❓ Debate on Road Traffic Amendment Bill focuses on banning radar detectors. Minister criticises Liberal Party opposition, highlighting road safety concerns and support from Nationals WA.
AnsweredQoN 482Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROAD TRAFFIC LEGISLATION
482. Mr
R.R. WHITBY to the Minister for Police:
I refer to amendments to the Road
Traffic Act that are currently before the Legislative Council that would mean
that drivers who test positive for drugs would be taken off the road
immediately, as well as introduce a new offence for drivers who test positive
for both drugs and alcohol.
Can the minister advise the house
whether the legislation would finally allow for radar detectors to be banned;
and can the minister advise the house
whether she is aware of any proposed amendments or opposition to the
legislation?
482. Mr
R.R. WHITBY to the Minister for Police:
I refer to amendments to the Road
Traffic Act that are currently before the Legislative Council that would mean
that drivers who test positive for drugs would be taken off the road
immediately, as well as introduce a new offence for drivers who test positive
for both drugs and alcohol.
Can the minister advise the house
whether the legislation would finally allow for radar detectors to be banned;
and can the minister advise the house
whether she is aware of any proposed amendments or opposition to the
legislation?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Baldivis his
question and for his commitment to road safety and reducing the number of
fatalities and serious injuries on our roads.
Members may recall that last
November I introduced to this house an amendment bill to the Road Traffic Act,
the Road Traffic Amendment (Impaired Driving and Penalties) Bill. I did that so
that it would be on the notice paper and be
available to people over the summer break so that we could get that important
legislation through this autumn session of Parliament. That bill
provides for those who test positive for drugs to immediately be taken off the
road. It also introduces a polydrug offence for people who have been found to
have drunk alcohol and also tested positive for drugs. That recognises the
additional impairment of being under the influence of both drugs and alcohol.
In addition, I sought through a further amendment in the bill to ban radar
detectors in Western Australia and to make sure that the minister has the power
to make a regulation—which would have to lay on the tables of both
houses of Parliament—to be able to ban radar detectors once and for
all.
Some people, it would seem, do not
want to see radar detectors banned. Hon Rick Mazza has moved an amendment to
strike out that regulation-making clause in the upper house and he has the
support of the Liberal Party for that. Let
us be clear: radar detectors serve no road safety benefit at all. There is no
evidence to support the notion that the use of radar detectors has a road
safety benefit. Radar detectors are simply used to enable drivers to speed
without detection, and are predominantly used by people to exceed the speed
limit. That is their only purpose. They were banned in Victoria in 1997, and
they had been banned in every other jurisdiction by the year 2000. I have been
seeking to have them banned for a long time. In 2017, when we came to
government, I tried to move by way of regulation to ban both radar detectors
and laser jammers. I was told that because the jammer interfered with police
equipment, I could do that under the existing regulations, but the State
Solicitor's Office was concerned that the regulation power was not
broad enough to ban the radar detectors, so it drafted an amendment and put it
into that bill for me.
It would seem now that Hon Rick
Mazza is seeking, by way of an amendment, to delete that clause from the bill,
and Hon Michael Mischin has indicated his support for that amendment. Shame!
Shame, because it is unbelievable that, over 20 years after other jurisdictions
have banned it, the Liberal Party would not get behind that. It is based on Hon
Rick Mazza's press release that says, ''Oh, the minister might
ban a whole lot of other things and not allow a whole range of other things!''
Then he lists a whole lot of other things that are already regulated, where
there is already the power to make regulations, and where regulations have been
made. It lists anything from reversing cameras to GPS systems and so on and so
forth—those things are already regulated. The kinds of bull bars
someone can or cannot have on their car is already regulated, and there are
already powers. This is not an unfettered power that has been put in; it is a sensible
power for the minister to be able to make regulations. The regulations then lay
on the table in both houses of Parliament and can be disallowed in the upper
house.
