On Sunday significant amendments made to the Road Transport Act 2013 will commence in NSW.

What is the effect of this legislation?

If you have been charged with Driving unlicensed, Drive whilst suspended, Drive whilst disqualified or Drive with a cancelled licence, the maximum penalty and disqualification periods you face at sentence will be reduced significantly to better reflect the seriousness of the offences.

Further, Habitual Traffic Offender Declarations will be removed from the legislation. This means, that if you commit three major offences in five years you will no longer be subject to an extra 5 years disqualification. If you already have a habitual traffic declaration on your record it is not abolished, however can still be removed via an application to quash.

Application to remove disqualification of licence:

Perhaps most significantly, the legislation has enacted an application disqualified drivers can make to have their disqualification periods removed.

Am I eligible?

Applications can be made to the Local Court to remove your licence disqualification if you have served already served the ‘minimum offence free period’, that is, not committed a further traffic offence during the period.

• The period is 4 years for people who have committed the following offences:
• A major offence this includes the following driving offences

o Drink Driving,

o Driving with drugs in system,

o driving under the influence of drugs,

o Negligent driving occasioning death or grievous bodily harm,

o drive manner dangerous,

o furious driving,

o predatory driving,

o police pursuits,

o failing to stop when your vehicle has caused an injury,

o menacing driving,

o failing to submit to breath analysis or preventing taking a sample,

• A major offence also includes murder, manslaughter, wounding and any aiding and abetting of the above offences.
• Was disqualified for speeding over 30km per hour or for committing offences relating to racing.
• The period is 2 years for people who have been disqualified by the Habitual Traffic Offenders Declaration or for any other traffic offence, such as:
• Drive whilst suspended
• Drive Whilst Disqualified
• Drive Whilst Cancelled
• Drive unlicensed

However, in some circumstances you could be illegible completely to make the application, namely:

• If you have committed a serious offence whilst driving, which includes offences such as police pursuits, negligent driving occasioning death or grievous bodily harm or predatory driving; or
• If you have been disqualified under a mandatory interlock order and have not obtained the interlock device.

How do I make the application if I am eligible?

• Before submitting an application to the Local Court, you must fill out a form with the Roads Maritime Services, this is so they can provide you with an up to date traffic record and a covering letter confirming you are eligible for the application. The form can be found here: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/documents/about/forms/45072064-driving-record-application-disqualification-removal-order.pdf
• You must then provide that covering letter and traffic record to the court with an application to remove the disqualification.
• You will then be given a court date and must attend court on that date for your application.

What does the court take into account when making a decision?

The test for the court is twofold:

1. Firstly, the court must determine whether you have been offence free for the required period (this is something the RMS also determines in their cover letter)
2. The court will then consider whether it is appropriate to remove the disqualification.

In making a decision on whether it is appropriate to remove the disqualification the court will consider:

• Your prior traffic record;
• How long you have been offence free for;
• The safety of the public;
• The nature of the offences which you are disqualified for;
• Your need for a licence and the impact of an ongoing licence disqualification.

You will need to provide evidence to support your need for a licence and the impact of being disqualification for the court to accept it.

What can the court do?

The court can:

1. Allow your application and remove the disqualification period
2. Allow your application in part and reduce or vary the disqualification period or
3. Reject your application and leave the disqualification in place.

What happens if they quash my application?

You can only make one application a year. So you will have to wait until the next year. However, if you believe you did not have a fair hearing or you have just cause, you can make an application to annul the decision of the magistrate and have re do the application. However, it is very difficult to do this and we strongly advise you speak to a lawyer before doing so.

If you have been disqualified and wish to speak to us about removing your disqualification period, please do not hesitate to contact us on 9025 9888 or at info@streetonlawyers.com.au

Photo by Taras Makarenko