Part 4Miscellaneous
23Act to bind
Crown
(cf Cth Act s 4, Traffic Act s 16)
This Act binds the Crown in right of New South
Wales and, in so far as the legislative power of the Parliament of New South
Wales permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
23ARegistered
operators
(1)
The Authority may record one or more persons as
registered operators of a registrable vehicle in accordance with the
regulations.
(2)
Subject to any regulations made under subsection
(3), if there is more than one person recorded as a registered operator of a
registrable vehicle a reference in any relevant legislation to the registered
operator of a registrable vehicle within the meaning of this Act is taken to
include a reference to each registered operator of such a
vehicle.
(3)
The regulations may provide for the determination
of the respective rights, liabilities and obligations of each registered
operator of a registrable vehicle under any relevant
legislation.
(4)
In this section:
relevant
legislation means:
(a)
a provision of this Act (or a provision of a
regulation made under this Act), or
(b)
a provision of any other Act (or a provision of a
regulation made under any other Act) concerned with the registered operator of
a registrable vehicle within the meaning of this
Act.
s 23A: Ins 1998 No
26, Sch 1 [18].
24–25A
s 24: Rep 1999 No 19,
Sch 2.38 [9].
s 25: Am 1998 No 26,
Sch 1 [19]. Rep 1999 No 19, Sch 2.38 [10].
s 25A: Ins 1998 No
26, Sch 1 [20]. Rep 1999 No 19, Sch 2.38 [11].
26Defective registrable
vehicles
(cf Cth Act s 28)
(1)
A police officer, or the Authority, may inspect a
registrable vehicle (whether or not on a road or road related area) for the
purpose of deciding its identity, condition or the status of any registration
or permit relating to the vehicle.
(1A)
A registered operator or owner of, or any person
in charge of or having the custody of or selling or having in possession for
sale or otherwise of the registrable vehicle must afford the police officer or
the Authority all reasonable facilities for making such an
inspection.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty
units.
(1B)
Without limiting subsection (1), for the purposes
mentioned in that subsection and in connection with any inspection, a police
officer or the Authority may:
(a)
enter in or on the vehicle on a road or road
related area, or
(b)
enter in or on any premises ordinarily used for
the sale of registrable vehicles and in or on such a vehicle on those
premises, or
(c)
enter in or on any other premises if the officer
or the Authority has reasonable cause to believe a registrable vehicle is for
sale, held in possession for sale or in a damaged condition as a result of an
accident, and may enter in or on any such vehicle on those
premises.
(2)
A police officer, or the Authority, may, in
accordance with the regulations, on discovering a defective registrable
vehicle:
(a)
issue a warning or a defect notice,
or
(b)
impose conditions on the use of the vehicle,
or
(c)
prohibit the use of the
vehicle.
(3)
A defect notice may be withdrawn or cleared in
accordance with the regulations.
(4)
After inspecting a registrable vehicle, a police
officer, or the Authority, may seize any device, plate or document in or on
the vehicle if it is suspected on reasonable grounds that the device, plate or
document is being used in committing an offence against this Act or the
regulations.
(5)
In this section, inspect in relation to a registrable
vehicle includes observe the vehicle’s performance, with or without the
use of instrumentation.
s 26: Am 1998 No 26,
Sch 1 [21]–[24].
27Power to seize unregistered
vehicles
(cf Traffic Act s 24)
(1)
A police officer may seize any unregistered
registrable vehicle (other than a registrable vehicle exempted from
registration under this Act) that is being used on a road or road related
area.
(2)
If any such registrable vehicle has been seized,
the Local Court may, on the application of a police officer, make an order
declaring the vehicle to be forfeited to the Crown.
(3)
If such an application is made, the following
provisions have effect:
(a)
notice of the application is to be given to the
person who had the custody of the vehicle at the time of the seizure if the
person can be found and to such other persons (if any) as the Local Court may
direct,
(b)
no order of forfeiture may be made if the owner
of the vehicle satisfies the Local Court that there has been no intent to
evade registration of the vehicle.
(4)
A person aggrieved by an order of the Local Court
made under this section may appeal against the order in the manner provided by
the Justices Act 1902.
(5)
The Authority may waive the forfeiture of a
vehicle on payment within such period as the Authority may allow of a fine
equivalent to the sum obtained by adding together:
(a)
the fee for the registration or renewal of the
registration of the vehicle for each applicable registration period in any
part of which the vehicle was used while unregistered, and
(b)
the motor vehicle tax imposed under the Motor Vehicles Taxation Act 1988 or the
charges or administration fees imposed under the Road
Transport (Heavy Vehicles Registration Charges) Act 1995
which would be due on the application for that registration or
renewal,
together with a further fine of 20 per cent of that
sum.
(6)
If any such fine is not paid within the period so
allowed, the Authority may dispose of the vehicle in the manner prescribed by
the regulations.
(7)
If a vehicle is sold under subsection (6), the
Authority is to apply the proceeds of the sale as prescribed by the
regulations.
s 27: Am 2007 No 94,
Schs 1.91, 2.
27APower of entry to inspect
damaged vehicles
(1)
The Authority may, at any time:
(a)
enter any premises on which the business of
carrying out repairs to registrable vehicles damaged as a result of accidents
is ordinarily carried on, and
(b)
inspect any registrable vehicle or part of a
registrable vehicle that is found by the Authority in or on those premises for
the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the vehicle complies with the
vehicle standards that apply to it.
