Driving offences

The law relating to driving offences in Victoria is complex and subject to constant change. The Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) (‘Road Safety Act’), the major piece of legislation governing road law in Victoria, is constantly being reviewed. Amendments to the Road Safety Act tend to introduce tougher conditions and penalties for drivers. For example, under the Road Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (Vic) (‘2020 Act’), drivers have their driver licence immediately suspended if they are caught speeding excessively (for more information, see ‘Immediate licence suspension for speeding’, below).

The Road Safety (Amendment) Act 2022 (Vic) (‘2022 Act’) provides new detection procedures and how courts will deal with these in relation to seat belt offences and mobile phone detection (see ‘Seat belt and mobile phone offences’, below). The 2022 Act has also introduced immediate licence suspension penalties for failure to stop after an accident, but these are only applicable in accidents that result in death or serious injury (see ‘Failure to stop after an accident’, below).

The Transport Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (Vic) provides for minor amendments to the Road Safety Act. It also provides for trials to investigate how medicinal cannabis users can drive safely.

Provisions relating to driving offences are also in the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) (‘CP Act’).