Disqualified Under Habitual Traffic Offender Scheme

Sep 6, 2018 | Criminal Law, Miscellaneous, Traffic Law

On 28 October 2017, the Habitual Traffic Offender Scheme was abolished with new laws coming in place.

Under the former regime, if a person committed three or more serious traffic offences (such as drinking driving, drug driving or driving without current license) within the period of five years, they would automatically be declared Habitual Traffic Offender. The declaration disqualified the driver for five years from driving, in addition to the disqualification period imposed by the court for the third and any further traffic offences. This resulted in many drivers receiving disqualification for several decades. A report by the NSW Government from the Bureau of Crimes Statistics and Research strongly indicated that the long cancellation periods had little to no effect on drivers, making the scheme ineffective.

Abolishing the scheme means that no fresh habitual offender declarations can bemade but, those who have been declared habitual offender in the previous scheme remain effective.

The drivers who were declared habitual offenders during the existence of the scheme will have to apply to the local court to remove the disqualification period allowing them to qualify for driver license again.

Under sec 221B of the Road Transport Act 2013, habitual offenders can apply for the removal of the disqualification period if:

• The remaining disqualification period/s relate to habitual offender declaration/s only, and
• The driver has not committed any traffic offence in the last two years. Parking ticket is not considered as traffic offence for this section. Court will consider various factors before lifting the disqualification period, such as:
• Offenders driving record.
• Nature of the offence/s for which the driver was disqualified.
• Conduct of the offender during the disqualification perios
• pecial circumstances including health and capacity to travel for employment or education, personal and family responsibilities, availability of public transport etc.

At Sydney Criminal Defence Lawyers, we understand the importance of having a license. If you have been declared a habitual offender our experienced and dedicated team of lawyers will work effectively to get the declaration quashed.