Fines for driving too slowly in Australia

In Australia, the speed limit is considered the maximum safe speed to travel at in ideal conditions. This means that if the roads are wet, the light isn’t great, or even the wind is a bit strong, you need to slow down. However, while it may not be illegal to drive under the speed limit, driving too slowly is.

There is a point when slowing down becomes excessive and impedes the flow of traffic, this is seen as a hazard, and is often referred to as an obstruction. The consequences for this differ throughout Australia with potential fines reaching as high as $7040.

Below, you’ll find more information surrounding this road rule and how it applies to each state and territory.

Can you be fined for driving too slowly in Australia?

Throughout all of Australia you can be fined for driving to slowly for the conditions and creating an obstruction to other drivers or pedestrians.

Australian road rules are designed in a way that allows us to predict the manners in which other drivers will behave in certain scenarios. For instance, individuals making a U-turn gives way to oncoming traffic, and conversely, oncoming traffic will continue driving, knowing that the one u-turning will not suddenly pull out.

Similarly, maintaining a speed in line with the speed limit and conditions allows traffic to flow steadily, prevents people from zipping in and out of traffic at varying speeds, and prevents tailgating. If you do slow down, it allows other drivers to know that there is a hazard ahead. However, if you are travelling abnormally slow for the conditions it disrupts the flow of traffic, can distract other drivers who are trying to find the hazard that has caused you to slow down, and encourages overtaking.

We know that not all drivers drive in the correct manner, and it does already disrupt the concept of predictable behaviour, but for the most part, it does seem to have an effect.

Fines for slow driving by state

NSW

According to Road Rule 125 “a driver cannot unreasonably obstruct the path of another driver or a pedestrian”¹ this means that if a driver is travelling too slowly for the conditions, then they could face a fine of 20 penalty units, which are currently $110 in NSW² , that is a fine up to $2200.

QLD

According to Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009, driving abnormally slowly for the conditions constitutes as unreasonably obstructing other drivers and pedestrians and can result in a fine of up to 20 penalty units³. The penalty units in Queensland until June 2024 are worth $154.80⁴, therefore a fine for this offence could be up to $3096.

Vic

According to Victoria’s current Road Safety Road Rules a driver cannot drive abnormally slow for the conditions in such a way that obstructs another driver or pedestrian⁵. Doing so can result in a fine of up to two penalty units⁵, which are currently worth $192.31 in Victoria⁶, meaning that the total fine could be as much as $384.62.

WA

According to Part 11, Division 1, of the Road Traffic Code 2000, a driver cannot obstruct another driver or pedestrian by driving unreasonably slowly⁷. However, it doesn’t explicitly state what the penalty is⁷.

SA

In South Australia, the fine for unreasonably obstructing the path of a driver or pedestrian is $156, this means that if you are driving too slowly for the conditions it could be considered that you are breaking this road rule and may have to face the fine⁸.

Tas

According to current state legislation “Road Rules 2019” a driver cannot unreasonably drive slowly in a manner that obstructs other drivers and pedestrians and doing so can incur a fine up to five penalty units⁹. Currently, a Tasmanian penalty unit is worth $195¹⁰, meaning the total fine for driving too slowly could be as high as $975.

NT

According to Traffic Regulations legislation in the Northern Territory, a driver can be fined up to 40 penalty units for driving abnormally slow and obstructing traffic¹¹. A penalty unit is currently worth $176 in the Northern Territory¹²; therefore you could be fined as much as $7040 for driving too slowly.

ACT

According to Part 1.12A of the Australian Capital Territory’s Road Transport (Road Rules) Regulation 2017, unreasonably obstructing a driver or pedestrian can incur a fine of 20 penalty units¹³. This means that if you are driving unreasonably slowly for the conditions, it is possible for you to be found breaking this road rule and being fined up to $3200 as a penalty unit is currently worth $160 in the ACT¹⁴.

Exceptions to the rule: when can you drive very slowly?

It’s important to remember that these fines only apply for when you are driving abnormally slow for the conditions. Slowing down is essential when road conditions are less than ideal.

There are a lot of factors that come into play when discussing ideal road conditions, and as such there are many factors that require you to slow down when they are not ideal.

Rain, wind, light, snow, ice, road condition, other road users, and many other things need to be considered when selecting a safe speed to travel and wiping off 15% of the speed limit while the roads are wet does not place you in the category for travelling abnormally slow, but going 10km/h in a 50mk/h zone because of light rain does.

Discover more about safe driving in Australia

In Australia there are fines in place for exceeding the speed limit and unreasonably traveling below the speed limit, but what’s important to takeaway is that neither of these will affect you if you remember that the speed limit is the maximum speed you can travel in ideal conditions and that everything else requires you to slow down appropriately.

If you would like to brush up on your road safety knowledge, please check out our Driver Education Course.

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