Chapter 13:11
This is the Act the other road laws hang from. It says that nobody drives on a road without a licence for the class of vehicle, sets the minimum ages, makes third party insurance compulsory, gives traffic signs and police directions the force of law, and defines the driving offences and their penalties. The regulations on this site, from the licence codes to the vehicle equipment rules, are made under it.
Part II is the one a learner meets first. Section 6 makes driving without a licence an offence, with prison of six months to five years for a commuter omnibus or a heavy vehicle. Section 7 sets the ages: sixteen for any motor vehicle, and eighteen for a heavy vehicle, a construction vehicle, or a public service vehicle other than a bus or commuter omnibus. Section 7A bars anyone over seventy from driving a commuter omnibus or a heavy public service vehicle.
Section 7 in this copy gives twenty five for a bus or commuter omnibus. The licensing regulations have since set thirty for one carrying passengers for hire, under SI 10 of 2025, so learn thirty.
Section 2 defines the words the test uses. A heavy vehicle is a motor vehicle of more than 2,300 kg net mass, which is why code B stops there. Part VIII holds the offences: speeding (section 50), driving without due care (51), negligent or dangerous driving (52), reckless driving (53) and driving over the alcohol limit or under the influence (54 and 55).
Penalties in the Act are given as levels, such as a fine not exceeding level six. The money each level stands for is set by the standard scale of fines, which changes, and the police deposit fine schedule is on its own page.
The VID papers, the licence codes and the rules these laws set, as questions with the reason behind each answer.
