The Law Handbook 2024

648 Section 6: Houses, communities and the road 1 P1 licence : This is for drivers who are aged under 21 years and have never held a licence; P1 licences are held for 12 months. 2 P2 licence : This is for drivers who are aged 21 years or older and have never held a full licence, and for drivers who have had a P1 licence for 12 months. P2 licences are held for three years. Both P1 and P2 licences are subject to additional conditions. Probationary drivers: • must have zero blood-alcohol content ( BAC ); • must display P-plates (red P-plates for P1 licence holders and green P-plates for P2 licence holders) – the plates must be able to be seen from 20 metres away; • must not use their mobile phone at all while driving, including using it hands-free; • are prohibited to drive certain types of vehicles and vehicles with certain types of engines, such as a car where the engine has been modified to increase the car’s performance, unless one of the exceptions applies; and • must not drive a manual car, unless they were tested in a non-automatic car. P1 licence holders are subject to additional restrictions, including: • drivers must not drive with more than one passenger who is between the ages of 16–22, unless they are the driver’s spouse or sibling; and • drivers must not tow another vehicle or trailer, unless one of the exceptions applies. Full licences ‘Full licence’ is the term commonly used to describe a driver licence held for longer than the probationary period. Probationary licence holders may have to pass a VicRoads test before they become full licence holders (s 21 Road Safety Act). Full licence holders are not subject to the same restrictions as probationary licence holders, but they must have a BAC below .05. Victoria does not have ‘restricted licence orders’ as in other states. Although, restrictions on licence use (e.g. to be used only for work purposes) may rarely be the subject of an adjourned undertaking without conviction, providing the penalty section does not exclude this sentencing order (e.g. see ‘Speeding offences’ and ‘Drink-driving offences’). A full licence holder who has their licence suspended or cancelled in that case has the full licence status restored. Procedures for driving offences A driver who commits any driving offence may be dealt with in the following ways: 1 an infringement notice; 2 licence or permit suspension and deduction of demerit points (i.e. VicRoads’ licence and permit powers); or 3 court action. 1 Infringement notices What can infringement notices be issued for? Infringement notices may be served for most driving offences. Infringement notices can be issued to owners of motor vehicles detected committing red- light offences, bus or transit lane offences, or certain speeding offences. Note that drivers committing these traffic offences may be detected by automatic detection devices (s 31 Road Safety (General) Regulations 2019 (Vic)). Infringement notices are issued by Fines Victoria (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). A driver who has received an infringement notice can either: • accept the penalty in the infringement notice; or • lodge a notice of objection. Objections by motor vehicle owners Motor vehicle owners may escape paying the fine by making a statement that declares: • the name and address of the actual driver at the time of the alleged offence (in which case this statement can be used in court against this driver) (s 84BE Road Safety Act); or • the name and address of the driver of the car could not be reasonably ascertained (e.g. the vehicle had been stolen) (s 84BE). If a motor vehicle owner fails to pay the fine or to provide the police with a statement, enforcement proceedings will be taken against them under the Infringements Court system (see Chapter 3.1: Fines and infringements). Objections by drivers Drivers are entitled to object to infringement notices by lodging a notice of objection. Notices of objection