Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Australian Speeding Fines, wheelies and more.....

Whilst wheelies might look cool and can be considered to be a bit of fun, the local constabulary doesn't necessarily agree with you or with this behaviour. Vicpol are more likely to tazer you then ask why your pulling a monster wheely. Have you ever wondered what that wheelie is going to cost you if you get busted by the fuzz. Depending on what state you live in there are different fines and associated points loss and even vehicle impoundment laws in place. It might be a good time to take a look at these and remember them so you don't have a brain snap and do something stupid that you'll regret later.

Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200


The laws vary quite a bit from state to state. Lets take a look at what some of these things will cost you if your doing the wrong thing. I deliberately have not put anything in about drink driving fines for obvious reasons.
The penalties listed in the tables below are for light vehicles(cars/motorcycles) only and there are separate fines for heavy vehicles.

NEW SOUTH WALES

In NSW a full drivers license has 13 demerit points.

Speeding Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Exceed limit by less than 10 kmh
1
$109 
Exceed limit by 10 kmh - 19 kmh
3
$254
Exceed limit by 20 kmh - 29 kmh
4
$436
Exceed limit by 30 kmh - 44 kmh
5 *
$835 
Exceed limit by 45 kmh or more
6 **
$2252 
Exceed limit by less than 10 kmh in School Zone
2
$182
Exceed limit by 10 kmh - 19 kmh in School Zone
4
$327
Exceed limit by 20 kmh - 29 kmh in School Zone
5
$545
Exceed limit by 30 kmh - 44 kmh in School Zone
6 *
$1053 
Exceed limit by 45 kmh or more in School Zone
7 **
$2400 


*   Minimum 3 months License Disqualification
** Minimum 6 months License Disqualification

If police catch you speeding by more than 45km/h over the limit you may have your licence immediately suspended and confiscated at the roadside for 6 months.

In addition to this NSW has Double demerits where on advertised long weekends like Easter, Christmas - New Year, Australia Day, Anzac Day etc the fines for speeding, not wear a seatbelt, riding without a helmet attract double the demerit points for that offense.

Negligent Driving/Riding

There are a couple of different types of neg driving charges you can get in NSW. There is the basic negligent driving. This is the lesser charge that can be used for lots of different purposes such as bad driving/riding, wheelies, stoppies etc. The greater of the two charges is called Driving in a manner dangerous and if you get done for this you are really screwed and will have to attend court where the costs could be much higher.

Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
 Negligent Driving
 3 
  $415 
 Negligent Driving - Burnout 
 3 
 $623
 Drive without proper control of vehicle
3
 $415
 Ride motorcycle whilst lane splitting at over 30 kmh
3
 $623
 Use vehicle with obscured/defaced/illegible number plate
 3 
  $415 



 Driving in a manner dangerous
$2200 1st 










* 12 Months minimum - no maximum license Disqualification - Up to 9 months jail term. A second offense will draw in $3300 2 Year minimum license loss and up to 12 months jail.

NSW has various 'HOON' laws in place that can be used for offences such as
  • Street racing
  • Aggravated burnout
  • Engaging in a police pursuit
  • Speeding by more than 45km
With these you can have your vehicle impounded or your license plates confiscated on the spot for a fixed 3 month period and your license suspended on the spot. If your plates are confiscated then the police will affix a number plate confiscation sticker to the vehicle. If you get one of these you will be walking or getting towed as if your caught using the vehicle again its a $3300 fine and vehicle forfeiture. If your stupid enough to be in a police chase you can be charged under Sky's Law with a minimum jail term of 3 years on a first offense.

So if your pulling wheelies it will probably depend on where your doing it and how the copper feels at the time but if you are doing it on a deserted country road then you'll probably just get a neg driving charge, but if your pulling monster wheelies down Pitt St Sydney then you can expect them to throw the book at you and you'll be facing a ban and a huge fine. You've been warned.

