WITH increasing road trauma and fatalities, the state government has legislated changes to the road safety act in an effort to keep dangerous drivers off the roads.
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Jaala Pulford, Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC this week announced the changes, which are hoped to not only deter dangerous road behaviour but also allow for further enforcement.
The changes to the Road Safety Act 1986, passed with bipartisan support in 2017, and the new Road Safety (Drivers) Regulations 2019 will come into effect on October 29.
Ms Pulford said the changes were being made as some drivers were still choosing to take unnecessary risks, often with tragic consequences, so the changes would help road safety authorities to crack down on dangerous driving.
Ballarat Highway Patrol's Acting Senior Sergeant Stuart Gale, who is the road policing advisor for the Western Region Division 3, said the changes would directly impact those who choose to break the law through deterrence and active enforcement.
There have been a number of serious collisions on the region's roads in the past week, in a year in which 222 lives have been lost on Victorian roads.
"Thankfully they have not impacted anybody with life threatening injuries or death but they have resulted in serious injury and trauma, including mental and emotional trauma to those directly involved and those indirectly, including family and friends," Acting Senior Sergeant Gale said.
"I am supportive of any legislative changes that will impact the road toll and keep people safer."
He said driving a vehicle was a serious responsibility and not a right, so everybody who sits behind the wheel must concentrate, be fully aware of their surroundings and obey the road rules for the good of everybody.
"Especially in country Victoria on our high speed rural roads. Speed and driver behaviour correlate to trauma in a collision."
So what are the changes?
More power to enforce penalties
One important change will close a loophole which has allowed some people to avoid having demerit points losses applied by returning mail undelivered.
This means that fines, demerit point losses and other notices around licence and registrations posted by VicRoads will be deemed delivered seven days after the notice has been sent, regardless of whether it is returned.
According to the law, VicRoads must be notified of a change of address within 14 days of moving and all drivers are urged to ensure their address details are up-to-date so they are aware of all notices which could affect their licence or registration.
Changes to demerit point system
Another crucial change is that a 12-month good behaviour bond, or extended demerit point period, will be breached by any driving offence related to suspension or cancellation, even if it does not incur demerit points.
This means serious driving offences that do not have a demerit point penalty attached such as excessive speed, drink or drug driving, dangerous driving, culpable or negligent driving will breach the bond.
This builds on changes introduced in November 2018, including higher penalties for high-range speeding and unlicensed driving and new offences for knowingly allowing an unlicensed driver to drive, as well as other minor changes.
These changes included drivers caught travelling between 25-38km/h above the speed limit losing their licence for three months (up from one month) and drivers caught travelling 20-25km/h above the speed limit in a 100km/h zone losing their licence for three months (also up from one month).
Additionally, demerit points are no longer accrued for all excessive speed offences, rather, the licence is suspended.
Related coverage: Blaming road conditions alone won't solve road toll problem: minister
Changes to licence requirements
Other changes being introduced as of next week relate to the new Road Safety (Drivers) Regulations 2019.
This includes all drivers with an overseas or interstate licence being required to obtain a Victorian licence after living in the state for more than six months, even if they are a permanent or temporary visa holder. This change aims to simplify the system. If a Victorian licence is not acquired, the individual will be driving unlicensed.
Stricter requirements on learner drivers and motorcyclists
More stringent laws for learner drivers will also be introduced, with demerit points to be handed for a number of offences.
Learner drivers caught driving a car without a supervising driver will receive three demerit points on top of the existing 20 penalty unit fine handed by a court or the five penalty unit fine via a traffic infringement notice, while failing to display L plates will incur one demerit point on top of a $165.22 fine.
Further, learner drivers must not drive a car towing another vehicle or a trailer and motorcycle experience cannot be used to shorten the length of time a learner permit needs to be held before applying for a driver's licence.
Meanwhile, the penalty for learner motorcyclists who fail to wear an approved high visibility jacket will be increased from a fine to a demerit point.
Changes to prohibited vehicles during the probationary licence period have also been made. These include vehicles with a power to mass ratio of greater than 130 kilowatts per tonne, vehicles with an engine modified to increase performance and vehicles declared as a probationary prohibited vehicle by the government, while club permit or historic vehicles will no longer be exempt from being defined as a probationary prohibited vehicle.
What else can be done?
The Age reported last week that authorities were astonished at the number of people not wearing seatbelts, with TAC statistics revealing more than one in five Victorians who have died in crashes this year were not buckled in.
It highlights other potential changes to the law that have been flouted to decrease the number of deaths on state roads, including tougher penalties for not wearing seatbelts and a loss of licence if caught using a mobile phone.
Related coverage: Victorian road toll 2019: Fatigue likely the biggest killer on our roads
In response to questions about what else can be done to improve road safety, a government spokesperson said Victoria had long been a leader since becoming the first jurisdiction to introduce mandatory wearing of seatbelts to the graduated licensing system.
"We constantly review road rules to ensure they're working as they should and to keep everyone sharing the road safe," the spokesperson said.
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