Expiration of Demerit Points

[Slim]

I thought the cop that explained this to me when he gave me a ticket leaving Paeroa this year was pulling my leg, but I found this in the Land Transport Act 1998:

91. Cancellation and reinstatement of demerit points--- (1) When 2 years have elapsed since the commission of an offence in respect of which demerit points were recorded, the entry of the points made in respect of that offence ceases to have effect in relation to the person who committed that offence; but if demerit points were recorded in respect of 2 or more offences committed by that person, the entry ceases to have effect when 2 years have elapsed since the commission of the
most recent of those offences.

Am I the only one that missed this law change?!?!?ops:

[Gixxer]

lucky for me my 2 tickets are a month apart? 1 more year to go

 

cheers for the info Slim

[bikerboy]

I'm not sure I understand or I do but am incredulous that its true.

Demerit points for a ticket received in 2001 will not elapse until 2005 if one receives demerit points in 2003?

[bluninja]

Errrrrrr doesn't this mean that you could end up carrying the points till you get a ban ? offence in 2003, then 2005, then 2007 and so on. It implies that the demerit points only get wiped 2 years after the last recorded offence. Good job my NZ (and UK) licences are clean.

TTFN

[SPman]

Originally posted by bluninja
Errrrrrr doesn't this mean that you could end up carrying the points till you get a ban ? offence in 2003, then 2005, then 2007 and so on. It implies that the demerit points only get wiped 2 years after the last recorded offence.  

Yes!

[Redstar]

heres a tip when you renew insurance they ask about driving offences bar parking tickets. now if your honest you may declare speed camera tickets?
Warning if you have three you will struggle to get cover.
So dont declare fixed camera tickets.
I did and they would not cover me. so I had to change insurance and plead a case.
I phoned the speed camera office in Wellington and the Cuntstable told me that insurance company's have no access to your records in fact you can only access your records if you present yourself with ID in person. so Lie on this question.

[Marmoot]

I know some of you won't believe me for this:

The expiration of demerit points is 2 years FROM EACH RECORDED OFFENCE, not from the last offence. It has been proven.

I had 50 points on August 2000.
Then, I had another 35 on May 2001.

According to theory A in this thread, my demerit points should expire on May 2003, and if I get another offence before that time I would be banned.

But, no. I got another 35 on December 2002 and I was pleading with the cops for not giving me the ticket so I wouldn't get banned. The cop said he'd check first and went to the car (nice guy). Then, he came back and gave me the ticket while saying "nope, mate. You only have 35 points at the moment" (not 85 as according to theory A).

A letter from LTSA 2 weeks after I paid that ticket confirmed this. The 50 points had expired on August 2002 even though I have got another ticket before that.

So, yeah, demerit points are recorded individually, and each expires in 2 years, not 2 years from the last offence.

[Marmoot]

P.S.
I had always believed in Theory A before. Apparently, there was a law change that we were not told of.

[Slim]

I had always believed in your theory, Marmoot, but your dates are prior to Paeroa & I wonder if they've changed it to Theory A earlier this year?

I should be able to confirm this week - I've got 35 points that were due to disappear mid-April, but I haven't had the confirming letter from the LTSA yet - I'll give them a call during the week to find out.

[bikerboy]

Remember that demerit points don't get recorded untill the fine is paid.

You can use this to your advantage, as a friend did. He asked for a court date at the last possible time and kept delaying it as long as he could and then paid it.

The reason for all this was his previous points had time to expire before the new points were recorded. This would be advantageous if the theory A rule has taken effect.

[Redstar]

A mate of mine did this..
knowing that his licence would be suspended he applied for a work travel exemption three weeks before the court hearing.
he had it granted the day he lost his licence.

normally we dont bother applying until we lose it and wait 3 weeks for the working restricted licence.

clever ah!

[Slim]

I did not receive a warning notice about my demerit points after I paid my latest fine, because the total has fallen below 40 points.

I called the lovely Norma at the LTSA today and she put me straight on a couple of points:

• While points aren't applied to your licence until you pay the bill they expire on the anniversary of the actual offence.
• While offences don't fall off your licence, the demerit points definitely expire 2 years from the date of the actual offence, not your most recent offence.

Now I'm gonna go back and find out what the story is with the stuff I cut & paste from another site.

[bluninja]

So i guess if you could avoid paying your fine for 2 years then you'd never get points on your license

TTFN

[Slim]

I've just checked the source from which I quoted and it appears to be legit:

Land Transport Act 1998

Either I'm reading this section wrong, or the LTSA know something we don't.

I'm reluctant to chase it up (do we have any lawyer members who can investigate discretely) just in case the LTSA are missing something.

[SPman]

For those of you who cant follow links

 

Land Transport Act 1998  110
Commenced: 1 March 1999
90   Suspension of licence or disqualification from driving under demerit points system   

90. Suspension of licence or disqualification from driving under
demerit points system--- (1) If, in any 2-year period, a total of 100 or
more demerit points is recorded against a person, the Director must, by
notice in writing given to that person, either---
   (a) Suspend that person's current driver licence for 3 months; or
   (b) If the person does not hold a current driver licence on the date
         of the giving of the notice, disqualify the person from holding
         or obtaining a driver licence for 3 months,---
and the suspension or disqualification starts on the date the notice is
given to that person.