VICTORIA

In Victoria a full drivers license has 12 demerit points. Victoria otherwise know as the 'police state' for Vicpol's overzealous enforcement of everything and anything they can.

Speeding Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Exceed limit by less than 10 kmh
1
$185
Exceed limit by 10 kmh – 24 kmh
3
$295
Exceed limit by 25 kmh – 29 kmh
4 *
$406
Exceed limit by 30 kmh – 34 kmh
4 *
$480
Exceed limit by 35 kmh – 39 kmh
6 **
$554
Exceed limit by 40 kmh – 44 kmh
6 **
$627
Exceed limit by 45 kmh or more
8 ***
$738










*     Minimum 1 month License Disqualification
**   Minimum 6 months License Disqualification
*** Minimum 12 months License Disqualification

Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Careless Driving
3 *
$295









* If charged with careless driving you may be required to undertake a safe driving program.

ANTI HOON LAWS

The anti-hoon laws provide that if police have reasonable grounds for believing a driver has committed a hoon-related offence, they have the power to seize that vehicle and impound or immobilise it for 30 days. A vehicle may be impounded or immobilised, regardless of who owns it and whether the driver is the registered operator.
Your vehicle could be impounded if you commit offences such as:
  • speeding at 45 km/h or more over the speed limit (or 145 kilometres per hour or more if the speed limit is 110 kilometres per hour)
  • deliberate loss of traction(burnout)
  • street racing
  • refusing to stop when directed by police
  • a repeat offence of unlicensed driving
  • driving at 70 km/h or more over the speed limit
If a person is found guilty of three hoon-related offences inside three years, their vehicle can be permanently forfeited by the court. The vehicle will then be sold or crushed.

Who's up for Hoon pancakes?
Link

If your caught popping a wheel in Victoria then you will be charged under the Hoon legislation and will then have your pride and joy seized for 30 days + the fine + the towing fee and possible court costs. A wheelie could cost anywhere up to $3000 and a month off the bike.

Vicpol tactics, hiding in the bushes with radars and camouflage

QUEENSLAND
In Queensland a full drivers license has 12 demerit points.

Speeding Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Exceed limit by less than 13 kmh
1
$151
Exceed limit by 13 kmh – 20 kmh
3
$227
Exceed limit by 21 kmh – 30 kmh
4
$379
Exceed limit by 31 kmh – 40 kmh
6
$531
Exceed limit by 41 kmh or more
8 *
$1062












  If a second speeding fine is committed within 12 months of the first fine then the points for the second fine will be doubled. The fine stays the same.



*   Minimum 6 months License Disqualification - second offence vehicle will be impounded for 7 days, 3rd offence vehicle will be impounded for 90 days



Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
 Careless driving
3*
$4000 #
 Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
*
$4000 @
 Racing or speed trial
*

 Wilfully making excessive noise or smoke(burnout)
*





* 90 day vehicle impoundment for first offence, if a second offence occurs within 5 years the vehicle will be forfeit.
# Maximum penalty is $4000 and 1 month to 2 years license disqualification - Type 1 Hoon offence
@ Maximum penalty is $4000 and up to 5 years jail, minimum 6 month license disqualification

ANTI HOON LAWS

Queensland also has some of the harshest anti hoon laws in the country. There are 2 types of these with different severity's.


A type 1 offence is considered the most serious while type 2 offences are less serious. The Government classification of serious and not so serious does however appear poorly drafted as doing a burnout is considered more serious than high range drink driving for the purpose of impoundment and forfeiture.

Type 1 hooning offences include;
  • evading police.
  • taking part in racing or speed trials
  • wilfully starting a motor vehicle or driving in way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke
  • dangerous driving
  • careless driving

Type 2 hooning offences include;
  • driving a vehicle that is uninsured and unregistered
  • driving without a licence or when your licence has been suspended
  • high range drink driving—with a blood alcohol level above 0.15%
  • exceeding the speed limit by more than 40km/h
  • driving a modified vehicle that does not comply with vehicle safety standards
  • driving while under a 24 hour suspension order.




