Demerit Points Suspension of Your Driver Licence
Under the demerits points system points are allocated for a range of driving offences and at the date of each offence points are placed on the record of the licence holder. Once the threshold number of demerit points is reached within a 3 year period, Roads and Maritime Services (“RMS”) will suspend the person’s driver licence. The threshold for each kind of licence is as follows:
Learner Licence – Suspension will occur after reaching 4 or more demerit points in a 3 year period.
Provisonal P1 Licence – Suspension will occur after reaching 4 or more demerit points in a 3 year period.
Provisonal P2 Licence – Suspension will occur after reaching 7 or more demerit points in a 3 year period.
Unrestricted Licence – Suspension will occur after reaching 13 or more demerit points (14 or more for a professional driver) in a 3 year period. Once the threshold number of demerit points is reached the RMS may issue of a notice of suspension to the licence holder. The period of suspension depends on the number of demerit points incurred during the 3 year period and will be a minimum of 3 months. What you can do once you receive the notice of suspension from the RMS then depends upon what kind of licence you hold:
Learner Licence – You can lodge an appeal against the suspension decision with the Local Court within 28 days.
Provisonal P1 Licence – You can lodge an appeal against the suspension decision with the Local Court within 28 days.
Provisonal P2 Licence – You can lodge an appeal against the suspension decision with the Local Court within 28 days.
Unrestricted Licence – You can elect to be of good behaviour for 12 months but if 2 or more demerit points are incurred then the original suspension will be doubled. For those licence holders who can appeal the suspension decision to the Local Court there will be a stay of the suspension upon filing of the application meaning that they can continue to drive until the matter is heard in Court which can either set aside the suspension, vary it or let it stand. The Court is not limited in the matters it can take into account and it will consider a person’s driving history, the person’s need for a licence, hardship that may be caused to others, a person’s good character and the availability of public transport. For unrestricted licence holders no appeal to the Local Court is allowed meaning that either the suspension must be served or the 12 month good behaviour option chosen. Conclusion Because learner and provisional licence holders have such few points to “play around with” and unrestricted licence holders have no appeal in case of suspension it is imperative to consider whether to fight each driving offence in Court either on its merits or by way of an application under section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act by which a Court can be persuaded not to convict you of the driving offence on the basis of a number of matters including your good character/driving record, age, health or extenuating circumstances. For learner and provisional licence holders, they can have two “bites of the cherry” by firstly challenging the offence in Court and, if then suspended as result, still being able to appeal the suspension once a notice of suspension is issued by the RMS.