Unregistered and uninsured driving offences
Understand your rights and obligations with vehicle registration and insurance
All motor vehicles driven on South Australian roads must be registered. Motor vehicle registration is
Under South Australian laws, it’s an offence to:
- Drive an unregistered vehicle
- Allow an unregistered vehicle to be parked on a public road.
If you’re facing unregistered or uninsured driving charges, it can be challenging to understand your rights and obligations, so here’s some important information.
Get in touch to learn more about our legal services for unregistered and uninsured driving offences.
Frequently asked questions about unregistered and uninsured driving offences
Are there demerit points for unregistered or uninsured driving offences?
There are no demerit points for driving an unregistered or uninsured car. The only penalty is a fine.
If the car has been unregistered for more than 30 days, it is also uninsured, which is an additional fine.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
How will the police know if my vehicle is unregistered?
South Australian police can detect whether your vehicle is registered through automatic vehicle registration recognition cameras and road traffic cameras.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
Am I legally required to register my vehicle and have CTP insurance?
South Australian laws require you to register your vehicle and have CTP insurance. CTP automatically applies to a registered vehicle until 30 days after the registration period ends.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
What is CTP insurance?
CTP insurance is compulsory third-party insurance. When your vehicle is registered and insured, the CTP insurance protects you (and any other people who use your vehicle) in the event of an accident. Specifically, it protects you from the financial impact of an accident that causes injury or death to other road users in Australia.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
What happens to registration and insurance when I buy or sell a vehicle?
If you buy or sell a vehicle, you are legally required to tell the South Australian Government of the change in ownership:
- As the buyer or new owner, you must transfer the registration into your name within 14 days of the sale.
- As the seller, you have 14 days to notify the change of ownership.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
Who is liable for an unregistered vehicle driving offence?
Liability (responsibility) for an unregistered vehicle driving offence depends on the circumstances:
- If the car is stationary on the road, the registered owner is liable.
- If the car is being driven, the driver is liable.
- If a camera detects the car, an expiation notice (a fine) will be sent to the owner.
Generally, if the police can identify the driver, the driver will get the expiation notice. Otherwise, it will be sent to the owner.
South Australian laws say that owners can be charged even if they weren’t the driver.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
What are the defences to unregistered driving offences?
There are few defences to unregistered driving charges. As the driver, it’s your responsibility to check the vehicle you’re driving is registered.
However, if you’re not the vehicle’s owner, then it’s a defence that you did not know and could not be reasonably expected to know that the vehicle was unregistered.
You would need to prove that:
- You took active steps to ensure that the vehicle was registered, and
- You were misled about the vehicle’s registration (for example, you asked the owner, and they told you it was registered.)
As a vehicle owner, there’s not much you can do if you receive an expiation notice. It’s not a defence that you never received a reminder notice because the obligation is always on the owner to ensure the car is registered.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
Is my driver’s licence at risk if I pay my expiation notice for driving an unregistered vehicle?
When you pay your expiation notice for an unregistered driving offence, it won’t affect your driver’s licence. In other words, there are no demerit points or other penalties apart from the fine in the expiation notice.
However, if you want to defend the charge, you must understand there are only a few possibilities, so your chances of success are limited.
Do not pay the fine if you wish to defend the charge.
To defend the charge, you need to elect to be prosecuted. The expiation notice will have instructions about how to do this. However, we recommend you seek our legal advice before electing to be prosecuted. The penalties may increase if you’re unsuccessful in defending the charges, so you must clearly understand all the possible outcomes.
If you have questions about unregistered or uninsured driving offences, contact us to learn more.
How we can help
Unregistered and uninsured driving offences usually don’t require lawyers to get involved unless you wish to defend yourself against the charges. Because of the limited defences, we always recommend seeking our legal advice.
As expert South Australian traffic lawyers, we have an excellent understanding of how the laws operate in this area, what you will need for a successful defence, and, importantly, your chances of success if you wish to defend the charges.
Get in touch for more information about unregistered and uninsured driving offences.