Driving offences and penalties

For demerit points recorded against body corporate or joint owner vehicles, read more on shared vehicles.

Check your demerit points

You can check your demerit points using any of the below options.

Online

You can check your demerit points online. You'll need your:

• NT licence number
• licence card number
• Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR) customer ID number.

Check your demerit points

Phone

You can check your demerit points by calling the MVR on 1300 654 628. You'll need your driver licence number.

NT Police

You can request a copy of your traffic infringement and conviction history from NT Police.

The report will display history from the NT only.

When demerit points expire

Demerit points apply from the date of the offence and remain active for up to 3 years.

If you get them across many offences and dates, the demerit points will expire based on each offence date.

Changing from one licence type to another

Your points don't reset when you change from one licence type to another.

For example: If you get 5 or more demerit points within a 12-month period while on your provisional licence, you'll have to serve a 3-month suspension even if you've already upgraded to an open licence.

After the suspension period

Once the suspension period is over, you can start driving again as long as your NT driver licence has not expired.

If it has expired, you must renew your licence.

If you lose your licence because of drink or drug driving, you must complete the Back on Track approved drink and drug driver course before you can reapply for a Northern Territory (NT) driver licence.

The course is made up of four mandatory three-hour sessions.

You must complete the full three hours of each session.

What units you need to study

The course units you will need to do will depend on:

• the offence you were convicted of - drink or drug driving
• the blood alcohol concentration you were convicted of - for drink driving offences
• if it was your first offence.

Convicted drug-driving offenders need to complete unit 1 only.

The table below tells you which course units you need to do.

Course conditions

Conditions that apply to participants during the course will be discussed with you at the time of booking.

You will be asked to sign a contract to show that you understand and agree to attend with these conditions.

Breath testing

You will be breath tested each day of the course and must return a 0.0% reading.

If you record any reading above 0.0% you will have to rebook another course.

How to apply

To register in the Back on Track drink and drug driver course, contact a course provider in your area from the list below.

You will need to pay to attend the course. The provider can tell you how much the course will cost and when payment needs to be made.

You should contact a provider as early as possible, as it can take several months to book a place.

After you have finished the course

After you have successfully completed the program, you will need to take your certificate of completion to the MVR to regain your driver licence.

Read how to renew your driver licence.

If you don't speak English well

If English is not your first language, advise the course provider who will discuss interpreter service options with you.

Contact

If you have any questions, contact an MVR office or email drivesafe.nt@nt.gov.au with your name, and phone number or email address.

You may have to go to court if you're caught drink driving in the Northern Territory (NT).

The courts will decide how long your licence must be disqualified for and whether you receive a fine or a jail term.

Your penalty will depend on:

• your blood/breath alcohol concentration at the time of the offence
• whether you have been previously convicted of a drink driving offence.

Your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is measured in a percentage per 100 millilitres of blood.

You breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) is measure in a percentage per 210 litres of breath exhaled.

To find out more about penalty units and other offences read traffic offences and penalties.

The details of penalties are in the Traffic Act 1987.

It's an offence in the Northern Territory (NT) to drive if you have a prohibited drug in your body, measured by police using a saliva or blood test.

Police can direct you to submit to a saliva or blood test in any of the following situations:

• you are pulled over to submit an alcohol breath test
• you are pulled over for the purpose of a random saliva test for drugs
• the officer believes you have committed an offence of driving with a drug in your body or driving under influence of alcohol or a drug
• the officer reasonably suspects you have been involved in a crash on a road, road-related area or public place.

A second offence for drug driving is when you have in the past been found guilty of:

• driving under the influence of alcohol - read about drink driving penalties
• driving under the influence of a prohibited drug
• failing to submit a saliva test for the purpose of detecting whether a prohibited drug is present in your body
• failing to submit a blood or breath test for analysis for the presence of alcohol in your body.

To find out more about penalty units and other offences read traffic offences and penalties.

For full details on the penalties read the Traffic Act 1987.

Hooning includes any of the following:

• participating in unauthorised street races and speed trials
• burnouts
• damaging the surface of a road or public place.

If you are seen by a member of the public or caught by police hooning, police can:

• immediately impound or immobilise your vehicle for 48 hours and give you a traffic infringement notice
• act on a written complaint from a member of the public and impound a vehicle for 48 hours and issue a traffic infringement notice.

You will:

• have to cover all costs associated with the removal, transport and storage of your impounded or immobilised vehicle
• not be allowed to cancel or transfer your vehicle registration while your vehicle is impounded.

Hooning: first offence

For a first hooning offence your vehicle will be impounded for 48 hours and kept at a place specified by police.

It may be immobilised through the use of wheel clamps and/or other devices.

You can't remove anything fitted to the vehicle while it is impounded and must not interfere, remove or tamper with any device used to immobilise it.

You will also be fined $220 and receive three demerit points. 

