Proposed section 10V enables regulations to be made with respect to the
installation and use of parking meters and to parking at those meters.
Proposed section 10W preserves the effect of the other provisions of the Act, and
of the provisions of other Acts, with respect to the control of traffic.
Removal of broken down vehicles and other obstructions
Schedule 1 (5) inserts new section 25 into the Act. The new section re-enacts the
provisions of section 267A of the Local Government Act 1919 and section 63 of the
State Roads Act 1986 with respect to the removal from roads of broken down vehicles
and other obstructions such as spilt loads. The re-enacted section is extended to allow
the removal of building skips and other containers used for transporting materials or
refuse.
Towing away of illegally parked vehicles on clearways or transit lanes
Schedule 1 (5) also inserts new section 26 into the Act.
Proposed section 26 re-enacts the provisions of section 65 of the State Roads Act
1986 with respect to the removal from clearways and transit lanes of illegally parked
vehicles. The following changes are included in the re-enacted section:
The liability of the owner or person in charge of an illegally parked vehicle
which is removed to pay for the cost of the removal is to be extended to
cover cases in which the vehicle has been attached to a tow truck for
removal, but not removed because of the arrival of the driver of the vehicle.
The amount of the liability for the removal of a vehicle is to be set at an
amount prescribed by the regulations.
The failure to pay the prescribed amount is to be made a criminal offence,
thereby enabling non-payment to be included in the penalty notice system
and (if payment is not made or disputed in court proceedings) the traffic fine
default system. The traffic fine default system authorises the cancellation of
drivers' licences and vehicle registration for non-payment of penalty notice
offences.
The obligation to notify the owner of the removed vehicle of the place to
which it has been removed is not to apply an illegally parked motor cycle is
moved to the adjacent footpath.
Consequential and savings and transitional provisions
Schedule 1 (l), (2) and (4) make consequential amendments to the Act as a
consequence of the enactment of the new Part 3B, the Local Government Act 1993 and
the Roads Act 1993.
Schedule 1 (6) adds a Schedule of savings and transitional provisions to the Act. The
Schedule contains provisions saving existing metered zones, existing parking meter fees
and the existing Ordinance No. 34A (under the Local Government Act 1919) which
relates to parking meters. The Schedule also provides for the making of further savings
and transitional provisions by means of the regulations.