Special Mention : -

ANTI ASSOCIATION LAWS(Anti Bikie)

Queensland has some pretty harsh laws in place for anyone that is in a social motorcycle club(Hells Angels, Rebels, Mongels, Comancheros etc, all the 1% clubs basically). The Queensland government has introduced new laws to stop people from associating with others if they deem them to be in a outlaw motorcycle club. These laws can see people put in jail for just meeting together with 3 or more members in a public place. It's pretty farcical and hopefully shall soon be repelled. You can click here for more info on a previous post.


SOUTH AUSTRALIA

 In SA a full drivers license has 12 demerit points.

Speeding Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Exceed limit by less than 10 kmh
2
$159 
Exceed limit by 10 kmh - 19 kmh
3
$349
Exceed limit by 20 kmh - 29 kmh
5
$709
Exceed limit by 30 kmh - 44 kmh
7
$846
Exceed limit by 45 kmh or more
9 *
$952
















*   Minimum 6 months License Disqualification



Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
 Misuse of a motor vehicle(Hoon)
 4 *
 Court 
 Drive without proper control of vehicle
 -
$169 
 Reckless driving or Driving in a manner dangerous to the public
 6 *
Court 
 Excessive Speed
9  




















* Police can wheel clamp or impound your vehicle


The best place to find one of these


WESTERN AUSTRALIA

In WA a full drivers license has 12 demerit points.

Speeding Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Exceed limit by less than 9 kmh
0
$100
Exceed limit by 9 kmh -19 kmh
2 *
$200
Exceed limit by 20 kmh - 29 kmh
3 *
$400
Exceed limit by 30 kmh - 40 kmh
5 *
$800
Exceed limit by 41 kmh or more
7 * **
$1000

* On advertised weekends double demerits apply to these offences. ie Easter, Christmas and long weekends etc
** 28 Day vehicle impounded for first offense, 2nd offense 3 months.

Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Willfully causing excessive noise, smoke(eg burn out)
3 *
$600
Driving at high speed or in a dangerous or antisocial manner

 Court
Reckless Driving – 1st offence
**
$2000
Reckless Driving – 2nd offence
**
$3000

* 28 Day vehicle impounded for first offense, 2nd offense 3 months.

WA also has fairly hefty ANTI HOON laws in place for excessive speeding, street racing etc. For hoon offenses your vehicle can be impounded by the police for 28 days on a 1st offense and for 3 months on a 2nd offence. A 3rd offense will see your vehicle confiscated or impounded for 6 months. Examples of hoon behaviour are


  • intentionally causing tyres to lose traction
  • causing a vehicle to make excessive noise or smoke
  • exceeding the speed limit by 45 km/h or more (e.g. travelling at more than 155 km/h in a 110 km/h zone )
  • engaging in a race or speed trial on a public road or in a public space
Popping a wheelie could be considered hoon behaviour.

TASMANIA

Speeding Offence
Demerit
Points
Fine
Exceed limit by less than 10 kmh
2
$80
Exceed limit by 10 kmh – 14 kmh
2
$110
Exceed limit by 15 kmh – 22 kmh
3
$150
Exceed limit by 23 kmh – 29 kmh
3
$250
Exceed limit by 30 kmh – 37 kmh
5
$450
Exceed limit by 38 kmh – 44 kmh
6 *
$650
Exceed limit by 45 kmh or more
6 **
$800

*     Minimum 3 month License Disqualification
**   Minimum 4 months License Disqualification


So after all of this I've learned that popping one sweet little wheelie could cost you big time  in Australia if you are caught doing it. We have so much become the nanny state of the world is embarrassing. So moral of this story is don't do it anywhere were you can get caught. That only leaves private property, as race tracks also don't let you wheely there either leaving you with few options. That also goes for speeding as well. Take that to the track where you can have some real fun and go as hard as you are capable of.

