Victoria Introduces Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
Friday 25 March 2022 @ 10.19 a.m. | Legal Research
On 22 March 2022, the Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 (Vic) (“the Bill”) was introduced to Victoria’s Legislative Assembly. The Bill proposes various amendments to key road safety legislation and aims to improve police enforcement powers.
In the second reading speech given by Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Jacinta Allan ("the Minister"), (on behalf of Ben Carroll, the Minister for Roads and Road Safety), she stated that:
“The initiatives supported and enabled by this Bill will make a tangible contribution towards reducing the road toll as we work towards our goal of zero fatalities by 2050. We need to take action to reduce the number of accidents caused by driver distraction or where people aren’t wearing seatbelts… [A]ctive enforcement of the law is also needed, and new camera technology will allow us to do this more effectively.”
Use of Camera Detection Technology
New automated camera technology is being rolled out by the Victorian Government to combat driver use of mobile phones and other portable devices. The Bill proposes amendments to the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) to address the new camera technology.
If passed, the Bill would allow images and messages captured by the new cameras to be used as evidence of road safety offences in legal proceedings. This includes using the images as evidence that while a vehicle was moving or stationary (but not parked):
- a driver was touching a mobile phone or other portable device;
- a mobile phone or other portable device was resting on the driver’s body or clothes in their lap;
- a driver or a passenger was not wearing an approved seatbelt properly; or
- a driver or a passenger was not wearing an approved seatbelt at all.
Immediate Suspension for Certain Offences
Currently, under the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic), police are able to immediately suspend a driver’s licence or learners permit if a driver has been charged with certain serious offences.
The Bill proposes to expand on the offences that trigger immediate suspension, to include:
- murder or attempted murder arising out of the driving of a motor vehicle;
- manslaughter arising out of the driving of a motor vehicle;
- negligently causing serious injury arising out of the driving of a motor vehicle;
- culpable driving causing death;
- dangerous driving causing death or serious injury;
- failing to immediately stop and render assistance if an accident occurs;
- intentionally or recklessly exposing an emergency worker, custodial officer or a youth justice custodial worker to risk by driving; and
- dangerous or negligent driving while pursued by police.
The Minister commented in her second reading speech that:
“[t]he amendments provide assurance to the community that persons who have been charged with committing a serious road offence, and are thought to be a threat to others, are able to be removed from driving on the roads as soon as practicable.”
Improvement of the Victorian Transport Accident Scheme
The Bill also proposes additional amendments to the Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic), which aim to improve entitlement and access to benefits paid out through the Victorian transport accident scheme.
Some of the amendments, if passed, will:
- increase the age of a ‘dependent child’ from under 16 years to under 18 years;
- amend the definition of a ‘member of the immediate family’ to include a grandchild;
- allow a person, who is already receiving payments but suffers a subsequent accident, to continue to receive loss of earnings payments at the same rate as the initial claim; and
- clarify that dependent children who are orphaned when both their parents are killed in the same accident, are entitled to two sets of payments.
The Bill has yet to pass the lower house.
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Sources:
Road Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 (Vic) and supporting material available from TimeBase’s LawOne Service
