There are many offences involving driving vehicles on public roads. The main legislative instruments that govern these offences are:

Many driving offences are dealt with by way of an expiation notice, the incursion of demerit points, and/or a fine. Whenever a person appears in court for a traffic offence, the court may also have the power to disqualify the person's licence or permit [see Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA) s 168], or issue a fine up to the maximum amount contained in the relevant legislation.

Many driving offences will be expiable, that is, you will receive an expiation notice for committing the offence.The expiation fee amounts that apply for these offences are contained in Schedule 4 of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous) Regulations 2014 (SA).

The maximum fine that applies for offences under the Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA) will usually be specifically stated in the particular section of the Act which contains the offence. Where no penalty is stated, the penalty is a fine of up to $2500 [see Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA) s 164a].

The maximum fine that applies for offences under the Australian Road Rules is contained in section 67 of the Road Traffic (Road Rules- Ancillary and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2014 (SA).

It is not unusual for offences to carry both an expiation fee amount (which applies if the offence is expiated) and a maximum fine amount (which applies if the offence is not expiated).

In this section, all references are to the Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA) unless otherwise stated although some offences are contained in the Australian Road Rules (ARR) or in the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 (SA). As it is not possible to deal with every offence, only some of these laws are discussed in this section.

Further information is available from The Driver's Handbook online at the My Licence website, from newsagencies or from Service SA Customer Service Centres.