Driver caught breaking simple road rule attracting $2,000 fine
This L-plater won't be allowed on the road again for another three months after officers found him breaching an important rule.
A learner driver has had his licence suspended and been handed a range of traffic infringements for breaking a simple road rule which appears to be becoming increasingly common on Australian roads.
On Friday, November 22, NSW Police observed a driver on the Hume Highway at Breadalbane, in the state's Southern Tablelands, travelling west in the right-hand lane "for some distance". According to Highway Patrol officers, the man "was not overtaking, turning right, or avoiding any obstructions on the roadway". He'd even passed several "Keep left unless overtaking" signs.
When police eventually pulled him over, he was found to be a learner — despite sporting P-plates on the vehicle's front and rear. "Police caused the vehicle to stop where the male driver produced a Class C Learner licence," officers said in a statement.
At the time, the man wasn't accompanied by a fully licensed supervisor, as the law requires, but there was a woman in the rear passenger of the car tending to a small child. She was the holder of a P1 licence and could have been driving the vehicle instead, police said.
The man was issued penalties for not displaying L-plates, driving in the right lane where the speed limit is over 80km/h and for not being accompanied by a licensed driver. He was suspended from the road for three months.
Right-hand lane driving offences increasing
It's an issue that's been in the spotlight in recent times, with another ute driver penalised in August on the M5 in NSW. Police at the time warned drivers not to "ignore" the very well-known road rule — which could attract fines up to $2,200 — urging motorists against ignoring "keep left signs unless overtaking", like the utility driver did on the M5.
"Don't be this motorist who ignored a 'keep left' sign, a VMS [variable message sign] board stating the same — and a Liverpool Highway Patrol car that was travelling behind them for three kilometres," they said, uploading images of a P-plater driver who was fined $410 and lost two demerit points over the act.
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Speaking to Yahoo News Australia Sydney lawyer Avinash Singh of Astor Legal said the provisional driver might've got off easy compared with the penalties they could have faced.
"On a road where there is a speed limit of more than 80km/h, you must not drive in the right lane, unless you're overtaking," he told Yahoo News Australia. "You can incur a fine of up to $2,200 for disobeying this rule."
Last month, a 42-year-old Victorian man was caught driving in the right lane on a highway without overtaking, resulting in a $198 fine and two demerit points.
The male driver, from Armstrong Creek, was spotted by police travelling along Geelong Ring Road on Saturday. He was intercepted by police "after travelling 3km in the right-hand lane and passing no one,” Senior Sergeant Aaron Riches said.
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