In Queensland, if you hold a motorbike learner's licence, then you are only allowed to ride a motorbike if you are being supervised by someone who holds an open motorbike licence. I believe this is the relevant parts of legislation from Section 5 of Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Driver Licensing) Regulation 2010:
I'm curious about what "driving under the direction of a person" means. It doesn't appear to be defined anywhere. For a car it's clear from section 5(11)(b) that the person has to be sitting next to the holder.
Most motorbikes have a "passenger seating capacity", but it's expressly forbidden elsewhere in the legislation for a learner to carry a passenger (section 64(1)). I guess that expresses an intent though that the person has to be in close proximity.
Suppose the person said to the holder, "Ride around the block, and come back here," or "Ride down to the supermarket carpark and practice there for an hour, and then come back here." Would that constitute "driving under the direction of a person"? In plain English I think it would.
Personally, I would like to practice riding my motorbike without direct supervision. I believe I could do so safely. I don't plan to do that, however, since I suspect things would not turn out well legally for me if I were caught, so I'm really just asking out of curiosity. What would likely happen in the above two scenarios if I tried to challenge a charge of learner driving without supervision?
(11) However, a holder who is authorised to learn to drive a vehicle
under this section or section 128(12) or 131(2) must not drive
the vehicle on a road unless—
And also Schedule 3B:under this section or section 128(12) or 131(2) must not drive
the vehicle on a road unless—
(a) the holder is driving under the direction of a person
who—
capacity—the person sits next to the holder.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.
who—
(i) holds an O type licence for the class of vehicle that
the holder is driving; and
(ii) has held an O type licence for the class of vehicle
that the holder is driving for at least 1 year; and
(b) if the vehicle is a vehicle with passenger seatingthe holder is driving; and
(ii) has held an O type licence for the class of vehicle
that the holder is driving for at least 1 year; and
capacity—the person sits next to the holder.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.
3B Learner driving while not under direction of licensed driver
The number of points for a contravention of section 4(7) or 5(11) of this regulation is 4.
I'm curious about what "driving under the direction of a person" means. It doesn't appear to be defined anywhere. For a car it's clear from section 5(11)(b) that the person has to be sitting next to the holder.
Most motorbikes have a "passenger seating capacity", but it's expressly forbidden elsewhere in the legislation for a learner to carry a passenger (section 64(1)). I guess that expresses an intent though that the person has to be in close proximity.
Suppose the person said to the holder, "Ride around the block, and come back here," or "Ride down to the supermarket carpark and practice there for an hour, and then come back here." Would that constitute "driving under the direction of a person"? In plain English I think it would.
Personally, I would like to practice riding my motorbike without direct supervision. I believe I could do so safely. I don't plan to do that, however, since I suspect things would not turn out well legally for me if I were caught, so I'm really just asking out of curiosity. What would likely happen in the above two scenarios if I tried to challenge a charge of learner driving without supervision?
