Holiday goers travelling around Australia in the Christmas and New Year period have been urged to drive responsibly as double demerits are set to be enforced in some states from Friday.
In what has been a horror year for road safety, police are looking to clamp down on dangerous and reckless driving over the holiday period.
Double demerit campaigns will not be enforced in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Drivers travelling on roads in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT will face heavy demerit point forfeitures and expensive fines for breaking road rules over the next two weeks.
NSW and ACT
The double demerit period will extend from December 22 2023 through to midnight on January 1 2024 for both NSW and the ACT.
Heavy point deductions will apply for offences including speeding, improper and illegal use of a mobile phone, being caught without a seatbelt or a helmet for motorcyclists.
Drivers caught on their phones can be hit with a $352 fine during the double demerit period, with commuters being reminded Mobile Phone Detection Cameras are up and running around the state and territory.
Demerit points stay active on a driver’s record for three years from the date of the offence in NSW.
Queensland
Double demerits apply all year round in the Sunshine State and are not limited to holiday periods like NSW and the ACT.
Those who have committed specific offences repeatedly will receive double demerits starting from their second offence if it occurred within 12 months of their first.
Offences including speeding over 20km/h over the limit, mobile phone offences, driving without a seatbelt or failing to ensure passengers under 16 years old are “appropriately restrained” and any motorcycle helmet offences.
For full licence holders, if you are using your mobile phone illegally while driving, you will receive four demerit points.
If you commit a second mobile phone offence within a year of the first offence, you stand to receive four points, plus another four points.
Western Australia
Out west, the double demerit period starts on December 22 and runs through to January 7 next year.
There are a plethora of offences that can incur demerit points, including speeding, drug affected or drink driving, running a red light, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone illegally.
Driving with a device to avoid speed camera detection and driving in a manner to evade detection by a speed camera will incur 14 points during the double demerit period.
Road deaths have spiked significantly in NSW, Victoria and South Australia this year, with 350 having lost their life in NSW alone.
The road death toll has tragically jumped 22.6 per cent in Victoria to 287 and there have been over 30 more deaths in South Australia than this time last year.