(1) If a prescribed offence happens and the offence is detected by a
photographic detection device, a person is taken to have committed the offence
if the person was the person in charge of the vehicle that was involved in the
offence at the time the offence happened even though the actual offender may
have been someone else.
(2) If the actual offender is someone else,
subsection (1) does not affect the liability of the actual offender but the
person in charge and the actual offender can not both be punished for the
offence.
(3) It is a defence to a camera-detected offence, other than an
unregistered or uninsured offence, for a person to prove that—
(a) the
person was not the driver of the vehicle at the time the offence happened; and
(b) the person—
(i) has notified the commissioner, the chief executive or
the SPEA administering authority of the name and address of the person in
charge of the vehicle at the time the offence happened; or
(ii) has notified
the commissioner, the chief executive or the SPEA administering authority that
the person did not know and could not, with reasonable diligence, have
ascertained the name and address of the person in charge of the vehicle at the
time the offence happened.
(3A) It is a defence to an unregistered or
uninsured offence for a person to prove that—
(b) if the vehicle was stolen or illegally
taken—the person has notified the chief executive or the SPEA administering
authority of that fact and either—
(i) the name and address of the person
who stole or took the vehicle; or
(ii) that the person did not know and could
not, with reasonable diligence, have ascertained the name and address of the
person who stole or took the vehicle; and
(c) if the vehicle had been sold or
otherwise disposed of—the person has notified the chief executive or the
SPEA administering authority of that fact and of the following information—
(i) the name and address of the person to whom the vehicle was sold or
disposed of;
(ii) the date and, if relevant, time of the sale or disposal.
(4) A defence under subsection (3) or (3A) is available only if the person
notifies the commissioner, the chief executive or the SPEA administering
authority about the matters in subsections (3) and (6) , or subsection (3A) ,
within the required time—
(6) For
subsection (3) (b) (ii) a person must prove that—
(a) at the time the
offence happened, the person—
(i) exercised reasonable control over the
vehicle’s use; and
(ii) had in place a reasonable way of finding out the
name and address of the person in charge of the vehicle at any given time
having regard to—
(A) the number of drivers; and
(B) the amount and
frequency of use; and
(C) whether the vehicle was driven for business or
private use; and
(b) after the offence happened, the person made proper
search and enquiry to ascertain the name and address of the person in charge
of the vehicle at the time the offence happened.
(7) Subsection (6) does not
apply if the person is able to prove that at the time the offence happened the
vehicle—
(a) was stolen or illegally taken; or
(b) had already been sold or
otherwise disposed of.
(8) Nothing in this section stops a person notifying
the commissioner, the chief executive or the SPEA administering authority that
the person was the driver of the vehicle involved in a camera-detected
offence—
(9) A notification purporting to have been given for a body corporate by a
director, manager or secretary of the body corporate is to be taken to have
been given by the body corporate.
"online declaration system" means an electronic system established by the
chief executive for giving notifications under this section that is designed
to—
(a) be accessed by an individual through the individual’s customer
account on the department’s website; and
(b) send a notification of matters
entered into the system by the individual to the commissioner, the chief
executive or the SPEA administering authority; and
(c) allow a record of the
sent notification to be downloaded or printed by the individual.