Coronavirus: L-plater fined $1600 in Melbourne as Victoria police heed warning to learner drivers and NSW opposes view

Victoria Police has withdrawn a $1600 fine it issued to a learner driver who was penalised after being caught during a lesson with her mother.

Victoria Police has decided to withdraw a fine issued to a 17-year-old girl after she was penalised for travel that “wasn`t necessary”.

Learner drivers in Victoria were earlier warned it was against the law to take driving lessons unless driving for reasons under exemption.

Meanwhile, NSW Police gave an opposing view, allowing learner driver’s and their instructors to partake in lessons because “we consider that it would be a reasonable excuse...given that this is a learning activity that cannot be done from home”.

The learner driver copped the fine after being pulled over by police while going for a driving lesson with her mum in Melbourne’s southeast.

Sharee Reynolds decided it was good weather conditions on the weekend for her daughter Hunter, 17, to gain some more driving experience.

Sharee told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell that the pair drove from their home in Hampton to Frankston when they were pulled over by police.

RELATED: Follow the latest coronavirus updates

“We didn’t think for one minute that we would be doing anything wrong. We weren’t in contact with any person, we weren’t stopping anywhere, we weren’t planning on visiting any destination. We were just learning to drive in those conditions and we were pulled over by the police,” she said.

“She (the police officer) said we were too far from home and we would cop a fine, and that Hunter would be the person to receive that fine.”

Hunter copped an on-the-spot fine of $1652. Picture: 7 News/Channel 7

The 17-year-old was hit with an on-the-spot fine of $1652 for “non-essential travel”.

It prompted Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos to criticise the family, later adding in a press conference that “we all have to make sacrifices”.

“You should be staying at home at every opportunity. That doesn’t include taking your child on a learner driver experience,” she said.

South Australia Police said learner drivers would not be fined.

UPDATE: South Australia Police provide comment on learner drivers, give OK for lessons with family members. https://t.co/vaTrayf0XZ pic.twitter.com/QYajkrUiCq

— Matt Young (@MattYoung) April 7, 2020

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER: ‘IT IS ILLEGAL’

Victoria’s stage three shutdown means residents are allowed to leave the house under four circumstances; for food and supplies, medical care and care giving, exercise and work or education.

In a press conference, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton warned L-plater drivers that they shouldn’t be out and driving unless it was essential, but said he was considering withdrawing Hunter’s fine.

“The Chief Health Officer has stated that taking driving lessons is not one of those exemptions, so you can’t be out doing it,” he said.

“Although we are satisfied that that was a lawfully issued infringement, I’ve spoken with the Assistant Commissioner of the region and in conjunction with the member we’ll be looking at whether discretion should or could be applied to these circumstances.

“It can be but whether it is appropriate. All of those circumstances will be taken into account and whether a withdrawal occurs will be determined in due course.”

He said while he didn’t know “the exact details” of the case, he defended Victoria Police’s actions by claiming, “this isn’t driving around the corner, I think it was driving 40 minutes”.

“Are we able to send a message to the public without having to fine in this circumstance? I think the fact it’s been raised has given actual clarity to the circumstance so it’s quite possible to be withdrawn because the public is now aware they can’t be doing that activity unless it’s mixed in with driving to the shops, where you are exempt to go buy food, those sorts of things.

“You can’t have a direct driving lesson, the only way you could potentially have any driving practice is if you’re applying one of those exemptions that exist for you to go up to the shops to buy food and supplies.

“Going to work, education are also exempted. If you are going to one of those activities that are exempted you could potentially take your child to one of those, you cannot go out and go driving 40 minutes away.

“It’s against the law.

“What Victorians should be doing – the vast majority are – is saying, ‘I must stay at home unless I have to go out for one of those four essential reasons’, that’s the approach they should be adopting, all the time, up to and including Easter.”

For those asking - yes - we’ve seen a copy of the actual infringement notice handed yesterday to a 17yo L Plater having a training drive with mum in the rain yesterday. pic.twitter.com/VjZTkNJVni

— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) April 6, 2020

NSW POLICE GIVE OK TO LEARNER DRIVERS

Meanwhile, NSW Police has given an opposing view to their Victorian counterparts, telling its residents they will allow learner driver’s and their instructors to partake in lessons.

“Under the Public Health Orders, a person cannot leave their place of residence without a reasonable excuse,” NSW olice said in a statement.

“A reasonable excuse includes travelling for the purposes of work where you cannot work from home, so driving instructors can leave their house for their work – to teach people how to drive.

“We consider that it would be a reasonable excuse for a person to leave their house to receive driving lessons (either from a driving instructor or a member of their family), given that this is a learning activity that cannot be done from home and is akin to the listed reasonable excuse of travelling to attend an educational institution where you cannot learn from home.

“Learner drivers could also continue to drive with a supervising family member for any of the listed reasonable excuses for leaving the house – for example, driving to the supermarket.”

#COVID19 Frequently asked questions Q: Can I take a learner driver for a lesson? A: Under the Public Health Orders, a...

Posted by NSW Police Force on Sunday, 5 April 2020

POLICE ‘SMASHING IT ON THE ROADS’

When Sharee questioned the reason for the fine, she claims the officer said the police were “smashing it on the roads today”.

The mum slammed the fine as “ridiculous” and said a warning would have been enough.

“If for some reason she felt that we had done the wrong thing I think it would have had the same impact had she just given us a warning. It is a bit of a shock because we are not setting out to break any rules whatsoever,” Sharee told the radio host.

“I don’t feel like it was the right thing to do. Giving a fine to a 17-year-old is really quite ridiculous. I honestly didn’t think what we were doing was incorrect.”

Hunter told Mitchell she was “shocked” by the fine because she didn’t think she was breaking any laws.

“I was just shocked, because I obviously hadn’t done anything wrong, or so I thought. I was just really stressing,” she said.

Sharee said they intend to fight the fine in court.

We're LIVE with Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton and Police Minister Lisa Neville for a coronavirus update.

Posted by Victoria Police on Sunday, 5 April 2020

Share your story: [e-mail]