In being highly critical of Liberal
Party members who have blocked the banning of radar detectors in the state for
20 years past their use-by date, I want to put on the record my thanks to the
Nationals WA members who have definitely seen the light, because they see the
tragedies on our country roads and they have indicated their most sensible
support. I am sure all those mums and dads and families in the wheatbelt and
other country regions do not want to see their family members using radar
detectors so that they can go in excess of 110 kilometres an hour. Because of this extraordinary circumstance, I am
not going to let the Liberal Party off the hook this time. I am putting it in the substantive legislation. I am putting an amendment to the bill
upstairs. The banning of radar detectors will be done by way of an amendment to
the act. It is not the best way of doing it, but it is the way we will do it
because we are not letting the Liberal Party off the hook this time.
question and for his commitment to road safety and reducing the number of
fatalities and serious injuries on our roads.
Members may recall that last
November I introduced to this house an amendment bill to the Road Traffic Act,
the Road Traffic Amendment (Impaired Driving and Penalties) Bill. I did that so
that it would be on the notice paper and be
available to people over the summer break so that we could get that important
legislation through this autumn session of Parliament. That bill
provides for those who test positive for drugs to immediately be taken off the
road. It also introduces a polydrug offence for people who have been found to
have drunk alcohol and also tested positive for drugs. That recognises the
additional impairment of being under the influence of both drugs and alcohol.
In addition, I sought through a further amendment in the bill to ban radar
detectors in Western Australia and to make sure that the minister has the power
to make a regulation—which would have to lay on the tables of both
houses of Parliament—to be able to ban radar detectors once and for
all.
Some people, it would seem, do not
want to see radar detectors banned. Hon Rick Mazza has moved an amendment to
strike out that regulation-making clause in the upper house and he has the
support of the Liberal Party for that. Let
us be clear: radar detectors serve no road safety benefit at all. There is no
evidence to support the notion that the use of radar detectors has a road
safety benefit. Radar detectors are simply used to enable drivers to speed
without detection, and are predominantly used by people to exceed the speed
limit. That is their only purpose. They were banned in Victoria in 1997, and
they had been banned in every other jurisdiction by the year 2000. I have been
seeking to have them banned for a long time. In 2017, when we came to
government, I tried to move by way of regulation to ban both radar detectors
and laser jammers. I was told that because the jammer interfered with police
equipment, I could do that under the existing regulations, but the State
Solicitor's Office was concerned that the regulation power was not
broad enough to ban the radar detectors, so it drafted an amendment and put it
into that bill for me.
It would seem now that Hon Rick
Mazza is seeking, by way of an amendment, to delete that clause from the bill,
and Hon Michael Mischin has indicated his support for that amendment. Shame!
Shame, because it is unbelievable that, over 20 years after other jurisdictions
have banned it, the Liberal Party would not get behind that. It is based on Hon
Rick Mazza's press release that says, ''Oh, the minister might
ban a whole lot of other things and not allow a whole range of other things!''
Then he lists a whole lot of other things that are already regulated, where
there is already the power to make regulations, and where regulations have been
made. It lists anything from reversing cameras to GPS systems and so on and so
forth—those things are already regulated. The kinds of bull bars
someone can or cannot have on their car is already regulated, and there are
already powers. This is not an unfettered power that has been put in; it is a sensible
power for the minister to be able to make regulations. The regulations then lay
on the table in both houses of Parliament and can be disallowed in the upper
house.
In being highly critical of Liberal
Party members who have blocked the banning of radar detectors in the state for
20 years past their use-by date, I want to put on the record my thanks to the
Nationals WA members who have definitely seen the light, because they see the
tragedies on our country roads and they have indicated their most sensible
support. I am sure all those mums and dads and families in the wheatbelt and
other country regions do not want to see their family members using radar
detectors so that they can go in excess of 110 kilometres an hour. Because of this extraordinary circumstance, I am
not going to let the Liberal Party off the hook this time. I am putting it in the substantive legislation. I am putting an amendment to the bill
upstairs. The banning of radar detectors will be done by way of an amendment to
the act. It is not the best way of doing it, but it is the way we will do it
because we are not letting the Liberal Party off the hook this time.
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