Offences and penalties
This domain tests the consequences of driving offences: demerit points, fines, alcohol and drug penalties, and licence suspension or disqualification. The exam often asks what happens after a specific offence or after points accumulate.
Core rules
- Demerit points: 100 points within 2 years leads to a 3-month licence suspension. Points stay on record for 2 years.
- Speeding: fines increase with the speed over the limit, and higher speeds carry demerit points.
- Mobile phone use: a fine and 20 demerit points.
- Seatbelts: a $150 fine; the driver is responsible for children.
- Alcohol: adult limit is 250 mcg/L breath or 50 mg/100 mL blood; under 20 is zero. Excess alcohol, refusing a test or drug-impaired driving can lead to fines, demerits, court and suspension.
- Careless or reckless driving: fines, demerit points and possible disqualification.
- Driving while suspended or disqualified: serious penalties, and the vehicle may be impounded.
Worked example
You receive 60 demerit points, then another 40 within 2 years. The total is 100, which triggers a 3-month suspension even if the fines are paid. The reasoning is that demerits accumulate by offence date, not by whether a fine is outstanding.
Traps
Thinking paying a fine removes demerit points; applying the adult alcohol limit to an under-20 driver; ignoring a suspension; holding a phone at traffic lights; and skipping a seatbelt on a short trip.