Heavy vehicle offences are offences that can have a detrimental impact on your livelihood. Trucks, buses and other heavy vehicles pose greater risks on the road due to their size and weight. These offences can have serious consequences for both drivers and companies. Understanding how these offences work and the defences that may be available to you is critical.
What is a heavy vehicle?
In NSW, a heavy vehicle is classified as a vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass or Aggregate Mass of more than 4.5 tonnes. This includes:
- Large buses.
- Coaches.
- Trucks.
- Semi-trailers.
- B-double.
Common Heavy Vehicle Offences
There is a range of different heavy vehicle offences. Chain of Responsibility laws impose legal accountability on all participants in the transport supply chain, such as consignors, schedulers, loading managers and operators, rather than placing responsibility solely on the driver. Some of these offences include:
Mass, loading and dimension offences
It is an offence to load or operate a heavy vehicle beyond its permitted weight limits. Overloading a vehicle is dangerous because it can:
- Make the vehicle harder to control,
- Increase the risk of serious harm to public safety or the environment,
- Cause damage to roads and other infrastructure.
Substantial penalties apply to heavy vehicle drivers and operators where a vehicle exceeds permitted height or length limits for the road being used. These penalties can include licence or registration suspension. In addition, you may be required to pay compensation for any damage caused, including the cost of repairs.
Driver fatigue
Driver fatigue is an extremely serious offence. Drivers are required to comply with strict, legally prescribed work and rest hour limits in accordance with their fatigue management accreditation.
Other common heavy vehicle offences include:
- Logbook offences,
- Defective vehicle offences, and
- Speeding offences.
Penalties
There is a large range of penalties available for heavy vehicle offences. Some of these penalties include:
- Significant fines (often thousands of dollars),
- Demerit points,
- Immediate licence suspension,
- Court-imposed disqualification,
- Loss of accreditation,
- Imprisonment (for serious or repeat offences).
One of the most serious offences is failing to adhere to fatigue management accreditation. This can result in a fine of over $20,000 and 4 demerit points.
Defences
Possible defences include:
- Lack of knowledge.
- Faulty equipment was provided.
- Emergency circumstances.
- Third-party interference.
Do I need references if pleading guilty to failing to stop and assist?
We believe references are an extremely important part of a plea in court. Find out more about how to write a good reference.
Why choose the Australian Criminal Law Group?
Our criminal lawyers are experts at obtaining the best possible outcome for heavy vehicle offences, including no convictions. For these offences, a good lawyer can be the difference between a conviction and no criminal record, losing your licence or keeping it and freedom or jail.
To discuss your heavy vehicle offence, call the Australian Criminal Law Group at our Sydney, Parramatta and Blacktown offices or make a website inquiry today.
Contact us now.