In New South Wales, “burnouts” constitute an offence under the Road Transport Act 2013. There are two offences in that Act that cover burnouts. The specific offence a person is charged with will determine the maximum penalty available to the court.

When a person in New South Wales is caught driving with a BAC above the legal limit as well as an illicit drug in their system, they may be charged with an offence under section 111A of the Road Transport Act 2013. This offence deals with the situation where a driver has both the presence of a prescribed or illicit drug in their oral fluid, blood or urine and a prescribed concentration of alcohol in their breath or blood. The penalties from drink and drug driving are harsher than the penalties for regular drink driving offences.

In New South Wales, there are various offences relating to dangerous driving. The penalties for these offences vary depending on the level of harm caused and the level of culpability of the offender. A finding of guilt may result in a fine and/or a term of imprisonment as well as a mandatory period of disqualification from driving.

The maximum penalty for the offence of dangerous driving causing death is 10 years imprisonment. If the offence is aggravated the maximum penalty increases to 14 years.

The maximum penalty for the offence of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm is 7 years imprisonment. If the offence is aggravated, the maximum penalty increases to 11 years.

On 20 August 2002 the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal delivered a guideline judgment concerning the offences of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.

The maximum penalty for the offence of driving at a speed dangerous to the public is 20 penalty units or 9 months imprisonment (first offence) and 30 penalty units or 12 months for a second or subsequent offence.

The offences of drive whilst cancelled and drive while suspended are committed by a person who drives a motor vehicle on a public road after their licence has been cancelled or suspended by Transport for NSW.

The offence of driving with the presence of certain drugs (other than alcohol) in oral fluid, blood or urine is committed by a person who drives a motor vehicle on a public road while there is present in the person’s oral fluid, blood or urine any prescribed illicit drug.

Being charged with driving under the influence of drug (DUI) or drive with presence of certain drug in oral fluid or blood can be very traumatic.

If you are caught speeding by more than of 30 kilometres per hour you will receive a fine of $935 and 5 demerit points. However, what many people do not know is that the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) hold a discretion to suspend your licence for a period of 3 months.

Exceeding the speed limit by more than 45 km/h is a serious offence and depending on what sort of vehicle you were driving (for example car or heavy vehicle) and whether the offence was committed in a school zone, the penalty will vary. This article outlines the offence of exceed speed limit by more than 45km/h in NSW.

When a person receives a traffic infringement for an offence that was ‘Camera-Recorded’ and they were not responsible for the offence (i.e. they were not driving the car when the offence occurred), they have an active duty to nominate the correct driver within 21 days of the issue of the penalty notice in accordance with Section 186 of the Road Transport Act 2013.

When someone puts fuel into their car at a service station, then does not pay for the fuel, this is called a Fail to Pay (FTP) fuel theft. FTP is considered fraud under the Crimes Act 1900, section 192E.

In NSW, the Road Transport Act 2013 makes it an offence to fail to stop and assist after an accident in which injury was caused to another person. This offence is punishable by a maximum fine of 30 penalty units or 18 months imprisonment, or both, for a first offence.

In NSW, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and give personal details to another driver involved in the crash, any person injured, or the owner of damaged property as a result of the accident is an offence. The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of 20 penalty units.

Failing to stop for police in New South Wales is an offence that carries heavy penalties. There are various reasons that police stop a motor vehicle, including if they “suspect on reasonable grounds” that the driver or passenger is committing or did commit an offence.

In New South Wales, it is an offence to drive in a manner, pace or speed, which causes danger to a person or other road users. This is known as ‘furious driving’ and is similar to offences relating to dangerous driving and driving at a dangerous speed.

The offence of learner driver drive unaccompanied is committed by a person who drives a motor vehicle without the seat next to the learner being occupied by a person with a full licence.

Menacing driving is committed by a person who drives a motor vehicle on a road in a manner that menaces another person with the intention of menacing that other person, or drives a motor vehicle on a road in a manner that menaces another person if the person ought to have known that the other person might be menaced.

As with a Random Breath Test, at a Mobile Drug Test you will be stopped by police and asked for your licence. The police will then ask you to scrape a stick-like device over your tongue. This device is called the Drugwipe 6S Saliva Detection Device, which detects drugs in the saliva. It usually returns a result after eight minutes. This device will predominantly detect ecstasy, cannabis and methamphetamine.

In New South Wales, the threshold for proving negligent driving is fairly low. A driver may be found to be negligent if they did not drive in the manner that a reasonable prudent driver would have driven given all the circumstances.

It is an offence under section 49 of the Road Transport Act 2013 to obtain or renew a driver’s licence by a false statement, misrepresentation or dishonest means. It is also an offence to possess a driver’s licence obtained by those means. The maximum penalty is a fine of 20 penalty units.

The offence of police pursuit was introduced in New South Wales in response to the tragic death of a toddler, Skye Sassine, after her family’s car was hit by a suspected armed robber who was evading police.

Predatory driving is defined in section 51A of Crimes Act 1900.

The offence of Reckless Driving is committed when a person drives their vehicle in a way that is considered by the court to be reckless. The offence of is contained in s117(2) of the Road Transport Act 2013.

In New South Wales, police have the power to require a driver to provide a breath test sample or oral fluid test sample. Requests for breath tests are commonly known as random breath tests (RBTs) and requests for oral fluid samples are commonly known as mobile drug tests (MDTs).

In NSW, motorists must slow when passing emergency vehicles that have red or blue flashing lights, or breakdown response vehicles that have flashing yellow lights. The rule is designed to protect emergency services staff, tow truck operators and other breakdown helpers working on the road, as well as those people they are helping.

The offences of driving while disqualified, cancelled or suspended are treated very seriously by the courts. Many repeat offenders receive prison sentences or an alternative to a full-time sentence such as home detention or a suspended prison sentence. Suspended/Unlicensed/Disqualified driving offences in New South Wales are summarised below.

The offence of police pursuit was introduced in New South Wales in response to the tragic death of a toddler, Skye Sassine, after her family’s car was hit by a suspected armed robber who was evading police.

The offence of use a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or any other drug is committed by a person who drives a motor vehicle, attempts to use a motor vehicle or occupies a seat in or on a motor vehicle next to a learner driver who is driving a vehicle on a public road whilst under the influence of a drug or combination of drugs.

In New South Wales, it is an offence to use a mobile phone whilst driving.

In New South Wales, vehicles must be registered with Transport for NSW before they can be driven on a road. It is an offence to operate an unregistered vehicle.