(2)
A person must not wilfully delay or obstruct the
Authority in the exercise of the Authority’s powers under this
section.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty
units.
s 27A: Ins 1998 No
26, Sch 1 [25].
27BUse of dangerously defective
motor vehicles
(1)
A person must not:
(a)
use a heavy motor vehicle that is dangerously
defective on a road or road related area, or
(b)
cause or permit a heavy motor vehicle that is
dangerously defective to be used on a road or road related
area.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty
units.
(2)
Subsection (1) does not apply to or in respect
of:
(a)
the use of a dangerously defective heavy motor
vehicle if the motor vehicle is at, or in the vicinity of, the scene of an
accident and its condition is the result of damage caused by the accident,
or
(b)
the use by a person of a dangerously defective
heavy motor vehicle if the person is aware of the condition of the motor
vehicle and has taken, or is taking, all such action as is reasonable in the
circumstances to have the motor vehicle repaired or removed from a road or
road related area, or
(c)
the use by a person of a dangerously defective
heavy motor vehicle that is being inspected or tested under subsection (3),
or
(d)
the use of a dangerously defective heavy motor
vehicle in any other circumstances prescribed by the
regulations.
(3)
For the purpose of ascertaining whether a heavy
motor vehicle that is being used on a road or road related area is dangerously
defective, any police officer or the Authority may cause the motor vehicle to
be inspected and tested.
(4)
Without limiting any other function, any police
officer or the Authority may, for the purposes of this section, do any one or
more of the following:
(a)
request or signal the driver of a heavy motor
vehicle to stop the motor vehicle,
(b)
request the driver of a heavy motor
vehicle:
(i)
to produce for inspection the driver licence to
drive the motor vehicle, and
(ii)
to state the driver’s name and
address,
(c)
request the driver of a heavy motor vehicle to
furnish the officer or the Authority with such information as the officer or
the Authority may reasonably require,
(d)
request the driver of a heavy motor vehicle to do
such other things as the officer or the Authority may reasonably require for
the purpose of facilitating the inspection and testing of the motor
vehicle.
(5)
If a heavy motor vehicle has been stopped in
compliance with a request or signal made or given under subsection (4) (a),
any inspection or testing of the motor vehicle under subsection (3) is to be
carried out:
(a)
at, or as near as practicable to, the place where
the request or signal was so made or given, and
(b)
as soon as practicable, and in any case within
one hour, after the motor vehicle was so stopped.
(6)
A person must not:
(a)
hinder or obstruct a police officer or the
Authority in the exercise of the officer’s or Authority’s
functions under this section, or
(b)
fail to comply with any request or signal made or
given by a police officer or the Authority under this
section.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty
units.
(7)
For the purposes of this section, a heavy motor
vehicle is dangerously defective if it is in
such a condition that if a person drives or attempts to drive the motor
vehicle it is likely that the person will lose control of the motor
vehicle.
(8)
In this section, heavy
motor vehicle means a motor vehicle that has a GVM of more
that 12 tonnes.
s 27B: Ins 1998 No
26, Sch 1 [25]. Am 1998 No 99, Sch 1.10 [2].
27CSeizure of
number-plate
A police officer or person authorised by the
Authority may seize any number-plate:
(a)
that is attached to:
(i)
a registrable vehicle the registration of which
has expired not less than 15 days before the date on which the number-plate is
seized, or
(ii)
a registrable vehicle the registration of which
has been cancelled, or
(b)
that has been used in contravention of a
provision of the regulations that is prescribed by the
regulations.
s 27C: Ins 1999 No
19, Sch 2.38 [12].
28
s 28: Rep 1999 No 19,
Sch 2.38 [13].
29Status of unregistered
vehicles having permits
(cf Traffic Act s 3 (1A))
An unregistered registrable vehicle in respect of
which an unregistered vehicle permit is in force is taken for the purposes of
this Act or any other Act relating to the registration or licensing of
vehicles to be a registered vehicle.
30Unpaid charges and
fees
(cf Cth Act s 30)
An amount of any unpaid charges or fees in
respect of a registrable vehicle under this Act is a debt due to the Authority
and may be recovered in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
31Fees in relation to
registration of vehicles of Crown and statutory bodies
(cf Traffic Act s 11D)
Any fees relating to the registration of a
registrable vehicle payable under this Act:
(a)
if the vehicle is owned by the Crown—are
payable by the Crown, or
(b)
if the vehicle is owned by a statutory body
representing the Crown—are payable by the statutory
body.
32, 33
s 32: Rep 2003 No 82,
Sch 3.
s 33: Rep 1999 No 85,
Sch 4.
34Savings and transitional
provisions
Schedule 3 has effect.
35Review of
Act
(1)
The Minister is to review this Act to determine
whether the policy objectives of the Act remain valid and whether the terms of
the Act remain appropriate for securing those
objectives.
(2)
The review is to be undertaken as soon as
possible after the period of 5 years from the date of assent to this
Act.
(3)
A report on the outcome of the review is to be
tabled in each House of Parliament within 12 months after the end of the
period of 5 years.