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Unlicensed driving in Victoria
Driving while Suspended
Driving while Disqualified
Unlicensed Driving 

 

Road Safety Act Section 30    Offence to drive while disqualified etc.

(1) Subject to section 30AA, a person must not drive a motor vehicle on a highway while the authorisation granted to him or her to do so under this Part is suspended or during a period of disqualification from obtaining such an authorisation.

Penalty:
For a first offence, 30 penalty units or imprisonment for 4 months;
For a subsequent offence, 240 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years.

Since 1 May 2011 there is no longer any mandatory imprisonment applicable for this offence no matter what the date of the offence was.

Driving Whilst Suspended law. Drive while suspended lawyer. Suspended driving legal advice. suspended licence.

A drivers licence can be suspended in many different ways. If a court finds you guilty of any traffic offence (other than drink driving and dangerous driving) it has power to suspend your drivers licence. The usual ways in which a licence is suspended are as follows:

Your licence could be suspended by a court, by a traffc infringement notice, by the police or by VicRoads. If you are disqualified from driving in another state VicRoads is required to suspend your Victorian drivers licence until the interstate disqualification period ends.

It is an offence to drive most motorised vehicles on a road or in a public place if your licence has been suspended.

When police intercept a vehicle often the first thing they do is conduct a licence check to determine whether the driver has a current and valid licence. Many police have on-board computers that enable them to look up a database of licence holders and registration details. As the police drive along a road, they will input registration plate numbers into the computer and if the registered owner is a suspended or disqualified driver, they will intercept the vehicle to make further inquiries. The police also set up APNR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) digital camera systems scanning number plates of vehicles that pass by.  So if you are thinking of driving whilst suspended or whilst disqualified, your chances of getting caught these days have increased significantly.

Sometimes suspended drivers have been known to state a false name and address after being intercepted. This is also an offence and just makes things worse.


Effect of licence suspension

A person whose licence has been suspended is unable to use the licence for any purpose until the period of suspension has expired. Once the suspension ends, the person can resume driving provided their licence is current. There is no need to take any step in order to be able to resume driving after the suspension period ends - i.e. no courses or tests to do or any fees to pay. The licence you had at the time the suspension commenced will simply resume. Probationery licence holders will have their probationary period extended by 6 months plus the suspension period.

It is a serious offence to drive any motor vehicle (whether or not it is registerable, such as most motorised scooters) on a road or road related area (e.g. car park, bike track, 4WD track) while your licence or permit is suspended. You can not supervise a learner driver if your drivers licence is suspended. You can not use a suspended licence to drive in another state, and you are disqualified from obtaining a new licence during the period of suspension. For interstate licence holders, a Victorian court or a Victorian law is not able to suspend a licence issued in another state, but Victorian law can disqualify you from obtaining a Victorian licence which effectively stops you from driving in Victoria during the period of disqualification.


Penalties for driving whilst suspended
s.30 Road Safety Act 1986

First offence: Up to $4000 fine, or up to 4 months imprisonment.

Second or subsequent offence: Up to $27,000 fine, or up to 24 months imprisonment.

Typical outcomes for a first offence is a conviction and fine of about $1000 and 1 to 6 months additional licence suspension - I have seen people get 12 months extra when poorly represented, although it is possible to avoid any extra licence loss period.

A typical sentence for a second offence is a conviction and fine, or one month imprisonment wholly suspended for a period of 12 months, with some further licence suspension.  During the suspended period of a jail term you must not commit any offence which is punishable by imprisonment otherwise it is extremely likely that the suspended jail term will be restored, which means you will serve the term of imprisonment in jail, in addition to any other sentence imposed in respect of the offence that breached the suspended sentence.

Usually my client's goal is to ensure that any additional licence loss period is kept to a minimum if not avoid it completely, as well as avoid convictions, large fines, community work or imprisonment.

 

Defences to driving whilst suspended

All of the legal process defences which are available in all traffic offences are available in drive whilst suspended cases. Other ways of defending these charges involve challenging the legitimacy of the suspension, or having the suspension reversed, having the court accept you were not driving a motor vehicle, or the prosecution may be unable to prove that you knew that your drivers licence was suspended at the time of driving. As this offence is punishable by imprisonment, it is common for people to try to avoid prison by pleading guilty rather than risk damaging their chances by pleading not guilty. 

If you were unaware that your licence had been suspended and the charge is dismissed on that basis, the court can require you to serve the portion of your licence suspension period that you failed to serve because you were unaware of the suspension. s.30A Road Safety Act 1986


Legal Representation

A person facing charges of driving whilst disqualified will eventually be charged on summons and will have to go to court at which point legal representation is recommended. The total cost of legal representation for a plea of guilty to driving while suspended is usually within the range $1400 to $2000, and can be higher if you have many prior offences or you have a poor driving history. If the case is handled properly the risk of getting sentenced to a term of imprisonment is quite low, especially if it is your first offence. None of my clients have ever gone to prison purely for driving while suspended. However, some have gone to prison because the offence of driving while suspended breached an earlier suspended term of imprisonment, or they were also drunk at the time or had an accident.

