Tasmanian Consolidated Acts

VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC ACT 1999 - SECT 18

      (1) A person whose Australian driver licence (other than a learner licence) is, or is liable to be, suspended or cancelled because of –

(a) an accumulation of demerit points; or

(b) a disqualification order made by an Australian court; or

(c) an automatic statutory penalty –

      (2) None of the following is entitled to apply for a restricted driver licence:

(a) a person whose Australian driver licence is, or is liable to be, suspended because of an accumulation of demerit points and who has, or had, the option of entering into an undertaking to be of good behaviour under the provisions of the demerit points scheme but did not take up, or proposes not to take up, that option;

(b) a person who, under section 25, is subject or liable to a period of ineligibility to hold a driver licence because of an accumulation of demerit points;

(ba) a novice driver or novice rider who is liable to be regressed in relation to a particular class of licence under section 13A and who has not held, in relation to that class, a provisional licence for 12 continuous months or any further continuous 12-month period for which he or she is required to hold a provisional licence as a result of being regressed;

(c) a person who is disqualified from driving in accordance with an excessive drink-driving notice.

      (2A) If a person referred to in subsection (2)(a) is liable to be, or is, disqualified from driving pursuant to section 19A(1)(a) or section 19B(1)(a), the bar contained in that subsection does not apply to the person before, or during, the period of disqualification.

      (3) An application under this section –

(a) must be made in writing; and

(b) must state the name and residential address of the applicant and an address for the service of notices; and

(c) must state the applicant's Australian driver licence number or, if the applicant's Australian driver licence has been cancelled, the applicant's former Australian driver licence number; and

(d) must, as far as practicable, give details of all offences (against the law of Tasmania, another State or a Territory or a foreign country) involving the driving or use of a motor vehicle committed by the applicant (whether or not relevant to the suspension or disqualification) including the following:

(i) the date of commission;

(ii) the court by which, and the date on which, the applicant was convicted and particulars of penalties imposed or other orders made in respect of the offence or, if the offence was dealt with by traffic infringement notice, the traffic infringement notice number and the date on which it was lodged; and

(e) must give details of the licence suspension or disqualification and state whether a licence suspension or disqualification has previously been imposed on the applicant and, if so, the period of the licence suspension or disqualification and the reasons for it; and

(f) must state the grounds on which the applicant asks for an order to be made under this section; and

(g) must contain details of the severe and unusual hardship that would be suffered by the applicant, or the applicant's dependants, if the application were refused (including a statement of available forms of transport and why they are not adequate for the needs of the applicant or the applicant's dependants); and

(h) must state the conditions on which the applicant asks the court to authorise the issue of a restricted driver licence; and

(i) must be verified by statutory declaration made by the applicant; and

(j) must be filed with the clerk of the court.

      (4) At least 7 days before the application is to be heard by the court, the applicant must give a copy of the application to –

(a) the Registrar; and

(b) the officer in charge of the Police Prosecutions Branch nearest the court to which the application is made.

      (5) The court may make an order authorising the issue of a restricted driver licence if the court is satisfied that –

(a) the licence suspension or disqualification is imposing, or will impose, severe and unusual hardship on the applicant or the applicant's dependants; and

(b) a restricted driver licence should be issued to mitigate or alleviate that hardship; and

(c) the issue of the restricted driver licence would not be contrary to the public interest.

      (5A) If the applicant is a person who, but for subsection (2A), would have been barred by subsection (2)(a) from making the application, the court must, by the order, provide that the restricted driver licence issued to the person will expire when the person's period of disqualification expires.

      (6) The Registrar must, on application by a person in whose favour an order has been made under this section, issue a restricted driver licence to the applicant that conforms with the terms of the order.

      (7) If the person in whose favour the order was made held an ancillary certificate authorising the holder to provide driving instruction or to drive a public passenger vehicle, the ancillary certificate is, subject to any order of the court to the contrary, restored for the period for which the restricted driver licence remains in force.

      (8) A court of petty sessions may, on application by the holder of a restricted driver licence supported by the evidence the court considers necessary and appropriate in the circumstances, vary the terms or conditions of a restricted driver licence.

      (9) A court that has dealt with, or is about to deal with, the holder of a restricted driver licence for an offence relating to the driving or use of a motor vehicle, or a court of petty sessions, may, on its own initiative or on application by the Registrar or a police officer, vary the terms or conditions of a restricted driver licence or revoke the licence.

      (10) A person who holds a restricted driver licence must not drive a motor vehicle in breach of a condition imposed in accordance with an order of a court.

Penalty:

In the case of –

(a) a first offence – a fine not exceeding 40 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both; and

(b) a second or subsequent offence – a fine not exceeding 80 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.

      (11) A person must not employ, cause or permit the holder of a restricted driver licence to drive a motor vehicle in breach of a condition of the licence.

Penalty:

In the case of –

(a) a first offence –

(i) for a body corporate – a fine not exceeding 200 penalty units; and

(ii) for an individual – a fine not exceeding 40 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both; and

(b) a second or subsequent offence –

(i) for a body corporate – a fine not exceeding 400 penalty units; and

(ii) for an individual – a fine not exceeding 80 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.

      (12) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (11) to prove that the defendant did not know, and could not reasonably be expected to have known, that the driver was driving in breach of a condition of a restricted driver licence.

      (13) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

      (14) This section has effect subject to section 19 of the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1970.