Advice

What is the darkest legal window tint Australia? Generally speaking, tinting laws in Australia are very similar in every state but the darkest legal tint accepted Australia-wide it 35 per cent VLT on front side windows, and 20 per cent VLT on any windows behind the driver.

Is it illegal to have sex in a car in Australia? A better way to phrase this question would be: Is it illegal to have sex in public? That’s because whether you’re in a car or not, as far as the law is concerned, is kind of secondary. The real concern is whether you’ve exposed yourself (or somebody else) in a public place.

Is it illegal to drive naked in Australia? In terms of specific statutes, the answer is no, it’s not defined as illegal, but perhaps that’s because driving naked - particularly in a country like Australia where seat leather can reach the kind of temperatures that could damage dangling genitalia - is so obviously a bad idea that no one bothered to codify it.In terms of indecent exposure more generally, however, not to mention general etiquette, driving naked is definitely frowned upon - and possibly more so by police than other drivers.Laws regarding driving naked in Australia do not specifically exist, although they are effectively part of catch-all statutes such as indecent exposure laws.Displaying your private parts on your private property, out of public view, is completely legal in the eyes of the law and will not land you in a prison jumpsuit to cover up your exposed organs. However, once the added element of vehicular transport enters the equation, things get messier than Argentina's God of football.Yes, your car is your private property, but roads are, by their inherent nature, a public place and one you’d be exposing yourself in if you chose to drive on them naked.Aside from the obvious question of why you would want to do this - your dog ate your clothes, you just forgot - there’s also the question of a reasonable person’s point of view.From a distance, or even sitting next to one in traffic, a naked person might simply look like they are going shirtless, at least in this country, where you are not allowed to remove the doors of your Jeep Wrangler and drive around in a naked vehicle.Still, it’s important to note that to drive naked is to risk a violation of public indecency that, depending on the state, can result in a hefty fine, jail time, and looks of horror and disgust from elderly strangers.Again, the public would have to see that you’re being indecent for this to happen, and while I’m not suggesting it, I think it’s quite likely you could get away with a bit of butt-naked driving if you were careful, particularly when getting in and out of the vehicle.Avowed nudists reading this article are, by now, no doubt wondering how the punishments for public indecency differ from state to state.In NSW the Summary Offences Act 1988 defines the offence of exposing genitals in a public place or a school as punishable with up to six months’ jail time or a fine of $1100. Specifically it says that “a person shall not, in or within view from a public place or a school, wilfully and obscenely expose his or her person”.If a driver is found to have broken this law, and this will very much come down to the discretion of a police officer, they really could go to jail.Victoria similarly prohibits such activity and defines 'public places' more extensively, specifically referring to roads as a space of public use, and the maximum punishment for exposure in those places is a more hefty penalty of two years of prison time.Intentional displaying of nudity in Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia - or performing an indecent act, in the opinion of the arresting officer - is similarly punishable with fines up to $2500, or a year in prison in certain cases where the exposure is defined as being “aggravated” (I assume this refers to cases of naked road rage, which sound very ugly indeed).What about driving shirtless? Say, on a return trip from the beach (and let’s face it, Australia can be very hot and some people can barely walk around the block these days without taking their shirts off in summer) or a session of Turkish Oil Wrestling (wrestling oil can ruin clothes)?It is here that we run into the question of context, because police officers are mostly not going to throw the law book at someone for driving shirtless, but if they are pulled over - and quite possibly this is more likely if the shirtless driver is a woman - the reason they give for doing so will be quite important in establishing context. Driving topless might be allowed, on a hot day, but it might draw more attention to you in the middle of winter.So, what have we learned? Nude driving can get you into trouble with the police, might get you fined or jailed, but this is quite unlikely.Researching this article forced me to purge my internet search history (seriously, be careful what you click on when researching driving naked).Can you drive naked? Sure, if you’re willing to accept the possible associated public indecency risks. Should you drive naked? That’s the more serious question and one you’ll have to ponder yourself.

