NickFife

I know there are many threads on here regarding speeding, driving, penalties etc so it’s a simple question from me...

Can VicRoads ban a UK license holder from driving?

I'm aware points "build up" until such time as you transfer to a Vic license and will be on record for 3 years. My understanding is that as a temporary resident I am not required to switch from my UK license to a Victorian one. But do they have any authority to prevent me from driving?

I have suffered as many Brits have from almost knocking up one too many speeding fines for the equivalent of being just 5mph over the limit etc. I am a safe driver, I am road aware and have never been in an accident.

pumpkin blossom

No idea, but if you are planning on going for pr then you have three months to switch over to an Aussie licence, so you would be likely stuffed then.

My advice would be to not speed, then you won't have to worry about it.

KJCherokee

You'd think that after the first couple of fines for speeding you'd have got the message - exceed the posted limit at your peril! And unless you hold a diplomatic passport I expect that a court can ban you from driving regardless of where your licence was issued.

Dorothy

I find it hard to see how your breaking the laws causes you suffering.

Oh, and everyone thinks they're a safe driver. However your disregard for the traffic laws says otherwise.

pumpkin blossom

Totally agree. I don't break the law, and so have never 'suffered' because of my lack of consideration for the law. I have however actually suffered from someone else thinking they were a perfectly safe driver so didn't need to stick to the law...

moneypenny20

If VicRoads consider you a danger to the public then yes of course they can ban you from driving. Where your licence originates is irrelevant.

NickFife

Thanks for the cyber judgement people. Point taken. I was however looking for some more constructive advice or experience.

A huge proportion of people are guilty of exceeding the speed limit, both accidentally and recklessly, I consider myself the former. This is reflected by the fact that the VicRoads process for suspending a licence involves an automated telephone service and not a court appearance.

If you consider paying closer attention to the marginal incremental changes of 5kmph on your speedometer safer driving than watching the conditions around you and adjusting your speed accordingly, then this may explain the high number of needless accidents I see around Melbourne.

I'm an excellent driver. Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway every Saturday but not on Monday, definitely not on Monday.

RedDragon2008

Vic Roads maintain temporary files with which your british license will be associated.

When you request a Australian license the british file is brought up and points transferred across to Australian license.

Should number of points warrant a disqualification your license would be.

moneypenny20

That is a very naive way of thinking imo. When you're taught to drive, you're taught to be vigilant at all times. That means constantly checking what's going on around you and also ensuring you are driving to the rules of the road. If you can't judge the speed you're going at after xx years of driving without having your eyes on the speedo the whole time, you're not the safe driver you think you are.

Providing they don't kill me, mine or anyone else, I don't care what speed people do on the road but I do mind, a lot, when they then complain that they've been caught breaking the law, regardless of how stupid they consider that rule to be. Do the crime, do the time but do not bitch about it.

Alan Collett

As an aside, are the speed limits on the freeways (eg Geelong to Melbourne) set so low because Aus drivers are incompetent?

When I'm driving to our Southampton office on the M3 in the UK - sometimes at comfortably more than the equivalent of 100 km/hr - I'm far from the fastest driver on the road.

To the OP: are you sure you shouldn't have a VIC licence?

Best regards.

pumpkin blossom

Alan, as a temp resident you can drive on your uk licence, until three months after you get pr.
And yes, the speed limits are low because Aussies are such bad drivers. Here in SA they recently put the limits down on rural roads to try to make the roads safer. In reality it doesn't. If there was an accident in theory there would be less carnage at 10kmph slower, but it just means people tailgate even more than they used to on those roads at they are used to it being 110kmph. Every single accident I know of anyone getting into in the four plus years I have been here for was caused by people tailgating. THAT is what they should be cracking down on to stop so many accidents. And the idiots that doing 100kmph cut into gaps leaving literally a couple of inches between cars as they cut in front. The two second gap rule is an alien concept here.
Speeding is far more serious in oz than the uk exactly because people drive too close here.
And I totally agree about if you can't tell what general speed your car it doing after xx years then you are not a safe driver. I wonder if these people ever check their mirrors either if it is so hard to look at the speedo.

Dreamy

Just as an aside, this varies from state to state - for Victoria it's 6 months from when you get PR (or first enter the country if you have PR before you arrive)

Overseas Drivers - Licences

hobbis

Empathize with you entirely. Caught a few times when I first arrived doing just a few Kms over limit following 10 or more years on a clean UK licence. I bought myself a TomTom and have never looked back! I also contested and won 2 out of my 4 fines

NickFife

Thanks for your input, I appreciate your willingness to chastise me on the subject. By no means am I bitching, just seeking advice and experience as previously stated. If VicRoads deems my license should be revoked then that is what will happen. So you will be able to sleep at night knowing criminal characters like me are off the road.

However, isn't it also naive to assume that all accidents and bad driving is down to speed alone. This is a broad debate, one that many politicians and law makers participate in, and god forbid some have even been caught speeding themselves!

My point is the incremental change of 5-10kmph is incredibly marginal. Much less than a change of 5-10mph which is what a Uk driver is used to, hence my suggestion that as a UK driver I had "suffered", due to the adjustment in perception of speed.

Rest assured, I am not speeding past schools at 100kmph, running red lights or cutting up old ladies who passed their test on a farm in the 1960's. A speed limit as a guide is a much more valuable proposition, as the other post suggests, an extra 10kmph on a highway is not the cause of accidents, but a much less advanced driving culture and it seems, the much more casual approach to drink driving in Aus.

Would it not be fair to say that if I was being tailgated at 100kmph on the freeway and I increased my speed by 10kmph so that I could overtake the car beside me and allow the other can to pass that this is not a safer and more diligent approach? Perhaps you would slow down to teach them a lesson? Similarly, if I am driving along as I approach a joining slip road, freeway or otherwise, wouldn't it be appropriate to either speed up or slow down relative to the oncoming cars speed and position (which I am able to judge) in order to allow that car to join the road at an appropriate speed? And not, retain my speed regardless - forcing the car to come to a stand slill on the slip road. Or slam on my breaks to the surprise of all the cars around me, which both seem to be a regular occurrence here.

My intention is not to turn this into an anonymous internet slagging match but gain an answer to what was a very straight forward question, however it seems an interesting debate anyway.

renth

That's what I do - GPS and cruise control. I'm usually pretty good but sometimes, like this morning I say what the f**k and flout the speed limits.

Also at 3am or some such early hour, on my way to the fire station to go out on a job, my driving can sometimes be a bit quick.

Only been done once for speeding in 9 years, touch wood, but have put my hand up for a couple of my wife's speeding tickets so she doesn't lose her licence.