Understanding Impoundment, Immobilisation, and Forfeiture of Motor Vehicles in Victoria

Yes. Under section 84F of the Road Safety Act 1986, police can seize a car used in a hoon offence no matter who owns it, so a car you lent out can be held for 30 days. Stolen and hired cars must be released. If the driver is a repeat offender and police later seek a court order, it cannot be made against your car if you prove, as the person the car is registered to, that the offence happened without your knowledge or consent.

Any offence listed in section 84C of the Road Safety Act 1986. People call these hoon offences, but some of them involve no dangerous driving at all. The main ones each count even as a first offence:

• drink driving at 0.10 or more
• unlicensed driving, except in the two cases with a 20 penalty unit maximum
• learner driving without a supervisor
• driving while disqualified or suspended, unless the suspension was for unpaid fines
• interlock offences
• failing to stop when directed to by police
• speeding 45 km/h or more over the limit, or 145 km/h or more in a 110 km/h zone
• burnouts and other deliberate loss of traction
• racing
• carrying more passengers than seats
• riding a mini-bike on a road
• entering a level crossing deliberately or recklessly when a train or tram is approaching
• police pursuit and emergency worker driving offences under the Crimes Act 1958

Drink driving under 0.10, any alcohol in a driver who must have a zero reading, and some drug driving offences count only if the driver committed another listed offence in the 6 years before.

Police tow the car to a holding yard or clamp it where it is. Under section 84C of the Road Safety Act 1986 they keep it for 30 days, or a little longer if the 30 days end outside business hours. The driver and the person the car is registered to get written notice of the release date and the costs. Within 48 hours, the officer who impounded it must give a senior officer the grounds, and the senior officer must have the car returned if those grounds were not reasonable.

Yes, even for a first offence. A reading of 0.10 or more is on the list of impoundable offences in section 84C of the Road Safety Act 1986, and police can hold the car for 30 days. Under 0.10, they can impound it only if the driver committed another listed offence in the 6 years before.

After the 30 days, section 84Q of the Road Safety Act 1986 lets the person the car is registered to collect it by proving who they are and their right to it, and paying the towing, storage, release and administration costs. At Melbourne yards, Victoria Police adds $13.50 a day after the release date. The costs are refunded or waived if the driver is found not guilty of the offence the car was taken for and is not found guilty of any other hoon offence from the same drive, or if no charge is filed or pursued within 12 months.

Yes, in two ways. A senior police officer can release it early where that is reasonable or necessary, and can waive the costs. Otherwise, under section 84O of the Road Safety Act 1986, anyone whose interests are substantially affected can apply to the Magistrates’ Court on the ground of exceptional hardship, after giving the Chief Commissioner of Police 7 days’ written notice of the grounds. Hardship to the driver does not count if their licence is suspended or disqualified for longer than the impoundment.

Part 6A of the Road Safety Act 1986, headed “Impoundment, immobilisation and forfeiture of motor vehicles”. Most people know it as the hoon laws. It lets police impound or immobilise a car for 30 days when they believe on reasonable grounds it was used in a listed offence, and lets a court order a longer impoundment, or forfeiture, when the driver has earlier offences on the list.

Yes, but only after repeat offending. If the driver is found guilty of a hoon offence and committed 2 or more others in the 6 years before, the court can order the car forfeited to the Crown under the Road Safety Act 1986 when police apply. Forfeited cars can be sold or crushed. The court can refuse forfeiture for exceptional hardship, but hardship to a driver who is suspended or disqualified does not count. With only one earlier offence, the court can order a longer impoundment but not forfeiture.