Roads Minister Duncan Gay has announced a series of proposed changes to the light vehicle registration system in New South Wales, the biggest the state has seen for 90 years. If the legislation is successful, it would mean significant changes for affected drivers.
In a news article we advised that NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay has announced that a pink slip will be valid for six months, starting in January 2015.
Pink slips, known as e-Safety Checks, are currently valid for six weeks.
The change is designed to give vehicle owners greater flexibilty as to when they acquire the pink slip. For example, a pink slip can be acquired at the time of a regular service, rather than requiring a special trip to an authorised inspection station within six weeks before the registration due date.
It seems that there are some issues with the change.
The journey to achieving a driver’s licence in New South Wales involves several different steps. This is understandable, as responsible driving is key for ensuring the safety of everyone using the road. However, it does mean that most drivers will have to wait a significant amount of time before progressing to a full and unrestricted licence. For eligible drivers wishing to accelerate the process while also gaining valuable skills in low-risk defensive driving, the new Safer Drivers Course may be a useful alternative.
Drivers must share the road with many different kinds of vehicles, from trucks and buses to motorcycles. Accidents can happen at any time, and that is where ctp green slip insurance comes in handy to cover any third parties that may be injured or killed as a result of a road incident. This policy extends to motorbike riders as well, so it’s important to compare green slip quotes.
If you haven’t yet achieved your motorcycle licence in New South Wales, here are the stages you will be required to go through.
For most teens, getting their full license is a mark of pride and a big step on the way to becoming a fully fledged adult. However, as a parent you have an important role to teach your teen to be a safe and responsible driver before they hit the roads.
It’s an unfortunate fact that younger drivers tend to be more at risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. According to the The George Institute Young Driver Fact Base, injury is the single biggest cause of death in Australian youth and 45 per cent of these fatalities are due to road crashes.
Hospital data for young Australians supports this statement, with drivers involved in a road traffic incident making up almost half the amount of hospitalisations in this group. Young drivers between 17-25 years of age make up one-quarter of all Australian road deaths, but they represent just 10-15 per cent of the total number of licensed drivers in Australia.
Males in the 17-25 year old age group are also more at risk than females. One-third of all speeding drivers and passengers involved in fatal crashes are males in this category, compared to 6 per cent of females.
As with all the other states and territories, drivers in New South Wales must go through a strict testing system before being qualified to use the roads. According to the Roads & Maritime Services in NSW, data from the first quarter of this year indicated there were 311,639 learner licence holders in the state.
The NSW Police Force has released the results for Operation Drink Drive 1 (Media Release, 23 February 2014).
The results for Operation Drink Drive 1, which we spoke about in an earlier blog, were as follows:
| Road Toll | 2 |
| Road Injuries | 1,118 |
| Speeding Infringements | 1,156 |
| Breath Tests | 249,536 |
| Drink-driving charges | 124 |
| Traffic infringements | 4,534 |
NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said “There were two fatalities during the Operation Drink Drive 1 period, which is five down on last year.” He also said that “While the statistics for Operation Drink Drive 1 have been encouraging, with 164 fewer drink-drive charges, our current NSW road toll remains higher than at this time last year”.
Operation Saturation is now underway.
Operation Saturation is a four week blitz on speeding drivers. Operation saturation will feature high visibility static operations in known accident hot spots.
Operation Saturation continues until midnight on Sunday 23 March 2014.
NSW police launched two major road safety campaigns this week, Operation Drink Drive and Operation Saturation.
Operation Drink Drive 1 commenced on Thursday and runs until midnight on Saturday, 22 February. As the name implies, it is aimed at drink driving.
Operation Saturation is a blitz on speeding which commences immediately after Operation Drink Drive 1 and runs for one month.
So far, 2014 has been a bad year for road trauma. According to the NSW Police Force press release, in the first 48 days of 2014, 57 people lost their lives on NSW roads, a 50% increase over the same period last year during which 38 people lost their lives. According to the press release alcohol was a major factor in about one in seven crashes involving a fatality.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner – Specialist Operations, Catherine Burn makes it clear that whilst random breath testing has had a major impact on the number of road deaths, the task is ongoing. She said “In the year before we introduced RBT in NSW, the road toll was almost 1,300, compared to last years record low of 339. Nevertheless, many people just don’t seem to be getting the message about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2013, we charged about 22,000 people with drink-driving offences”.
Police will conduct a high number of random breath tests this weekend. We can also expect to see a high police profile during the blitz on speeding.
Have you worked out how much you are paying in tolls on a daily, monthly or annual basis?
If you drive to work in Sydney it is highly likely you will be hit with a toll somewhere in your trip. Some drivers can pay up to 5 or 6 tolls in a return trip to work each day. The impost would be even higher for professional drivers such as couriers, taxi drivers and truck drivers.
As an example, a drive from Campbelltown or Liverpool to the city and return in a passenger car can cost as much as $24.47 per day. That is $489.40 per month or $5,872.80 per year.
If you drive from Liverpool to the city, there is the M5 ($4.40), Eastern Distributor ($6.17) and the Cross City Tunnel ($4.95). On the way home, there is the Cross City Tunnel and the M5 again. Luckily, the Eastern Distributor only charges for north bound journeys.
The trap is that you pay each toll by way of draw down of funds from your account. It is easy to overlook the total cost.
How much do you pay in tolls?
The NSW Government announced yesterday more changes to the logbook driving hours requirement for learner licences.
Learners who participate in a new Safer Driving Course will be able to reduce their compulsory supervised driving hours from 120 hours to 100 hours.
The reduction of 20 hours is in addition to the 20 hour reduction already available for having 10 hours of professional lessons.
In total, learners will be able to reduce their compulsory supervised driving hours from 120 down to 80 if they participate in the new Safer Driving Course and also have 10 hours of professional lessons.
The new Safer Driving Course will involve both theoretical and practical training and has been developed in consultation with safety and industry experts.
The government also announced that from 1 July 2013, learners will be allowed to travel at 90km/h, instead of the current 80km/h.
The final aspect of the announcement is that restricted provisional drivers licences are being tested in three remote communities in northern NSW.
The restricted provisional licences are designed to assist young drivers from remote, lower socio-economic and Aboriginal communities satisfy the requirements to get their P-plates.
Under 25 year olds from those remote communities will be eligible for the restricted provisional drivers licence if they have completed 50 supervised driving hours and have passed the driving test. They will only be able to use the restricted provisional licence to drive to work, education and medical appointments.