So you can see that  for Australia, Tasmania looks like it wins the best and fairest award and Queensland and Victoria pull out the Gestapo award for the biggest money grabbing asshats that you could ever hope to meet. Now lets compare some of this to some other 1st world countrys like the USA and Germany.

Germany

Germany is well renouned as leaders in car/motorcycle manufacturing with superior build quality and this also is translates over into their road systems and license testing. A drivers license in germany has 18 points

Speeding Offence
Suspension
City/Country
Demerit
Points
Fine *
Up to 10 km/h


15/10
11 – 15 km/h


25/20
16-21 km/h


35/30
21-25 km/h

1
80/70
26-30 km/h

1
100/80
31-40 km/h
1 month(City)
1
160/120
41-50 km/h
1 month
2
200/160
51-60 km/h
2/1 months
2
280/240
61-70 km/h
3/2 months
2
480/440
over 70 km/h
3 months
2
680/600

* Fine on the left is for within city limits and on the right is out of city limits



USA

Speeding fines in the USA can vary quite a bit from state to state, but for the purposes of this exercise I'm going to look at the state of Oregon. Thanks to Brandy from Trobairitz Tablet for some info for this article.

Speeding fines in the state of Oregon are classified as traffic violations. There are different classes of violations that appear to attract different fines.

(a)One to 10 mph(2-16kph) in excess of the speed limit is a Class D traffic violation. Fine $110

(b)11 to 20 mph(16-32kph) in excess of the speed limit is a Class C traffic violation. Fine $160

(c)21 to 30 mph(32-48kph) in excess of the speed limit is a Class B traffic violation. Fine $260

(d)Over 30 mph(48kph+) in excess of the speed limit is a Class A traffic violation. Fine $435

In addition to this the licensing system does not have a points system, so accumulating fines doesn't seem to make you necessarily lose your license. In Oregon your insurance company (there are dozens, not just one from run by the government) they can give you points in their system for tickets and raise your insurance rates or drop your insurance if you get too many tickets. So higher insurance rates may be the outcome but you still keep your license.

A court may order a suspension of driving privileges for up to 30 days if a person exceeds a speed limit or designated speed by more than 30 miles per hour and the person has received at least one prior conviction within 12 months of the date of the current offense.

If a person drives 100 miles per hour or greater when the person commits a violation, the person commits a specific fine traffic violation. The presumptive fine for a violation under this subsection is $1,150, and upon conviction the court shall order a suspension of driving privileges for not less than 30 days nor more than 90 days.

You can see that comparing NSW to Germany and the US
1. NSW       - 45kmh over $2252 6 points(half your license) and 6 months disqualification
2. Germany  - 45kmh over - €200 2 points and 1 month disqualification
3. USA        - 45kmh over - $260 No points

The Wrap Up

So it seems no matter where you live you will get bent over and shafted if your caught speeding or doing the wrong thing thats pretty universal, but it seems especially bad if you live in a heavily policed state like Australia compared to other 1st world country's like the US and Germany. Our fines and penalties seem to be severely harsh in comparison. With an ever diminishing road toll which is due more to the fact of safer cars and better built roads than drivers ability or policing/speed cameras it hard to fathom government thinking on this but it seems to be more than anything else a revenue raising exercise. I leave this thought with you and you can be the judge.

Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm recently addressed parliament with an almost word for word speech as the following video. David's speech has to be the most common sensicle approach I've ever heard from a politician anywhere and it was brilliantly put.



Thanks to the following government websites for the information required to put this page together. If you want more info click on the links below. I haven't put in any information on the Northern Territory as er........ well there isn't anywhere decent there to ride so I didn't waste my time filling it out. Prove me wrong NT riders :P. There is one notable exception with the NT. They have a section of road north of Alice springs where the speed limit is 200kmh but that's just too far away.......


