New South Wales Consolidated Acts

ROAD TRANSPORT ACT 2013 - SECT 78

78 Use of dangerously defective motor vehicles

(cf VR Act, s 27B)

(1) A person must not--

(a) use a heavy motor vehicle that is dangerously defective on a road, or

(b) cause or permit a heavy motor vehicle that is dangerously defective to be used on a road.

: Maximum penalty--20 penalty units.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to or in respect of--

(a) the use of a dangerously defective heavy motor vehicle if the motor vehicle is at, or in the vicinity of, the scene of an accident and its condition is the result of damage caused by the accident, or

(b) the use by a person of a dangerously defective heavy motor vehicle if the person is aware of the condition of the motor vehicle and has taken, or is taking, all such action as is reasonable in the circumstances to have the motor vehicle repaired or removed from a road, or

(c) the use by a person of a dangerously defective heavy motor vehicle that is being inspected or tested under subsection (3), or

(d) the use of a dangerously defective heavy motor vehicle in any other circumstances prescribed by the statutory rules.

(3) For the purpose of ascertaining whether a heavy motor vehicle that is being used on a road is dangerously defective, any police officer or Transport for NSW may cause the motor vehicle to be inspected and tested.

(4) Without limiting any other function, any police officer or Transport for NSW may, for the purposes of this section, do any one or more of the following--

(a) request or signal the driver of a heavy motor vehicle to stop the motor vehicle,

(b) request the driver of a heavy motor vehicle--

(i) to produce for inspection the driver licence to drive the motor vehicle, and

(ii) to state the driver's name and address,

(c) request the driver of a heavy motor vehicle to furnish the officer or Transport for NSW with such information as the officer or Transport for NSW may reasonably require,

(d) request the driver of a heavy motor vehicle to do such other things as the officer or Transport for NSW may reasonably require for the purpose of facilitating the inspection and testing of the motor vehicle.

(5) If a heavy motor vehicle has been stopped in compliance with a request or signal made or given under subsection (4)(a), any inspection or testing of the motor vehicle under subsection (3) is to be carried out--

(a) at, or as near as practicable to, the place where the request or signal was so made or given, and

(b) as soon as practicable, and in any case within one hour, after the motor vehicle was so stopped.

(6) A person must not--

(a) hinder or obstruct a police officer or Transport for NSW in the exercise of the officer's or TfNSW's functions under this section, or

(b) fail to comply with any request or signal made or given by a police officer or Transport for NSW under this section.

: Maximum penalty--20 penalty units.

(7) For the purposes of this section, a heavy motor vehicle is
"dangerously defective" if it is in such a condition that if a person drives or attempts to drive the motor vehicle it is likely that the person will lose control of the motor vehicle.

(8) In this section--

"heavy motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle that has a GVM of more than 12 tonnes.