Foreign diplomats caught flouting Australian driving laws — and refusing to pay the consequences

FOREIGN diplomats are flouting Australian road rules by racking up speeding fines, failing to strap babies into their seats and refusing to pay fines.

FOREIGN diplomats are flouting Australian road rules by racking up speeding fines, failing to strap babies into their seats and refusing to pay fines.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has sent more than 20 warnings to foreign embassies in the past two years about leadfoot diplomats speeding, running red lights and racing through give-way signs.

The disregard for traffic rules in the nation’s capital comes despite embassy staff being stripped of their diplomatic immunity when behind the wheel.

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Foreign diplomats are flaunting road laws in Australia and refusing to face the consequences.

Under a deal struck with foreign embassies two years ago, diplomats can now be fined and have their licences suspended.

Secret letters sent to Canberra embassies — obtained by the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws — reveal DFAT has sent at least 21 serious warnings about diplomats’ driving between July 2016 and March 2018.

The department refused to release some information, saying it was likely it would cause damage to Australia’s relationship with other countries.

Saudi Arabia was the worst offender, with its embassy sent six warnings.

The diplomats have been speeding, running red lights and even failing to strap babies into car seats.

The cases included:
A SAUDI diplomat racking up eight speeding fines in just four months and having his ­licence suspended;
ANOTHER Saudi who lost his licence for five months when he was twice caught driving with unrestrained children, failing to keep left and speeding;
A MALAYSIAN diplomat who was fined after driving through a red light and not restraining a baby;
AN Azerbaijan embassy employeewho was sent a warning after racking up eight speeding fines in less than three years, and;
DIPLOMATS from Romania, Hungary, Germany and Iraq losing their licences after failing to pay traffic fines.

DFAT has been contacting the diplomats’ governments to warn them of their people’s behaviour.

In a letter to the Saudi embassy, DFAT chief of protocol Lyndall Sachs said the embassy should counsel a diplomat to not drive while his licence was suspended.

“If he is found driving while his licence is suspended, this will raise serious questions about his suitability to remain a member of the Saudi Embassy,” the letter read.

Before September 2016, the Vienna Convention protected diplomats who broke local road rules from having their ­licence suspended or cancelled.

But under the new system, diplomats can have their licence suspended after incurring 12 or more demerit points, or they don’t pay their traffic fines for more than 10 weeks.

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