What is the fine for driving unregistered vehicle SA

All road traffic cameras can detect unregistered and uninsured vehicles on South Australian roads, this is in addition to police traffic enforcement.

If an unregistered and uninsured vehicle is detected by a traffic camera more than once, the first fine will be issued immediately but there will be an allowance of seven days from the first fine before a second fine is issued, so the owner can be notified by mail about the original offence.

To avoid detection - register your vehicle and have compulsory third party insurance.

• Registration fees contribute towards maintenance and improvement of the road network.

• When driver crashes their vehicle and is not covered by compulsory third party insurance they are liable for the cost of personal injury resulting from an accident.

• When an unregistered and uninsured vehicle is detected on the roadside by police, a fine will be issued for each camera detection from then until the vehicle is registered.

If your vehicle registration has expired, renew it:

• register online
• phone 1300 361 021
• visit a Service SA customer service centre.

Rules that support detection of unregistered and uninsured vehicles

Number plates

Number plates must be returned when not allocated to a vehicle or the vehicle is not registered, including cancelling a vehicle registration.  This makes sure false number plates are not used on a vehicle.

Penalties apply for the failure to return number plates.

Selling or buying a vehicle

The buyer of a vehicle is responsible for transferring the registration into their name with 14 days and the seller is also required to notify the Registrar of Motor Vehicles about the sale of the vehicle within 14 days using their current registration form.

Penalties apply for the failure to transfer a vehicle into your name within 14 days.

Change of address

Advise that you have changed your address within 14 days to keep registration records up-to-date online:

• phone 1300 361 021
• visit a Service SA customer service centre.

Penalties apply for the failure to notify change of address.

Demerit points

Drivers incur demerit points for certain traffic offences. An offence that attracts demerit points remains on your licence record for three years from the date of the offence. If you accumulate more than a set number of demerit points during a three year period you could lose your licence.

Demerit points has more information.

Fines and expiations

If you commit a traffic offence, you may be issued with an expiation notice and have to pay a fine. Expiations can be issued for a variety of reasons. Drivers are most likely to be issued one for a breach of traffic laws - eg a speeding offence.

Summary of common offences and fines - mylicence

Overdue fines

If you have an overdue fine your driver's licence may be suspended or you may be refused vehicle registration.

Fines enforcement restrictions has more information.

If you have any concerns about paying a fine on time contact the Fines Enforcement and Recovery Unit on 1800 659 538 as soon as possible. They can help you with any questions you have about fines.

Serious drink-driving offences

Immediate loss of licence applies for certain drink-driving and excessive speeding offences.

A serious drink-driving offence is defined as:

• a second or subsequent offence, within a period of five years, of driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08
• driving with a BAC at or above 0.15
• driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor
• refusing to provide a sample of breath or blood for the purpose of alcohol testing.

Losing your licence - disqualification

You could be disqualified from driving if you:

• accumulate 12 or more demerit points on a full licence
• accumulate four or more demerit points when you are on a learner's permit or provisional licence
• exceed any speed limit by 10 km/h or more if you are on a learner's permit or provisional licence
• breach your licence conditions
• drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Conditions on regaining a licence

When returning from disqualification you may have probationary conditions added to your licence.

Drivers who commit a serious drink-driving offence must have an alcohol interlock (breath-testing) device fitted to their vehicle for a period of time at the end of their licence disqualification.

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I received an expiation notice for being the owner or driver of an unregistered vehicle but I didn’t receive a registration reminder or renewal notice. Is the expiation notice valid?

There is no legal requirement for a vehicle owner to receive a registration reminder or a registration renewal notice.

It is the vehicle owner’s responsibility to ensure that their vehicle is registered before the vehicle is driven on a road.

Therefore, an expiation notice issued for an expired registration offence remains valid whether or not a registration reminder or renewal notice has been received.

Find out how to register an unregistered vehicle.

Do I lose demerit points for an unregistered vehicle offence?

No.

Why have I received an expiation notice for an unregistered vehicle offence when I have just paid my registration?

Registration paid before the expiry date will commence the day after the expiry date.

Registration paid after the expiry date will also be backdated to the day after the expiry date. However, the vehicle is still deemed to be unregistered for the period between the expiry date and time of payment.

I received an expiation notice for exceeding the default 50 kph speed limit but I didn’t see a speed limit sign. Does that make a difference?

