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2011 Demerit Point Changes in NSW
As of January 31, 2011, important changes were made to the NSW demerit points scheme. Specifically, the demerit points threshold has risen from 12 to 13 demerit points for unrestricted licence holders. Additionally, the threshold has increased to 14 points for professional drivers, though professional drivers are hardly the type to be using car hire, so we’ll focus on unrestricted licence holders for now.
Indeed, many people who hire rental cars are doing so because they’ve come from interstate via plane and, for obvious reasons, have not been able to bring their vehicle with them. Under the National Driver Licensing Scheme, certain driving offences committed by a driver while visiting a different state will be transferred to that driver’s home jurisdiction. Essentially, this means they’ll lose the points in their home state.
In addition to the increase demerit points, NSW has also implemented a series of changes to their demerit point system. As a result, several offences which fall into the category of roundabout, indicator, bus lane and towing offences have had their demerit points lowered.
These offences include:
Roundabout offences
(These offences have all seen demerit points drop from 2 points to 0 points)
- Not enter roundabout on left (leave less than halfway)
- Not enter roundabout on right (leave more than halfway)
- Not enter roundabout in direction of traffic lane arrow
- Not drive in roundabout in direction of traffic lane arrow
- Not stop left change of direction signal (exit roundabout)
Keep left offences
(These offences have all seen demerit points drop from 3 points to 2 points)
- Drive in right lane on road with speed limit over 80 km/h
- Disobey keep left unless overtaking
- Not keep left of oncoming vehicle
- Not keep left of centre on two-way road
- Overtake vehicle when unsafe
- Overtake to right of vehicle turning right/making U-turn
- Overtake vehicle too closely
- Cut in front of vehicle after overtaking
Towing offences
(These offences have all seen demerit points drop from 2 points to 0 points)
- Not keep required distance (towing with tow-line)
- Not display warning flag as required
Vehicle indicator offences
(These offences have all seen demerit points drop from 2 points to 0 points)
- Not stop left change of direction signal
- Not stop right change of direction signal
- Operate indicator light contrary to permitted use
Dedicated lane offences
(The first two offences have seen demerit points drop from 3 points to 1 point, while the third and fourth offence have seen demerit points drop from 3 points to 0 points)
- Drive in bus lane
- Drive in a T-way
- Drive in tram lane
- Drive in truck lane
Essentially, these changes were implemented because, according to RTA, the number of vehicles on the road has increased, and the time spent on the road has increased as well. These changes are meant to reflect these increases. When you compare car hire in NSW — or indeed, if you’re a NSW driver hiring a car in another state — then, it will pay to keep these changes in mind. It’s also important to remember that despite these changes, key road safety offences such as speeding and seatbelt offences still have the same penalties.
