517Direction to move heavy vehicle if causing harm etc.

517 Direction to move heavy vehicle if causing harm etc.

517 Direction to move heavy vehicle if causing harm etc.

(1) This section applies if an authorised officer reasonably believes a stationary heavy vehicle is—

(a) causing, or creating a risk of, serious harm to public safety, the environment or road infrastructure; or

(b) obstructing traffic or likely to obstruct traffic.

(2) The authorised officer may direct the driver or operator of the heavy vehicle to do either or both of the following—

(a) move the vehicle, or cause it to be moved, to the extent necessary to avoid the harm or obstruction;

(b) do, or cause to be done, anything else the officer reasonably requires to avoid the harm or obstruction.

(3) The direction may be made orally or in any other way, including, for example—

(a) for a direction given to the driver of a heavy vehicle—by way of a sign or electronic or other signal; or

(b) for a direction given to the operator of a heavy vehicle—by radio, telephone, fax or email.

(4) A person given a direction under subsection (2) must comply with the direction, unless the person has a reasonable excuse.

Maximum penalty—$6000.

Editorial note.

See also section 737 (Increase of penalty amounts).

(5) Without limiting what may be a reasonable excuse for the purposes of subsection (4), in a proceeding for an offence against the subsection, it is a defence for the person charged to prove that—

(a) it was not possible to move the heavy vehicle because it was broken down; and

(b) the breakdown happened for a physical reason beyond the person’s control; and

(c) the breakdown could not be readily rectified in a way that would enable the direction to be complied with within a reasonable time.