Hooning: second offence

If you are caught hooning again within a two-year period the court can impound your car for a further period of between three to six months. Additional fines and periods of imprisonment will also apply depending on the offence.

It is an offence to sell, strip or otherwise dispose of a vehicle before an impound or forfeiture order is made by a court.

Hooning: third offence

For a third hooning offence the court can forfeit and dispose of your vehicle. Additional fines or periods of imprisonment will also apply depending on the offence. 

Driver not the owner of the vehicle

Police have the authority to reverse a decision to impound a vehicle only if they are satisfied that at the time of the offence the vehicle was one of the following:

• a rental vehicle
• stolen
• used without the authority of its owner.

Anyone whose vehicle has been impounded and believes there is an error should contact NT Police.

Vehicle sold under a current impound or forfeiture order

It is unlikely a person will be sold a vehicle subject to a current impound or forfeiture order.

If the situation does occur you will be unable to transfer the vehicle into your name. Contact NT Police for further information.

Offences and penalties for cyclists in the Northern Territory are listed below.

You should also read about traffic offences.

In addition to traffic infringements that apply to all road users, there are some specific offences that apply to riders and passengers of motorcycles.

If you're driving in the Northern Territory (NT), you should know the traffic-related offences and penalties.

On this page:

• Driving an unregistered vehicle
• Driving without L or P plates
• Driving without your licence
• Mobile phones and visual display units
• Railway crossing
• Serious driving offences
• Seat belt
• Speeding
• Traffic light
• Penalty units

Driving an unregistered vehicle

It is an offence to drive an unregistered or uninsured vehicle.

In the Northern Territory (NT), compulsory third-party insurance is paid at the same time as the registration fee.

For more information, read Section 6 of the NT Road Users' Handbook.

If you do not register and insure your vehicle, you can be fined or may have to go to court.

You may not be covered by your private vehicle insurance if your vehicle is unregistered and you are involved in a crash.

Driving without L or P plates

Novice drivers and riders must display their L or P plates otherwise they will be fined and given demerit points.

Driving without your licence

You must carry your licence at all times when driving or riding.

If you fail to show your licence when requested by police, you could be given an on-the-spot fine.

Larger penalties could apply if you are caught driving while disqualified from holding a driver licence, or when your licence has been cancelled, refused or suspended.

Mobile phones and visual display units

You must not use a hand-held mobile phone or visual display unit while driving, even if you are stopped at traffic lights.

Railway crossing

When approaching a railway crossing, look and listen for trains, and slow down to a speed that allows you to stop quickly.

Serious driving offences

If you are convicted of a serious driving offence, you can be disqualified from driving by a court.

The court decides how long you should be disqualified for and you could even be sent to prison.

The following types of offences are heard in front of a Local Court judge and penalties can include a large fine, a prison term and disqualification from driving:

• not stopping after a crash in which someone was injured or killed
• driving while under the influence of alcohol or a drug
• driving without a valid licence for the type of vehicle
• driving while disqualified
• driving at a dangerous speed
• driving in a dangerous manner.

Heavier penalties may apply for second or subsequent offences.

Seat belt

As the driver of a vehicle, you must make sure all passengers are properly restrained in a seat belt or approved child restraint.

The following fines apply.

Speeding

Penalties for exceeding the speed limit include demerit points, fines and licence suspension.

Penalties increase depending on how many kilometres per hour over the speed limit you are going.

Traffic light

Red light cameras are used to photograph vehicles that go through a red light.

If you are sent a penalty notice for driving through a red light, you can do one of the following:

• pay the fine
• submit a statutory declaration to NT Police to declare the name and address of the person driving the vehicle at the time of the offence
• advise the NT Police that you want to have the case heard by a court.

Penalties for failing to obey red and yellow traffic lights include demerit points and a fine.

Penalty units

The amount you have to pay for your penalty is measured in penalty units.

To find out how much you have to pay, you will need to multiply the number of units by the penalty unit value.

Find out more about penalty units on the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice website.

All interstate and overseas drivers must obey the NT road Traffic regulations 1999.

Northern Territory (NT) Police and transport inspectors can give traffic infringement notices to interstate and overseas drivers.

Traffic infringement notices are:

• given to the interstate or overseas driver
• or sent to the registered or nominated vehicle owner.

Interstate and overseas drivers who receive demerit points will have their offence details and points history recorded by the Motor Vehicle Registry (MVR).

Interstate drivers will also have their demerit point offences sent to their home state or territory. Demerit point offences are only recorded by the MVR once the infringement notice has been finalised.

Interstate and overseas drivers who exceed the NT's demerit point action trigger may have their right to drive withdrawn in the NT.

Shared vehicles

If the vehicle has been hired out by a body corporate to an interstate or overseas driver, the body corporate will also receive the traffic infringement notice.

It is the responsibility of the body corporate or the owner to inform the NT Police about who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence.

Find out more about demerit points for shared vehicles.