Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) A person who
—
(a)
drives a motor vehicle on a road while not authorised under the
Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive) Act 2008 Part 2 to do so; or
(b)
employs or permits another person to drive a motor vehicle as described in
paragraph (a),
commits an offence.
Penalty for this subsection:
(a)
unless subsection (3) applies —
(i)
for a first offence, 6 PU;
(ii)
for a subsequent offence, 12 PU;
(b) if
subsection (3)(d), but no other paragraph of subsection (3), applies —
(i)
a fine of not less than 4 PU or more than 30 PU; and
(ii)
imprisonment for not more than 12 months,
and the court may
order that the offender be disqualified from holding or obtaining a
driver’s licence for a period of not more than 3 years;
(c) if
subsection (3)(a), (b), (ca), (c) or (da) applies —
(i)
for a first offence, a fine of not less than 8 PU or more
than 40 PU, and imprisonment for not more than 12 months;
(ii)
for a subsequent offence, a fine of not less than 20 PU
or more than 80 PU, and imprisonment for not more than 18 months,
and the court shall
order that the offender be disqualified from holding or obtaining a
driver’s licence for a period of not less than 9 months and not more
than 3 years.
(2) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence under subsection (1) to prove that the motor vehicle
was driven in accordance with —
(a)
regulations referred to in the Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive) Act 2008
section 11(1); or
(b) a
necessity permit under section 49A.
(3) If an offence
under subsection (1)(a) is committed by a person —
(a) who
has applied for, but has been refused, an Australian driver licence of a kind
required; or
(b) who,
at the time of the commission of the offence, is disqualified from holding or
obtaining an Australian driver licence of a kind required, other than for the
reason described in paragraph (d), whether or not the person has ever held an
Australian driver licence of the kind required; or
(ca) who
has held an Australian driver licence of a kind required but ceased to hold
the licence of that kind most recently held other than —
(i)
because the person had, before the time of the commission
of the offence, voluntarily surrendered the licence most recently held; or
(ii)
because the licence expired; or
(iii)
for the reason described in paragraph (d);
or
(c)
whose authority to drive, whether under an Australian driver licence or
otherwise, is for the time being suspended other than for the reason described
in paragraph (d); or
(da) who
is a member of a class of persons prescribed for the purposes of this
paragraph by regulations made for the purposes of the Road Traffic
(Authorisation to Drive) Act 2008 section 5A; or
(d) who
is no longer authorised to drive because of penalty enforcement laws, as
described in subsection (9),
a police officer may,
without a warrant, arrest the person.
(4) A person who would
only come within a description in subsection (3)(a), (b), (ca) or (c) because
of a decision for the review of which an application had been made is excluded
from that description if the application had been made, but not determined,
when the offence under subsection (1)(a) was committed.
(5) If a person to
whom the CEO has been ordered under the Road Traffic (Authorisation to Drive)
Act 2008 section 30(1) to grant an extraordinary licence commits an offence
under subsection (1)(a) —
(a)
before the extraordinary licence is granted; or
(b) when
the extraordinary licence has expired and has not been renewed,
neither the order nor
any extraordinary licence granted affects subsection (3).
(6) An offence under
subsection (1) is a subsequent offence if the offender has previously been
convicted of any offence under that subsection as in force at any time, except
that, if subsection (3)(a), (b), (ca) or (c) applies to an offence under
subsection (1)(a), the offence is a subsequent offence only if the person has
previously been convicted of a relevant offence.
(7) In subsection (6)
—
relevant offence means —
(a) an
offence under subsection (1)(a) as in force after the commencement of section
7 of the Road Traffic Amendment Act 2006 being an offence to which subsection
(3)(a), (b), (ca) or (c) applied; or
(b) an
offence under subsection (1)(a) as in force at a time before the commencement
of section 7 of the Road Traffic Amendment Act 2006 being an offence that
would have been taken into account in determining whether another offence
committed before that commencement, in circumstances mentioned in section
49(2)(a)(ii) or (iii) or (2)(b) as then in force, would have been a first or
subsequent offence.
(8) A period of
disqualification ordered under subsection (1) is cumulative upon —
(a) any
other period of disqualification to which the person may then be subject; or
(b) any
period for which the operation of a driver’s licence held by the person
may currently be suspended.
(9) When subsection
(3)(d) refers to a person who is no longer authorised to drive because of
penalty enforcement laws, it means that the person —
(a) has
been disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence under
section 19 or 43 of the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement
Act 1994 ; or
(b) is
the subject of any disqualification or suspension under a law of another
jurisdiction that is prescribed to be a corresponding law for the purposes of
this subsection.
[Section 49 inserted: No. 54 of 2006 s. 7;
amended: No. 8 of 2012 s. 10 and 37; No. 2 of 2015 s. 11; No. 25 of 2016
s. 62.]