The default speed limit within a built-up area is 50 kph unless signed otherwise. There is no legal requirement to have 50 kph signs in built-up areas.

This rule applies throughout built up areas in South Australia and was introduced on 1 March 2003 as a road safety initiative aimed at reducing death and serious injury on our roads.

I have been given an expiation notice for speeding but I couldn’t have been speeding because I had my cruise control on or I was using my GPS. Is the fine wrong?

Cruise controls and GPS systems are not as accurate as the speed detection devices used by the police.

The police regularly test their devices and the police devices are accepted as being accurate by Courts in South Australia.

I received an expiation notice for disobeying a red traffic light but the photo shows me after the stop line. Was it a mistake to issue me the notice?

The red light detection zone is after the stop line.  Cameras in South Australia do not detect vehicles that fail to stop before the stop line.

There are two main offences:

• entering the marked foot crossing (identified by two parallel broken white lines past the stop line)
• entering the intersection contrary to a red light (where two or more roads meet and is the area where vehicles travelling on different roads might collide, there are no painted lines to identify the intersection)

If the photographs show your vehicle enter the marked foot crossing or intersection contrary to the red light then the notice was correctly issued.

Can my penalty be reduced without going to court?

The fines and demerit points for each offence are set by Government Regulation.

The police have no legal power to reduce the fine or demerit points.

If you have difficulty paying the fine contact the Fines Unit on 1800 659 538 who can assist with payment options.

Why do I have to pay a Victims of Crime levy?

Since 1969, South Australia introduced legislation that provided compensation to victims of crime.

Provision is made for compensation to be paid into the Victims of Crime Fund through:

• money provided by Parliament
• a proportion of fines paid by offenders
• confiscated proceeds of crime or
• a levy imposed on convictions and expiation offences.

To finalise payment of an expiation notice both the fine and the levy must be paid.

I want to give a third party authority to act on my behalf, what do I need to do?

In order for a third party to act on your behalf, you will need to provide the Expiation Notice Branch with express permission, including the details of the person/s you wish to authorize to act on your behalf.

I submitted a review but it was unsuccessful. I still want to dispute my notice or seek a further review?

One of the options on the back of an expiation notice is to apply for a review of the notice on the grounds that the offence was trifling.

Trifling is defined in Section 4(2) of the Expiation of Offences Act, 1996.

You are only entitled to have Expiation Notice Branch review your notice once.

If you are not happy with the review you have the option of either paying the fine or electing to be prosecuted.

I want further evidence in relation to my Expiation Notice such as the issuing officers body worn video, detection device calibration certificates etc. How can I get this information?

The Expiation Notice Branch is not able to supply this evidence as part of the Branch’s administrative review process, however, it may be made available to you by the police prosecutor during normal pre-trial disclosure, should you elect to be prosecuted.

Expiation Notice Branch have not accepted my statutory declaration. Why is that?

As statutory declarations are legal documents they must be filled out properly, if not, they cannot be accepted and will be returned.

Common missing information is:

• the location it was witnessed
• the registration number of the vehicle
• the address of the nominated driver.

I was given an expiation notice because the owner of the car has nominated me as the driver on a statutory declaration. Can I nominate another driver?

The law provides a defence to the owner of a motor vehicle detected by a camera speeding or disobeying a red traffic light to nominate the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence.

The law does not permit the nominated driver to nominate another driver. For that reason the police will not accept a statutory declaration from a nominated driver nominating another driver.

The nominated driver should consider the options on the rear of the expiation notice and either pay the notice or elect to be prosecuted. If you are to be prosecuted, the person who nominated you as the driver may be required to come to court to explain why they nominated you.

I received an Enforcement Warning Notice, what does that mean?

If the ENB has received a statutory declaration or other document sent by the vehicle owner which is not accepted ENB must, before enforcing the expiation notice, give an expiation enforcement warning notice.

By law an expiation enforcement warning notice fee, is added to the unpaid expiation fee.

I had an expiation notice revoked by the Fines Unit and I didn’t get another notice. Should I recieve another expiation notice?

When an enforced expiation notice is revoked by the Fines Enforcement and Recovery Unit the law deems that the expiation notice is issued for the first time on the date that it was revoked. You will not receive another expiation notice for the same offence from the police.

If you have any further questions regarding your revoked notice contact the ENB Call Centre on 8463 4388.

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