Explained: Qld’s bizarre rules and fines over the years
Queensland has some truly bizarre rules – and even more bizarre battles have been fought over them.
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Queensland’s roads have enough obstacles to make anyone mad … and that’s just the traffic.
Add in a number of bizarre ways you can get fined and the state has no shortage of angry motorists.
These are some of the bizarre laws and even more strange battles across Queensland in recent years.
QLD’S STRANGEST DRIVING RULES
From interrupting funeral possessions to playing an instrument in a car, some of Queensland’s strangest driving offences have been revealed – and they come with a hefty price tag.
Here are the wacky Queensland driving laws you should know before your next trip:
Throwing an apple core out of the window: $575 and two demerit points
Despite it being biodegradable, throwing an apple or banana peel out of the window is still considered as dropping “injurious matter on a road.” This Queensland law sees litterers forking out the largest bill in comparison to other states.
Cutting through a service station: $349 and three demerit points
Thinking of skipping the huge line or traffic by cutting through a servo? Think again. This tempting short cut is illegal as it falls under the “drive on or over footpath” road rule.
Failing to leave room for a bike: $431 and three demerits
Failing to leave enough room when passing a bicycle will land you in hot water. Three demerits and a $431 fine, You’ll be wishing you rode your bike to work instead.
Using your horn inappropriately: Maximum fine of $2611
A friendly beep in traffic or waving goodbye to a mate could warrant a fine of anywhere between $161 to $2611. Legally, a horn is only allowed to be used to warn other drivers of your position on the road, warn animals or as part of an antitheft or interlock device.
Disrupting a funeral procession: Maximum fine of $2,660
Queensland enforces the harshest penalty out of the states for disrupting a funeral procession with the potential for some drivers to receive a $2,660 fine.
FULL LIST OF BIZARRE TRAFFIC RULES
QLD’S STRANGEST LAWS
From messy tow truck drivers to playing an instrument in a car and weapons concealed in walking sticks, some of the strangest laws in Queensland have been revealed.
Here are 10 of the state’s weirdest rules – and the punishments you can face for them.
Instruments
You or your passenger can’t play a loud instrument while in the car. The size of the instrument doesn’t matter … only how loud it is. A piano would be absolutely fine (ignoring the obvious size issue), but a clarinet? Nope you’re out of luck.
Maximum penalty: A fine of $1437
Source: Transport Operations (Road Use Management — Road Rules) Regulation 2009
Whips
You cannot use a whip to annoy (or excite) someone while standing on, or walking across, or driving on a road. If you have no plans to annoy anyone but want to carry a whip around you may end up facing a fine if you go anywhere near a road.
Maximum penalty: A fine of $1437
Source: Traffic Regulation 1962
Walking stick swords
Concealing a sword inside of a walking stick is illegal. You’re not very likely to break this law very often but in case you’re tempted: it could land you in jail. You are also required to store your walking stick sword safely.
Maximum penalty: Two years in jail
Source: Weapons Categories Regulation 1997
PARKING FINE BATTLES
‘How is a person parking expected to know?’
A Brisbane man had his parking fine rescinded after a David and Goliath battle with the Brisbane City Council that lasted more than a year.
Paul Sutherland was stung with the $91 fine in May, 2017, after overstaying the 15-minute time length in the Lang Park traffic area in Milton on an event day.
Mr Sutherland claims he saw no signage as he approached the area that indicated it was an event day, leading him to believe he could park his car.
He spent the next 12 months fighting the fine, including writing to the Lord Mayor, challenging the fine with the disputes commissioner and asking the director-general of the Transport Department about the validity of the parking signs in the area.
It was eventually withdrawn in July 2018 – just 24 hours before Mr Sutherland was scheduled to go to court, with a council spokesman conceding it was rescinded due to a “technical matter”.
“I retraced my steps into the area and I drove straight in (and) didn’t go past any signs,” he said.
“It’s very easy to enter the area without being notified as a motorist you’re in the area. How is a person parking expected to know what is meant by event day or when an event is on…?”
‘I am unable to walk that distance’
A Toowoomba woman copped $574 in parking fines after taking her 14-year-old son to a basketball tournament on the Gold Coast in November 2022.
