Border pass fine a sticking point
A DRIVER says she was warned by police she could lose demerit points and cop a hefty fine for displaying a border pass on her vehicle’s windscreen outside of checkpoints.
Queensland Police confirmed drivers can be hit with a $349 fine and have three demerits points knocked off their licence if officers believe passes are obscuring visibility.
NSW Police also have the power to issue $381 fines and drivers will lose three demerit points for the same reason.
The woman took to Facebook to share a “public service announcement”.
Her post quickly gathered momentum as alarmed commenters weighed in.
“I got pulled over by police this morning on Kennedy Drive,” she said. “He told me it is a $381 fine with three points off my licence for displaying my border passes in my windscreen as it’s an obstruction.
“The police officer said to display them only as you go through the border. He didn’t fine me and said they were trying to let people know before issuing the fine so I thought I would share this with this group.”
Tweed Heads Senior Sergeant Chad George said officers had seen drivers with “four and five” border passes stuck to the windscreen causing a safety issue. Sen-Sgt George warned motorists to only display it while border crossing and said officers were advising drivers to take passes down once they passed checkpoints.
“They do need to come off … it’s an offence if it’s obscuring your vision,” he said.
“We’re encouraging people to display it on the sun visor they can flip it down to cross the border and flip it up once they’ve gone through. NSW drivers face a $381 fine and three demerit points if it’s obscuring your vision,” he said.
Queensland Police stated: “Officers in the Gold Coast District have not issued a fine relating to the placement of a border declaration.”
“The Queensland Police Service has always adopted an approach of communication, compassion and compliance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Part of this has included educating drivers as to the most appropriate location for border passes to be displayed.”
QPS advised drivers to put them on their passenger-side visor, lower-left windscreen or passenger-side dashboard.
“Do not allow the pass to obscure the driver’s view. Do not display the pass when not required for a border crossing,” the service stated
“Generally, motorists have applied common sense and followed these instructions.”