Queensland jacks up fines for driving offences

Queensland is hitting those falling foul of the law on its roads with tougher penalties as of this month.

Motorists in the Sunshine State can also expect to pay more for their registration and licence fees, tolls, public transport, and parking in the Brisbane CBD too, according to the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ).

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Club traffic and safety engineering manager Gregory Miszkowycz warned drivers would be paying a significantly higher price for speeding, running a red light, and not wearing a seatbelt.

“From the start of the new financial year the State Government is significantly increasing penalties for some critical road safety offences,” he said.

“The price of not wearing a seatbelt is set to more than double from $413 to $1078, coming into line with the cost of using your mobile phone behind the wheel.

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“The fine for running a red light will increase from $413 to $575 and penalties for speeding will also rise.”

Meanwhile, registration and driver licence costs have been capped at a 2.5 per cent increase, as have public transport fares – which rose in south east Queensland on July 4 after being frozen for the past 18 months.

The cost of using toll roads is going up too, increasing by the Brisbane CPI figure of six per cent, and on-street parking for cars and motorcycles in Zone 1 in the Brisbane CBD and surrounds is being hiked by 25 cents per hour.

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“We’ve been educating drivers on the importance of seatbelts for 50 years, but somehow the message didn’t get through to almost 14,000 people, so it’s time to get tough," Queensland’s Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said earlier this year.

“We make no apologies for being tough on this reckless and dangerous behaviour, just like we did for mobile phone offences.

"The message is simple, if you don’t want one of these fines, do the right thing on our roads.”

Fines

Registration

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Licence

Tolls