Driving Whilst Disqualified Drive while disqualfied law and advice

Any person who loses their licence for a drink driving offence or a dangerous driving offence will find that their licence is cancelled (not suspended) and they are disqualified from obtaining a licence for a fixed period of time. You can become a disqualified person by order of a court or by a traffic infringement notice. A person who drives a motor vehicle on a road during a period when they are disqualified from obtaining a licence commits this offence.

Effect of disqualification

A person who is disqualified from obtaining a licence is unable to drive during the period of disqualification. Once the disqualification period ends, the person will not be able to drive until they apply for a new licence. Holders of interstate drivers licences and overseas licences can also be disqualified from driving in Victoria (alternatively - disqualified from obtaining a Victorian licence) for any traffic offence and they certainly will be disqualified if they are found guilty of drink driving or dangerous driving in Victoria.

 

Penalties for driving whilst disqualified s.30 Road Safety Act 1986

First offence: Up to $4000 fine, or up to 4 months imprisonment.

Second or subsequent offence: Up to $27,000 fine, or up to 24 months imprisonment.

Typical outcomes for a first offence is a conviction and fine of about $800 and an additional 1 to 4 months disqualification. 

A typical penalty for a second offence is a conviction and fine of $1000, alternatively one months imprisonment wholly suspended for a period of 12 months, with an additional licence loss period of 1 - 6 months.

The court has options to fine the accused, order the accused to perform community work, order imprisonment, and it also has the power to further suspend the accused's drivers licence for as long as the court thinks fit. 

Jail terms come in 4 different varieties.  The lowest form is a suspended jail term. During the suspended period of a jail term you must not commit any offence which is punishable by imprisonment otherwise it is extremely likely that the suspended jail term will be restored, which means you will serve the term of imprisonment in jail, in addition to any other sentence imposed in respect of the offence that breached the suspended sentence. 

A jail term can also be served as an intensive corrections order, which means you do not have to spend the period in prison provided you perform an average of 12 hours of community work per week during the whole of the term of imprisonment.  The other alternatives are home detention which some people might be eligible for, or real jail time.

In many cases, if the matter is handled properly, it is possible to avoid extending the licence disqualification period, avoid any type of term of imprisonemnt or having to perform community work, avoid large fines or having a conviction recorded.

 

Defences to driving whilst disqualfiied

All of the legal process defences which are available in all traffic offences are available in drive whilst disqualified cases. Other ways of defending these charges involve challenging the legitimacy of the disqualification (which is usually difficult as it is often founded on a court order), or having the disqualification reversed, having the court accept you were not driving a motor vehicle, or showing that you had no knowledge that you were disqualified at the time of driving. As this offence is punishable by imprisonment, it is common for people to try to avoid prison by pleading guilty rather than risk damaging their chances by pleading not guilty. 

 

Legal Representation

A person facing charges of driving whilst disqualified will eventually be charged on summons and will have to go to court at which point legal representation is recommended. The total cost of legal representation for a plea of guilty to driving while disqualified is typically within the range $1400 to $2000, and sometimes higher if you have many prior offences or are facing numerous other charges . If it is your first offence, the chance of going to prison is very low. If it is not your first offence the chance of spending time in prison is low if the case is handled properly. A suspended jail term or an intensive corrections order can be imposed instead of imprisonment.  None of my clients have ever gone to prison simply for driving while disqualified. However, some have gone to prison because their driving while disqualified breached an earlier suspended term of imprisonment, or they committed other serious driving offences at the same time as driving whilst disqualified.

 

 

Driving whilst unlicensed legal advice

If you do not have a licence to drive a motor vehicle in Victoria, and you are not exempt from holding one, you are not permitted to drive a motor vehicle on any public road. People who commit this offence usually fall into one of the following categories:
  • Those who have never held any drivers licence.
  • Those whose licence was cancelled or expired and they failed to restore their licence
  • People who hold a licence issued in another state or country buthave failed to obtain a Victorian licence.
  • People who do not hold a licence for the category of vehicle they are driving or riding (i.e. driving a truck on a car licence)

     

    Penalties for driving whilst unlicensed s.18 Road Safety Act 1986

    If you have previously held a licence and it has not been cancelled: Uo to $1400 fine, or up to one month imprisonment.

    All other cases: Up to $2800 fine, or up to 3 months imprisonment.

     

    Defences to driving whilst unlicenced

    All of the legal process defences which are available in all traffic offences are available in drive while unlicenced cases. It is also a defence if the court is satisfied that at the time of driving the accused had an honest and reasonable belief that they were licenced to drive a motor vehicle.

Related Pages:

Fines
Court Process
Relicencing applications
Immediate Licence Suspensions

court representation by traffic lawyer

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