Exceeding Speed over 30km/h – Licence Appeals

In New South Wales, if you exceed the speed limit by more than 30 km/h but not more than 45 km/h, depending on whether you hold a Learner, Provisional or Unrestricted Licence, you may be suspended from driving for three months. Additionally, the offence carries a fine of $1,133 and 5 demerit points. This article outlines the impact of committing this offence depending on your Licence Class and the legal options available to you.

Learner Or Provisional Licence Holder

Immediate (Police) Issued Notice of Suspension

If you hold a Learner or Provisional Licence and are caught by Police speeding over 30 km/h, they have discretion to issue you with an immediate notice of suspension. This essentially is an on-the-spot suspension that is effective immediately which prohibits you from driving until the suspension period lapses. An immediate police suspension is an appealable decision and can be appealed by filing an appeal with any NSW Local Court within 28 days of being issued with the Notice of Suspension. There is a $117 fee which is required to be paid upon filing the appeal and once it has been filed, your matter will be allocated a hearing date for the appeal.

For an immediate licence suspension appeal to be successful, the court must be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances justifying a lifting or variation of the suspension and the court is prevent from taking into consideration the circumstances of the offence (if you are guilty or innocent or why you were speeding). Courts have interpreted exceptional circumstances to be something that is extraordinary, unusual, and distinguishable from ordinary cases. Exceptional circumstances can be made up of one single factor, or a combination of factors.

Transport Issued Notice of Suspension

Separate to the above, even if you were not issued with an immediate notice of suspension, for example, if the offence was camera detected, if you exceed your demerit points by committing this offence (which a Learner and P1 Licence Holder will), you will be suspended for a period of three months. Likewise, you can appeal this decision by filing an appeal at an NSW Local Court within 28 days for a fee of $117. This appeal is comparatively straightforward. The test for the appeal is that you are a “fit and proper person to hold a licence” which is a much lower threshold. The court will have regard to your traffic record, your need for a licence and any rehabilitation that has taken place such as completing the Traffic Offenders Program. After hearing submissions from your solicitor, the court can either dismiss the appeal and you will have to serve your suspension period, vary the suspension period or allow the appeal, in which case you will not have to serve any suspension period.

It is important to note that once a licence appeal against a transport suspension has been filed, you are allowed to continue to drive up until the appeal is determined in court. As a Learner or Provisional 1 Licence Holder, you should be aware that the suspension periods are not served alongside each other, and you will receive their transport issued suspension after serving their immediate police suspension period.

Unrestricted Licence Holder

If you are an Unrestricted Licence Holder and commit this speeding offence, Transport for NSW will send you with a Notice of Suspension in mail. The Notice of Suspension will list the date that your suspension period will commence and end. You must file an appeal within 28 days of receiving the Notice of Suspension. The same process under the heading Transport Issued Notice of Suspensions in this article applies.

Making a Court Election

If you do not want to pay the fine or accept the demerit points or deny committing the offence, you can elect for the penalty notice to be dealt with in the Local Court. If you make a court election on a penalty notice for the speeding offence which was issued by transport and have not paid the fine, the suspension period will be removed until the determination of your matter at court. If the court imposes a fine (a conviction is recorded) you will be sent a fresh notice of suspension from Transport NSW which will have to be served unless you file a licence suspension appeal.

Making a court election will not remove or pause an immediate suspension period. In other words, you will be subject to suspension until the determination of your matter at court unless a stay application has been made.

Can I Avoid a Criminal Record for A Speeding Offence?

If you make a court election and the court imposes a conditional release order without conviction or dismissal, a conviction will not be recorded on your criminal history. In turn, the demerit points will not accumulate, and you will not have to pay a fine.