Tina Laughton was fined for parking on the grass at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre on both Saturday October 29 and Sunday October 30 when no other parking was available.
“The only parking available on both days was out on the road,” Ms Laughton said.
“I am unable to walk that distance due to my foot issues hence had no choice but to park on the grass. I cannot park in disability parking due to the difficulty in obtaining a permit.”
Ms Laughton said she was especially annoyed to receive fines for parking on successive days when no notices were placed on her vehicle.
“At the very least why wasn’t a ticket put on the first day so I would know for the second day,” Ms Laughton said.
“I would have got a friend to drive the car up the road for me.”
Council previously said that 68 drivers were fined at the 510-space Coomera Indoor Sports Centre on the Saturday Ms Laughton was issued a ticket.
The Champion Basketball School of Queensland tournament was taking place at the time, attended by thousands of people.
Ms Laughton said she was particularly annoyed to have been so heavily fined after spending money on four nights accommodation and at northern Gold Coast attractions.
FULL LIST OF BIZARRE PARKING FINE BATTLES
SPEED CAMERA FINES BATTLES
‘Passenger was wearing seatbelt’
A Brisbane woman in February 2024 claimed she has been wrongly fined $1100 after her passenger was caught on camera allegedly not wearing his seatbelt.
Posting the image to Reddit, the woman says her partner, who was her passenger at the time, was wearing his seatbelt, though it was not visible because it was under his hoodie.
“As you can see in the photos the seat belt is worn correctly but her jumper is covering the seatbelt across her chest,” she said.
“You can still see it buckled in and you can see the shoulder strap coming out of the jumper.”
‘What the actual f**k?’
A Gold Coast mother in October 2022 learnt about a little known traffic infringement rule the hard way after she was fined more than $5,000 for wearing her seatbelt incorrectly.
Lauren Hyland was snapped by new hi-tech traffic monitoring cameras with her seatbelt under her arm instead of on top, an offence that would usually see the guilty party fined $1,078 and docked four demerit points.
But instead of the usual fine, Ms Hyland was hit with a whopping $5,390 fine because she was behind the wheel of a business car instead of a personally registered vehicle at the time of the incident.
“What the actual f**k,” Ms Hyland wrote on social media alongside a snap of her fine.
“Because my seatbelt was under my arm, not on top. $5,390!”
In Queensland, traffic infringements charged to company vehicles are five times the dollar amount private car owners would pay to accommodate for the lack of a demerit point scheme for businesses.
Brisbane woman fights fine after caught vaping
A Brisbane woman in December 2022 claimed she had been wrongly fined after being caught on a covert traffic camera using a vape.
Lillian Morrow, 19, said she was “outraged” after she was wrongly accused of using her mobile phone, resulting in a $1078 fine and four demerit points.
“Quite clearly holding my trusty vape and my phone is on the passenger seat,” she said.
“I elected for the matter to be heard in court almost a month ago, but haven’t heard anything.”
Miss Morrow was travelling north on the Pacific Motorway in August when she was photographed by an overhead camera at the Parkwood Coomera Overpass.
According to Queensland legislation, vaping (considered smoking) is illegal in a vehicle if someone aged 16 or under is present.
Passenger’s ‘high-risk’ behaviour
Debate raged on social media in October 2022 after a photo emerged of a motorist’s bizarre seatbelt fine caught on a roadside mobile phone detection camera.
A photo of the busted motorist went viral after being shared on popular Facebook group Phone and Seatbelt Detection Camera Locations Queensland.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads said that the passenger’s behaviour would have resulted in an infringement notice in relation to “passengers not wearing a seatbelt or wearing it incorrectly”.
The motorist was hit with a $1078 fine and lost four demerit points after the camera caught them on the Pacific Motorway at Upper Coomera.
Social media users debated over what the passenger was caught doing.
“Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh surely not … OMG,” said one.
“Did someone fall asleep on your lap? Is that what your being fined for?” one wrote.
A DTMR spokesman described the passenger’s actions as “high-risk behaviour” that could have lasting consequences including a serious or fatal crash.
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