30Direction to move vehicle or combination: where danger or obstruction

30 Direction to move vehicle or combination: where danger or obstruction

(1) This section applies where an authorised officer or police officer believes on reasonable grounds that a vehicle or combination is: (a) causing serious harm, or creating an imminent risk of serious harm, to public safety, the environment or road infrastructure; or (b) causing or likely to cause an obstruction to traffic. (2) The officer may direct the driver or operator of the vehicle or combination to do either or both of the following: (a) to move it, or cause it to be moved, to the extent necessary to avoid the harm or obstruction; (b) to do anything else reasonably required by the officer, or to cause anything else reasonably required by the officer to be done, to avoid the harm or obstruction. (3) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person is subject to a direction under subsection (2); and (b) the person engages in conduct that results in a contravention of the direction. (4) The offence is an offence of strict liability. (5) In proceedings for an offence in relation to the contravention of a direction under subsection (2)(a), it is a defence if the person charged establishes that: (a) it was not possible to move the vehicle or combination concerned because it was broken down; and (b) the breakdown occurred for a physical reason beyond the driver’s or operator’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.