520Power to enter and inspect heavy vehicles for monitoring purposes

520 Power to enter and inspect heavy vehicles for monitoring purposes

520 Power to enter and inspect heavy vehicles for monitoring purposes

(1) An authorised officer may enter and inspect a heavy vehicle for monitoring purposes.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the authorised officer may—

(a) inspect, examine or film any part of the heavy vehicle or any part of its equipment or load; and

(b) without limiting paragraph (a), look for, check the details of, or film a registration item, label or other thing required to be displayed on the heavy vehicle under an Australian road law; and

(c) inspect a relevant document in the heavy vehicle; and

(d) copy, or take an extract from, a relevant document in the heavy vehicle; and

(e) produce an image or writing in or near the vehicle from an electronic relevant document in the vehicle or, if it is not practicable to produce the image or writing in or near the vehicle, take a thing containing the electronic relevant document somewhere else to produce the image or writing; and

(f) take an extract of relevant information from a device or other thing found in the heavy vehicle, including, for example—

(i) by taking a copy of, or an extract from, a readout or other data obtained from the device or other thing; or

(ii) by accessing and downloading relevant information from the device or other thing.

Example of device or other thing—

an intelligent transport system

(3) The authorised officer may take a necessary step to allow the exercise of a power under subsection (1) or (2), including, for example—

(a) open an unlocked door or an unlocked panel or thing on the heavy vehicle; and

(b) move but not take away anything that is not locked up or sealed.

(4) However, this section does not authorise an authorised officer to use force for exercising a power under this section.

(5) If the authorised officer takes from the heavy vehicle a thing containing an electronic relevant document to produce an image or writing from the document, the image or writing must be produced, and the thing must be returned to the vehicle, as soon as practicable.