Can I use dishwashing liquid to wash my car? Well, you can, but you could also technically jump out of an aeroplane with no parachute. But both are pretty bad ideas.

You never love to see them in your rear-view mirror, but you do like knowing they’re out on the roads keeping us safe. I’m talking, of course, about police cars.

Is it illegal to drive a car registered to a deceased person?The short answer is: yes. The law may differ slightly from state to state/territory but essentially the same principle applies: if the registered owner/operator of a vehicle dies, the registration must be transferred to a new registered operator or cancelled before it is driven on a road or a road-related area (i.e. a driveway, service station or shopping centre).You are not legally allowed to drive a deceased person's car if it is still registered to the deceased person. Again, for those in the cheap seats, if the registered owner/operator of a vehicle dies, the registration must be transferred to a new registered operator or cancelled before it is driven on a road or a road-related area (i.e. a driveway, service station or shopping centre).It doesn’t matter if you’re family, a family friend, the spouse or the favourite child of the deceased person and/or the executor of their will, if you’re caught driving a car that is registered to a deceased person then you may face a fine or penalty.Just don’t do it.You’re much better off transferring ownership of the vehicle or vehicles in question if you have the authority to do so via the will or probate documents.In order to transfer ownership of the deceased’s vehicle, head to the appropriate service centre in your state or territory, taking with you proof of identity, the deceased individual’s death certificate and a range of other official documents, which may vary depending on your state/territory and your circumstances.In NSW, you are required to visit a NSW service centre in person and show proof of your identity, the deceased person’s death certificate, a completed Application for Transfer of Registration, and either the death certificate (original or copy), newspaper death notice, online newspaper notification (the live link), a letter from a solicitor or the NSW Trustee and Guardian advising that the person is deceased, a completed Advice of Death – PDF together with a proof of identity document of the deceased additional documents depending on whether there is a will or not – and – or in the case of a missing person presumed deceased, a 'Presumption of Death Order' issued by the Supreme Court (original or copy).If there is a will and ownership of the vehicle in question is being transferred to the beneficiary or executor, a copy of the relevant section of the will or probate document, or a signed, written advice from a solicitor or NSW Trustee and Guardian must be submitted to the appropriate government department and the document or documents must name the new operator as the beneficiary or executor. So, the onus is on you.These processes are in place to avoid fraudulent or malicious dealings with the deceased person’s estate and unauthorised transfers by a registered operator on the basis that they’re deceased when they’re not. Naughty.Also, take note. Stamp duty and transfer fees do not apply, in NSW at least, if the vehicle is transferred into the name of a beneficiary or executor nominated in the will, the administrator of the estate, the surviving joint operator, the next of kin, or a different proven beneficiary in a subsequent transfer.For example, if the registration is transferred into the name of a person, and then subsequently transferred to a different proven beneficiary.Fees may apply if there is a change of registration usage – for example, changing from pensioner concession to private usage.If the vehicle is disposed of or sold without being transferred to a person named in a will or other acceptable document, the new operator must meet the usual requirements to transfer the registration.Don’t forget, any licence or licences of the deceased person must be cancelled.If there is no will, the vehicle in question may be transferred to the administrator of the estate or to the surviving joint operator or next of kin. Both of those circumstances require their own range of official forms, including a Statutory Declaration and other supporting documents.Not really – there are only slight variations in terms of what’s required of the party or parties who are responsible for the cancellation or transfer of ownership of the deceased person’s vehicle as per their duties with regards to the execution of the will or probate documents. (Yep, that’s my version of over-worded legalese.)It doesn’t matter if you’re the spouse or child of the deceased person and no matter whether you reside in, or the deceased resided in, NSW, Vic, Qld or any other state or territory, the law is the law: if the registered owner/operator of a vehicle has died, the registration must be transferred to a new registered operator or cancelled before it is driven on a road or a road-related area (i.e. a driveway, service station or shopping centre).If you need to move the vehicle before registration is transferred it will have to be towed or transported.

