Western Australian Numbered Acts Western Australian Numbered Acts (1) In this section
and sections 12 and 13, unless the contrary intention
appears —
“corresponding law” means a law of
another State or a Territory or the Commonwealth that is prescribed by the
regulations made under this Act to be a law that corresponds with the
Road Traffic Act 1974 or the
Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas) Act 1978 ;
“current licence holder” of a vehicle
at the time of a vehicle offence, means a person in whose name the vehicle is
licensed at that time;
“licensed” means licensed or
registered under a vehicle licensing law;
“responsible person” for a vehicle,
means a person who under subsection (2) is responsible for the vehicle;
“vehicle licensing law” means the
Road Traffic Act 1974 or the Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas)
Act 1978 or a corresponding law;
“vehicle offence” means an alleged
offence that has as an element of it the driving, parking, standing or leaving
of a vehicle.
(2) For the purposes
of sections 12 and 13, a person responsible for a vehicle at the
time of a vehicle offence is —
(a) if
at that time the vehicle is licensed —
(i)
any current licence holder who has not given a notice as
described in subparagraph (ii);
(ii)
any new owner specified in a notice given under the
vehicle licensing law by a current licence holder of having ceased before that
time to be the owner of the vehicle unless, under subsection (3), the new
owner is not responsible for the vehicle; or
(iii)
if, under subsection (3), no new owner specified in
a notice described in subparagraph (ii) is responsible for the
vehicle — the current licence holder who gave the notice;
(b) if
at that time the vehicle is not licensed but was previously licensed — a
person responsible under paragraph (a) before the vehicle last ceased to
be licensed; or
(c) in
any other case —
(i)
the person who at that time is entitled to immediate
possession of the vehicle; or
(ii)
if there are several persons entitled to its immediate
possession at that time, the person whose entitlement is paramount.
(3) A person is not
responsible for a vehicle under subsection (2)(a)(ii) at the time of a
vehicle offence if it can be shown —
(a) that
at that time the person had not agreed to becoming the owner of the vehicle;
and
(b) that
the person has given notice of that fact to the person who, under the relevant
vehicle licensing law, is responsible for keeping the licensing records.