South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts9—Duty to register
(1) A person must not
drive an unregistered motor vehicle, or cause an unregistered motor vehicle to
stand, on a road.
Maximum penalty: $2 500.
(1a) However,
subsection (1) does not apply to a person who drives a motor vehicle
other than a heavy vehicle, or causes such a motor vehicle to stand, if the
person proves that he or she—
(a)
drove the motor vehicle, or caused the motor vehicle to stand, in prescribed
circumstances; and
(b) did
not know that the motor vehicle was unregistered.
(1b) For the purposes
of subsection (1a), a person may prove a matter referred to in that
subsection by furnishing to the Commissioner of Police a statutory declaration
in accordance with any requirements prescribed by the regulations.
(1c) If a charge of an
offence against subsection (1) involves a motor vehicle other than a
heavy vehicle and the defendant was not a registered owner or the
registered operator of the vehicle, it is a defence to the charge if the
defendant proves that he or she did not know, and could not reasonably be
expected to have known, that the vehicle was unregistered.
(2) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (1) involving a heavy vehicle
to prove, in a case where the registration of the motor vehicle was not in
force by reason of suspension and the defendant was not a registered owner or
the registered operator of the vehicle, that—
(a) a
registration label was affixed to the vehicle indicating that the vehicle was
registered; and
(b) the
defendant did not know, and could not reasonably be expected to have known,
that the registration of the vehicle was suspended.
(3) If an
unregistered motor vehicle is driven or found standing on a road, the owner of
the vehicle is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $2 500.
(4) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (1) or (3) to prove that the
motor vehicle was driven or left standing on a road in circumstances in which
this Act permits a motor vehicle without registration to be driven on a road.
(4a) It is a defence
to a charge of an offence against subsection (3) to prove that—
(a) the
vehicle was not driven or left standing on the road by the defendant; and
(b) the
defendant had taken reasonable steps to ensure that any person lawfully
entitled to use the motor vehicle would have been aware that the vehicle was
unregistered.
(5) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (3) to prove that, in
consequence of some unlawful act, the vehicle was not in the possession or
control of the defendant at the time it was driven or left standing on the
road.
(6) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against subsection (3) where the defendant is the
last registered owner or last registered operator to prove that the defendant
was not the owner or the operator of the motor vehicle, as the case may be, at
the time of the alleged offence.
(6a) The provisions of
Schedule 1 apply to an offence against this section if evidence relating to
the offence was obtained through the operation of a
photographic detection device.
(6b) A motor vehicle
is driven or caused to stand by a person in prescribed circumstances for the
purposes of subsection (1a) if—
(a) the
person is not an owner or the registered operator of the vehicle and he or she
is required by his or her employer to drive the vehicle, or to cause the
vehicle to stand, in the course of his or her employment; or
(b) the
motor vehicle is driven or caused to stand in circumstances declared by the
regulations.
(7) In this
section—
"owner", in relation to a motor vehicle, includes the last registered owner
and the last registered operator of the vehicle, but does not include a person
who takes the vehicle on hire;
"unregistered motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle without registration in
force under this Act.