Driver Responsibilities General Duties

Obstructing vehicle control

A driver in control of a vehicle may not:
  1. Permit others to take hold of the steering wheel or other controls unless the driver is no longer capable of operating the vehicle, for instance a heart attack or a panic attack)
  2. Allow other persons, animals or objects to hamper with the driver's view or the safe, complete control of the vehicle, particularly the ability to signal, turn, slow down or stop
  3. For instance, holding a package, person or animal in your lap or arms when driving is dangerous. Ideally, put packages in a secure place such as the boot. If this isn't possible, put them in a place inside the vehicle where they won't hurt anyone if the vehicle stops suddenly.

Distractions

  1. Hold or operate hand-held communication devices (for instance a cell or mobile phone or a walkie-talkie) without hands free kits and headsets that enable its use without a hand or part of the body holding it. See Communication Devices for more detail.
  2. Drive or sit in the driver's seat when the engine is running if the driver is under the influence of narcotic drugs or the alcohol in the blood exceeds the permissible level. The person in the driver's seat should always be in full control of the vehicle. It is an offence to refuse a blood or a breath specimen. The maximum permitted concentration of alcohol in the blood is less than 0.05 grams per 100 millilitre of blood (0.02 grams for professional drivers) and 0.24 milligrams per 1,000 millilitre of breath (0.10 milligrams for professional drivers). See Alcohol&Drugs for more detail.
  3. Don't play music in your car so loudly that you can't hear the sounds your car is making, emergency sirens or the sound of warning bells or trains when you're coming up to a railway level crossing.
  4. Children and pets can be noisy or need your help when you are driving. If you have to deal with the needs of children or pets, pull over to the side of the road and park your vehicle first.

Safety

  1. Allow any portion of any person's body or object to stick out of the vehicle while it is in motion (excluding motorcycles). Protruding objects can cause serious injury to people outside the car and the passenger and driver of the car itself. This excludes situations when the driver is giving hand signals for parking, turning, examining or testing the vehicle.
  2. Permit passengers to get into or out of the vehicle while it is moving. Entering or exiting vehicles in motion is very dangerous. To prevent serious injury, you should never allow passengers to get on or off the vehicle while it is moving.
  3. Allow a person or animal to be on the roof, step or running board of a moving vehicle (excluding motorcycles).
  4. Deliberately disregard the safety of people or property when driving, or drive recklessly negligently or without reasonable consideration for other road users.

Animals

Animals that are not under the control of someone are not allowed on a public road or in a place where they might stray onto a public road. Herders often use country roads to move stock between paddocks.

  1. People controlling animals on roads must carry a warning at least 150 metres ahead of and also beyond the herd as follows
    a. Sunset to sunrise: a red light
    b. Sunrise to sunset: a 300 mm square red flag
    c. If there are not more than 10 animals, only one light or flag is required
  2. If there are animals on the road:
    a. follow any advice the herder may give you.
    b. slow down or pull over to the side of the road
    c. don't sound your horn or make a noise that could frighten the animals
Dogs may require separate attention. When you see a dog in the road slow down until you have passed the dog, then accelerate away.

Pollution and damage to the road

  1. Deposit any objectionable matter of any nature onto the road or along the road. Objectionable matters include litter, grease, oil, fuel ashes, or other flammable matters. Oil and grease is slippery and can cause significant risk of accident to other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
  2. Deposit any object on the road that could endanger or cause damage to traffic.
  3. Do anything that will damage the road surface, including spinning or dragging any wheel or using chocks or shoes between wheels of a moving vehicle if you are a motorcycle.
  4. Run the engine and vehicle in such a way which it makes smoke, fumes or noises that could cause annoyance to any person, as the vehicle could be unsafe and should not be driven. A well-maintained silencer and exhaust system will help.

Stationery Vehicles

  1. Leave a stationery vehicle unattended without the handbrake / parking brake applied or using some other method to ensure the vehicle remains stationery. Leaving the engine of an unattended, stationery vehicle running may make it subject of simple theft. It may also suddenly move, damaging objects and injuring people around it.
  2. Leave a stationery vehicle unattended with the engine running.
  3. Leave the engine on or start the engine when the fuel-tank cap is off and/or when fuel is being pumped into the vehicle. The engine is a source of sparks, which together with petrol can ignite gas fumes and flames. The exhaust of a running car is also red hot and it can ignite flames. Between shutting the engine and starting to pump, the exhaust will cool significantly thereby significantly reducing the risk of fire.

Moving Vehicles

  1. Reverse (travel backwards) further in time or distance than is necessary and if it is not considered safe. Vehicles behave very differently when they reverse versus how the behave when going forwards. As such, you should only reverse as far as is reasonably necessary and proceed in a way and at a speed that is in line with the prevailing traffic conditions (see Reversing for more detail).
  2. Drive, pull or push a vehicle on a sidewalk (pavement or verge); the obvious exceptions are baby prams or carts, wheelchairs, or a child's play vehicle. Sidewalks (pavements or verges) are reserved for pedestrians and meant to be a safe, vehicle free area for pedestrians (and sometimes cyclists). As such, vehicles in motion are not allowed on sidewalks.
  3. Follow another vehicle too closely given prevailing traffic condition (see Safe Following Distance).
  4. Conduct race or sports meetings on a public road without the consent of the Road Traffic Authority of the province or the relevant local authority.

Obstructing Traffic or Emergency Vehicles

  1. Obstruct the free flow of traffic for any reason
  2. Drive off from a stationery position if it is not safe, when doing so cause a dangerous situation, or when doing so interferes with the flow of traffic
  3. Fail to immediately give way to any official vehicle sounding a warning device (e.g. a siren, bell or warning device)

The above does not apply to people engaged in official or emergency related matters provided that these drive with due regard to the safety of other road users. This includes traffic and police vehicles and emergency vehicles such as ambulances or fire engines). Emergency vehicles are on official business and often involved with emergency rescue where the life of others are in their hands.  As such you must always give way immediately to any official vehicle sounding a warning device (e.g. a siren or a bell) to enable them to get to their final destination immediately.

Additional Rules for Motorcycles, Motor-Tricycles and Quadbikes

Riding a motor cycle is more tiring and more dangerous than driving a car. There is therefore a set of extra rules to ensure to ensure safety of motorcyclists and their passengers. These include:

  1. The rider and any passenger must wear suitable safety helmets.
    The helmet should be an approved motorcycle helmet in a bright colour to allow others to see motorcyclists more clearly and with a face protection to protect your face from flying objects. The helmet should fit snuggly and be securely fastened to the rider and passenger's heads. If the helmet is damaged, replace it. If it gets dirty, wash it with warm soapy water.
  2. The rider must keep both feet on the footrests of a motorcycle and sit astride the saddle
  3. All wheels must stay in contact with the road surface at all times
  4. A motorcycle must have one number plate secured at the back of the vehicle
  5. Motorcycles must ride in single-files on the road (i.e. not next to each other within a lane)
  6. Only one motorcycle at a time may overtake another vehicle travelling in the same lane
  7. Don't hold onto another moving vehicle
  8. Always keep at least one hand on the handlebars
  9. It is important to wear warm, protective clothing, gloves and leather boots to avoid hypothermia from getting too cold and minimise impact of any fall or collision
Motorcycles with an engine capacity of 50cc or less may not carry passengers, nor are they allowed on freeways.
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