Unlicensed
driving in Victoria
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Driving while Suspended
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Driving while Disqualified
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Unlicensed Driving
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:
- excessive demerit points
- excessive speed
- immediate suspension following a drink driving
offence
- failure to pay fines
Your licence could be suspended by a court, by
a traffc infringement notice, by VicRoads or by the Sheriff.
It is an offence to drive a motor vehicle on a
public road if your licence has been suspended.
When police intercept a driver for any driving
offence a licence check will 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 can also set up a character recognition digital
camera (similar idea to those used on Citylink) beside a road, and
intercept each car that goes by which the computer says is owned by a
suspended person. 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 tends to make 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. If your licence is suspended you commit an offence if
you drive any motor vehicle on a road in Victoria. This includes most
motorised scooters. You will be ineligible to drive in any other state
on your Victorian licence. You are also disqualified from obtaining a
new licence during the period of suspension.
Penalties for driving whilst suspended s.30
Road Safety Act 1986
First offence: Up to $3300 fine, or up to 4
months imprisonment.
Second or subsequent offence: Imprisonment for
a period of at least one month and not more than 2 years.
Typical
outcomes for a first offence is a fine of about $1100 and 1 to 6
months
additional licence suspension - I have seen people get 12 months extra
when poorly represented. A typical sentence for a second offence
is one months imprisonment wholly suspended for a period of 12 months,
with some further licence suspension. If you commit certain
further
offences during that 12 month period you will end up in jail. I am often asked to keep any additional licence loss to a minimum if not avoid it completely.
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.
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 $1700, and slightly
higher if it is not your first offence. If it is your first offence,
the chance of going to prison is quite low. If it is not your first
offence the chance of spending time in prison is low if the case is
handled properly. Do not believe those lawyers who try to
justify
ridiculously high fees on the basis that they are going to save you
from prison. None of my clients have ever gone to prison simply 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 and 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, they commit an
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 if they are found guilty of drink driving or dangerous driving.
Penalties for driving whilst
disqualified s.30
Road Safety Act 1986
First offence: Up to $3300 fine, or up to 4
months imprisonment.
Second or subsequent offence: Imprisonment for
a period of at least one month and not more than 2 years.
Typical
outcomes for a first offence is a fine
of about $1100 and an additional 1 to 6 months disqualification. A
typical
penalty for a second offence is one months imprisonment wholly
suspended for a period of 12 months, with extra licence loss. In many
cases, if the matter is handled properly, it is possible to avoid
extending the licence disqualification period.
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 nearly always 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. When charged with driving whilst disqualified the court has
options to fine the defendant (if it is a first offence), order the
defendant to perform community work, order imprisonment, and it also
has the power to further suspend the defendant's drivers licence for as
long as the court thinks fit. Subsequent offenders must receive a
prison sentence which may be custodial or non-custodial.
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 usually within the range $1400 to $1700, and
slightly
higher if it is not your first offence. If it is your first offence,
the chance of going to prison is quite low. If it is not your first
offence the chance of spending time in prison is low if the case is
handled properly. Do not believe those lawyers who try to
justify
ridiculously high fees on the basis that they are going to save you
from prison. 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.
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. drive a truck on a
car licence)
- People who fail to comply with the conditions
on their licence (i.e. wear eyeglasses).
Penalties for driving whilst unlicensed s.18
Road Safety Act 1986
If you have previously held a licence and it
has not been cancelled: $1100 or up to one month imprisonment.
All other cases: Up to $2500 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 defendant 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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