Back in April I posted about legislation that would overcome the effect of Dolheguy v Becker [2009] VSC 106. (That was the case where the Supreme Court decided a Court was not required to suspend the licence of an owner of a speeding car if it wasn’t satisfied he was the actual driver.)

The Bill received Royal Assent on 17 June (see Gazette S185, 17 Jun 2009), and some of the Road Legislation Amendment Act 2009 commenced operation on the same day.

Some of the provisions now in operation are:

• Section 9, inserting s 50AAK in the Road Safety Act to create an offence of by-passing or disengaging an alcohol interlock
• Sections 11 and 12, amending Road Safety Act s 55D(6) to vary the prescribed method of providing an oral fluid sample for drug-driving testing
• Section 13, providing for approved health professionals to take blood samples in certain cases, as well as doctors
• Section 14, increasing the maximum penalty to 20 penalty units for owners of cars who don’t reasonably enquire into who was driving their car when asked to by the police, or don’t pass on that information in cases other than when someone is killed or suffers a serious injury
• Section 16, inserting s 61A in the Road Safety Act prescribing drivers’ duties following accidents involving vehicles that are not motor vehicles (such as bicycles, trams and motorised wheelchairs)
• Section 17, amending Road Safety Act s 63B concerning the use of tyre deflation devices by police in pursuits
• Section 18, creating an offence of dangerous driving in a vehicle other than a motor vehicle (section 19 will create a similar offence of careless driving, but has not commenced operation)
• Section 20, allowing the Minister to exempt specified events from liability for burnouts and donuts (for example, a Forumla 1 racer doing burnouts in a street parade)
• Section 21, inserting s 65B in the Road Safety Act to prohibit drivers of heavy vehicles from exceeding the speed limit by 35 km/h or more
• Section 22, changing s 66 of the Road Safety Act (the owner-onus provisions) to apply for prescribed road safety cameras
• Section 23, inserting s 73A in the Road Safety Act to create an offence of obstructing, hindering, threatening, abusing or intimidating speed camera operators

There are more that started on the 17^th, but you can check the commencement book for them all.

The remaining sections will commence on 1 October 2010, if they don’t commence before then.