MOTOR VEHICLES ACT 1959 - SECT 9
MOTOR VEHICLES ACT 1959 - SECT 9
9—Duty to register
(1) A person must not
drive an unregistered motor vehicle, or cause an unregistered motor vehicle to
stand, on a road.
Maximum penalty: $7 500.
(1a) However,
subsection (1) does not apply to a person who drives a motor vehicle, or
causes a motor vehicle to stand, if the person proves that the person—
(a)
drove the motor vehicle, or caused the motor vehicle to stand, in prescribed
circumstances; and
(b) did
not know that the motor vehicle was unregistered.
(1b) For the purposes
of subsection (1a), a person may prove a matter referred to in that
subsection by furnishing to the Commissioner of Police a statutory declaration
in accordance with any requirements prescribed by the regulations.
(1c) It is a defence
to a charge of an offence against subsection (1) if the defendant was not
a registered owner or the registered operator of the vehicle and the defendant
proves that the defendant did not know, and could not reasonably be expected
to have known, that the vehicle was unregistered.
(3) If an
unregistered motor vehicle is driven or found standing on a road, the owner of
the vehicle is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $7 500.
(4) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (1) or (3) to prove that the
motor vehicle was driven or left standing on a road in circumstances in which
this Act permits a motor vehicle without registration to be driven on a road.
(4a) It is a defence
to a charge of an offence against subsection (3) to prove that—
(a) the
vehicle was not driven or left standing on the road by the defendant; and
(b) the
defendant had taken reasonable steps to ensure that any person lawfully
entitled to use the motor vehicle would have been aware that the vehicle was
unregistered.
(5) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (3) to prove that, in
consequence of some unlawful act, the vehicle was not in the possession or
control of the defendant at the time it was driven or left standing on the
road.
(6) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (3) where the defendant is the
last registered owner or last registered operator to prove that the defendant
was not the owner or the operator of the motor vehicle, as the case may be, at
the time of the alleged offence.
(6a) The provisions of
Schedule 1 apply to an offence against this section if evidence relating to
the offence was obtained through the operation of a
photographic detection device.
(6b) A motor vehicle
is driven or caused to stand by a person in prescribed circumstances for the
purposes of subsection (1a) if—
(a) the
person is not an owner or the registered operator of the vehicle and the
person is required by the person's employer to drive the vehicle, or to cause
the vehicle to stand, in the course of the person's employment; or
(b) the
motor vehicle is driven or caused to stand in circumstances declared by the
regulations.
(7) In this
section—
"owner", in relation to a motor vehicle, includes the last registered owner
and the last registered operator of the vehicle, but does not include a person
who takes the vehicle on hire;
"unregistered motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle without registration in
force under this Act.