Victoria Demerit Points
NSW Demerit Points
QLD Demerit Points
South Australia Demerit Points
WA Demerit Points
Tas Demerit Points and Fines
NT Demerit Points
BMVI - Germany
Oregon Laws.Org





18 comments:

  1. Quite the difference in penalties. You are welcome for the info. I did check and we don't have a handy table that explains things a little easier. In some cases when someone in Oregon is caught doing over 100 mph his vehicle can be impounded as well, but I think that is the LEOs (Law Enforcement Officer) choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks again babe for your assistance. 100mph is 160kmh which would be impoundment here too.
      Take it to the track and no problems.

      Delete
  2. I am surprised that you find Germany to be a less policed state than Australia. A lot of people here actually believe that fines are not high enough, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well your penalties seem to be a lot less harsh than ours thats for sure. I bet drivers in the reich are a lot better than they are here.

      Delete
  3. I never thought that Australia was "over policed". All I hear about is the desolated areas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard we have lots of desolte areas in this country, but around the major cities and freeways inbetween the HWP are out in force.

      Delete
  4. A good reason to be a well behaved motobicyle rider...

    Things are pretty nasty over here too unless you're just a normal criminal doing nasty things to your fellow man or their property, then we're pretty soft...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes Andrew, I'm very well behaved. Would I lie to you?
      Sounds like here, whats that officer that man just stabbed his wife to death - he's free to go, but you exceeded the speed limit by 30kmh - lock him up and throw away the key. Come on please!

      Delete
  5. I like that Liberal Democrat senator's theory about setting speed limits, "Let what people feel is ok be the limit"!
    Wow! Next time I am in for spinal surgery, I hope there are some random joe public there to give the surgeon some pointers. I reckon I should let joe public give me tips on landing, cause they know what the best way to do it is.
    If the age of the internet has taught us one lesson, that lesson is manifested in Youtube. Here, you can see everyday joe publics doing the stupidest things and saying "I didn't think that would happen". While NSW seems to be particularly harsh on road users I think we need to take a good, hard look at ourselves as road users. Australia has so many rules and regulations that are not policed and we as a country are pretty blase' about most laws, so maybe we really notice the road law enforcement because they actually enforce the laws for a change?

    ReplyDelete
  6. i will just behave meself i think
    30 yrs ago i got most of those tickets lol
    learnt the hard way

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been pretty good only ever getting 2 speeding tickets, one in the car and one on the bike for only 6kmh over. Can you believe it, it was in victoria though...

      Delete
  7. I cast my mind way back to secondary school legal studies. The question was, "When is a law no longer a good law?" the answer.... "When most people do not obey it".
    Has some relevance to our speeding laws. Anyone who has driven in Europe or the USA knows that our laws are all about revenue raising.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amen brother!!!!!
      Now your talking my language.

      Delete
  8. The government in Australia has been quite successful in demonized speeding in the last 20+ years. I saw a young guy on a provisional licence posted by police on Facebook for speeding who was then tarred and feathered by the community. Comments like ban for life and crush his car were posted. His 'crime' was to exceed the limit by 31 kph in a new Honda on a straight bit of highway (in NSW)

    I chimed in on the page to note I have regularly driven at 200 kph legally on highways in Germany that are all but identical to major Australian highways and was of course called everything under the sun ha-ha. Speeding revenues in Victoria alone were about $300 million a year last time I looked, sure has been a clever bit of marketing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is it Brainwashing the public or a marketing ploy? Whichever the end result is the same here now, everyone heaps scorn on you for speeding. Stab someone to death whilst high on ICE, your free to go - do 200 in a 100 zone fucken lock him up and throw away the key.
      We really do get the raw prawn here in Australia and most of the population have been brain washed by the anti speeding advertising campaigns for the past 2 decades. More accidents now happen because of driver distraction(read - Mobile phones, GPS) than from speeding and drink driving as of the last servey in the Sunday Telegraph. I think driver distraction was around 23% of accidents and speeding was a lowly 7%. How about locking people up for talking on their mobile whilst driving. Yeah but that wouldn't be a vote winner - fuckers.

      Delete
  9. This is very nice post and also very helpful to fight Speeding Tickets
    .

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete