Dealing With a Speeding Ticket (Qld)

Speeding offences are governed by the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995. When a vehicle is detected speeding in Queensland, a ticket is issued to the registered owner of the vehicle. Demerit points may also be recorded against the offender. A common query is “Can someone else take my speeding points?”. This article explains when this can apply.

Can someone else take my speeding points?

If the owner was not the driver of the car when a speeding offence was committed, the offence can be transferred to the person responsible.

You can also transfer a speeding fine if:

• you were the driver and the fine was issued to another person or to your company or organisation
• you sold or disposed of the vehicle before the fine was issued
• the vehicle was stolen before the fine was issued

You will need to provide the following information in order to transfer a fine:

• the date and time the vehicle was sold or disposed of;
• the details of the buyer; or
• a police crime report number if the vehicle was stolen.

The penalty amount for an organisation as the registered operator of a vehicle is five times the amount for an individual driver. This is because demerit points ( speeding points ) are not allocated to organisations. If an individual driver is nominated, the fine and demerit points are reduced.

If there are two people listed as registered owners, the fine will be sent to the first listed owner.

It is an offence to nominate a person if they were not in charge of a vehicle at the time of the offence.

How do I transfer the speeding offence?

A speeding fine and associated demerit points can be transferred to another person by:

• submitting an online nomination via the Queensland Government’s ‘Submit Infringement Notification’ service;
• lodging a statutory declaration.

An online nomination can be made if:

• the person issued the notice has a Transport and Main Roads account;
• the notice was issued fewer than 28 days ago;
• the person nominated has an Australian Driver Licence or Queensland Photo ID card.

If the transfer cannot be done by online nomination, a statutory declaration needs to be completed.

The statutory declaration must include the infringement notice number, date of the fine, the offence details, and confirmation that you committed the offence and accept the fine.

If the owner was not the driver, the owner can use a statutory declaration to advise who the driver was, or that despite the owner exercising reasonable control over the vehicle and making reasonable inquiries, they are unable to state who was driving the vehicle.

How long do I have to transfer the speeding fine and speeding points?

The vehicle owner has 28 days from the date on the notice to transfer the fine.

If you do not transfer a fine within the time limit, the vehicle’s owner is deemed to have been the driver.

After 28 days have elapsed, the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) make take action to recover the fine. Such action ranges from suspending your driver licence or directing your bank to transfer funds, to immobilising your vehicle or issuing a warrant for your arrest.

Demerit points will be added to your traffic record, from the day the offence was committed.

Driver offence notifications

A vehicle owner can arrange with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to receive a notification via email of an offence committed in a Queensland-registered vehicle. The notification will have details of the offence details, the name of the person who committed it, and a description of the vehicle.

The owner is not responsible for the fine or demerit points and no action is required; the notifications are designed to raise awareness of unsafe driving by people who use the vehicle.

Contesting speeding fines in Qld – offences detected by camera

If you’ve been charged with speeding, you can contest the accuracy of the speed detection device or the way in which it was used.

However, legal advice should be sought before electing to challenge a speeding infringement, because this is a complex area of law and an unsuccessful challenge could be costly.

To challenge a speeding infringement notice, you should not pay the fine and instead, elect to have the matter dealt with at court. To do this, you must complete the Election for Court section on the back of the infringement notice, or apply online.

After you have done this, a summons will be issued for you to attend court, where you can enter a plea of not guilty. You will then need to serve the prosecution with a signed notice stating the grounds of the challenge. This must be done at least 14 days before the hearing date.

The prosecution can call an expert witness to give evidence as to the accuracy of the device. It is important to be aware that if a driver is found guilty of the offence after a hearing, the court is likely to order the person pay the witness’s expenses, which can amount to thousands of dollars.

If you require legal advice about contesting speeding fines, or representation in any legal matter, please contact Armstrong Legal.