11.2 Speed Limits, Speed Limiters and Speeding Penalties

11.2 Speed Limits, Speed Limiters and Speeding Penalties

Quick Summary / Key Rule: In NSW the maximum speed limit for a vehicle that exceeds 4.5 tonnes GVM is 100 km/h, no matter what the posted limit is. Separately, certain heavy vehicles must be fitted with a speed limiter set to 100 km/h. The 4.5-tonne rule is a road rule about you; the speed limiter rule is a vehicle standard about the truck, and they have different thresholds.

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The 100 km/h Heavy Vehicle Limit

In NSW the maximum speed limit for a vehicle that exceeds a GVM of 4.5 tonnes is 100 km/h. This applies even on a rural motorway signposted at 110 km/h — the posted limit is the maximum for the road, and 100 is your maximum as a heavy vehicle.

For certain road conditions — a sharp bend, a steep descent, a winding road — special speed limit signs may be posted for trucks, road trains and buses. You must not drive faster than the speed shown on that sign. A truck-and-bus 40 km/h sign is a regulatory sign for truck and bus drivers which must be obeyed, and it binds you even when the general limit for cars on the same stretch is much higher.

Other speed rules from the pool

• Driving faster than the maximum speed limit is never legally permitted — there is no tolerance, and no circumstance that authorises it.
• Where there are no speed limit signs, the limit is 100 km/h unless there are street lights along the road (in which case the built-up-area limit applies).
• A shared zone sign means share the road with other people and vehicles and travel at very low speed.
• A school zone or 40 km/h sign means you must not exceed 40 km/h and must keep a special lookout for the road users it protects.
• Passing a sign requiring you to be able to stop within a certain distance, slow to a speed that will allow you to stop in the distance you can see to be clear.
• Approaching roadworks with a reduced speed limit, slow down to the new limit.

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Speed Limiters

A speed limiter is a device that limits a vehicle's maximum speed. Where a vehicle falls into one of the groups below, it must be speed limited to 100 km/h:

A speed limiter fitted to a heavy vehicle in NSW, other than a road train, prevents that vehicle from exceeding 100 km/h.

Note the structure: the 1991-onward thresholds are lower, which means newer vehicles are captured at a smaller mass. A 13-tonne GVM truck built in 1989 is not required to be limited; the same truck built in 1992 is.

Tampering with a speed limiter is a specific offence with its own penalties, separate from a speeding fine.

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Speeding Compliance and the Chain of Responsibility

The speeding compliance provisions of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (NSW) place duties on parties in the supply chain to take all reasonable steps to ensure that their business activities, schedules or arrangements do not cause heavy vehicle drivers to exceed a speed limit. These requirements complement the existing chain of responsibility provisions for mass, load restraint, vehicle dimension and fatigue management, and they apply to heavy vehicles with a GVM of more than 4.5 tonnes.

The seven off-road parties

There is a specific duty on seven off-road parties to take all reasonable steps to ensure their actions do not cause drivers to exceed speed limits:

1. employers
2. prime contractors
3. operators
4. schedulers
5. loading managers
6. consignors
7. consignees

It is the performance of the function that determines whether a person falls into one of these categories — not their job title — and a person may be a party in the chain in more than one capacity. A small operator who books the freight, plans the run and drives the truck occupies several of these roles simultaneously.

What this does not do

The Regulation does not impose any obligations on employed drivers in this scheme. Drivers of heavy vehicles are simply required to obey the speed limits. Penalties on drivers who fail to comply include demerit points, licence suspension, cancellation or disqualification, and fines.

In other words: the chain of responsibility does not transfer your speeding fine to your scheduler. It creates an additional obligation on the scheduler, on top of yours.

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Enforcement

• Safe-T-Cam is a network of cameras that photographs heavy vehicles at fixed points and records the time and location. Comparing two Safe-T-Cam sightings gives an average speed over the distance between them, so a driver who slows for a marked camera and speeds between them is still detectable.
• Heavy vehicle safety stations — checking stations and weighbridges on the major freight corridors — combine mass checks, roadworthiness inspections, work diary checks and breath testing.
• Red light cameras photograph vehicles entering an intersection after the lights turn red.
• Speed cameras and mobile enforcement apply to heavy vehicles as they do to any other vehicle, and being at or under 100 km/h does not protect you if the posted limit is lower.

Penalties

• The penalties for driving over the speed limit are fines, demerit points and possibly loss of licence.
• Speeding in a road work zone attracts a speeding fine and loss of demerit points.
• A driver who accumulates enough demerit points may be offered a good behaviour period in place of a suspension. During that period the driver must not incur further demerit points; doing so results in a longer suspension than the one originally avoided.
• Persistent or serious offending can result in refusal of a licence by Transport for NSW, independently of any court penalty.

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Worked Scenario: The 110 km/h Motorway

A driver in a 24-tonne GVM rigid built in 1996 is running on a rural motorway signposted at 110 km/h.

1. The posted limit is 110 km/h. That is the maximum for the road, not permission for this driver.
2. The heavy vehicle limit applies: the vehicle exceeds 4.5 tonnes GVM, so the driver's maximum is 100 km/h.
3. The vehicle limit also applies: built after 1 January 1991 with a GVM over 12 tonnes, the truck must be speed limited to 100 km/h. Even if the driver wanted to do 110, the limiter should prevent it — and a limiter that does not is itself evidence of tampering.
4. If the scheduler set a delivery window that only works at 110 km/h, the scheduler has breached the speeding compliance duty as a party in the chain. That does not excuse the driver, who still collects the fine and the demerit points.