Buying a car privately seems like the smarter, cheaper way to go about making what is, for most of us, the second biggest purchase we make in our lives, but when you’re talking about that much money, and handing it over to a complete stranger, how does that actually work?

Is it illegal to flash your headlights to warn of police? It depends on the circumstances, the state or territory in which you are driving at the time and whether you’ve flashed your high beam headlights or just your headlights.

Who is responsible if a car is damaged by a pothole?You would imagine that damage caused to your car as a result of poor or negligent road maintenance would be paid for by the body charged with maintaining those roads, right? Certainly that was once the expectation.But think again, because at a point in history where our roads haven’t been as neglected for many decades, the authorities are doing their level best to make it the car owner’s problem.It should be a simple question: Who is liable for damage caused by potholes? It was once the case that the state authority or local council responsible for a particular stretch of road would pay up if a lack of repairs – usually a giant pothole – caused damage to a car – most usually its wheels and tyres, but often suspension as well.That’s kind of still the case on paper, but the reality is the car owner is likely to be fixing the car at their own cost thanks to a range of loopholes drafted into recent legislation.As such, you need to take each case of vehicle damage on its own merits because you could wind up dealing with a variety of state-based bodies or one of the hundreds of local councils who are technically responsible.Either way, the recent spate of extreme weather events, combined with cash-strapped post-Covid governments has meant getting the responsible authorities to pay for your car’s damage when you hit an unrepaired crater in the middle of the road, is more difficult and less likely than ever before.When it comes to getting out of paying a pothole damage claim QLD is a great example. For a start, you have to fill in an online form and provide details of the location, photos of the damage to your vehicle and receipts or quotes for repairs.Then, to make your claim stick, you are responsible for proving that the Department of Transport and Main Roads failure to repair the damage was a contributor to the damage on your car. Exactly how you do this is not part of the explanation.The Dept then references the state’s Civil Liability Act (2003) to determine whether the department should have known about the problem, what resources were available at the time and whether another problem took precedence over the pothole that smashed your front wheel and shredded the tyre.Because of this, it’s impossible to suggest whether a particular claim will be accepted or not, because of the nebulous nature of these clauses.Then there are the department’s other get-out-of-jail cards. These include denying claims for damage due to debris, and damage to tyres (or their rims) with an aspect ratio of 40 per cent or less. And this, despite the fact that many new cars are fitted legally, from the factory, with 40-series tyres or smaller. Oh, and if a weather event is deemed extreme, damage from that won’t be covered, either.Should you be from down south and thinking about lodging a pothole damage claim Victoria right now also has the loopholes coming thick and fast. Cash-strapped as the state is, road maintenance has been one of the victims, yet the state is doing more and more to avoid taking responsibility for this.Just for starters, the department responsible has changed the dollar-value threshold of the damage before it will step in. Indexed to the Consumer Price Index, the threshold for the 2024/25 financial year stands at $1640.That is, unless you have a damage bill for greater than this amount, the department is not going to cough up. Interestingly, replacing a wheel and tyre (surely the most common claim) would generally be less than this threshold, getting the department conveniently off the hook.Even when the damage surpasses the threshold, the payout would only be for the amount of the damage that is above and beyond that threshold.So, if your car sustains $1650 worth of damage and you can get the department to admit responsibility, your damages payout will be $10. And since a pothole flat tyre reimbursement is all most people are looking for, that threshold is a distant target.To lodge a pothole damage claim NSW style, you’ll also need to jump a few hurdles. You’ll need to download a PDF form from the Service NSW website, then add your personal details including a photocopy of the licence of the person driving at the time of the damage.You also need to include a map or diagram of the incident and location, the details of the vehicle, the details of the damage (including photos) and copies of at least two quotes for repairs as well as the repair invoice. And then you can wait for up to six weeks for the authorities to okay or deny your claim.The bottom line in all of this is that you’ll be expected to do the legwork in getting any claim for damages paid on this basis.Claiming pothole-created damage from the state government versus claiming pothole damage from council coffers will be a different process across the country as the rules dreamed up by each body will vary.At last count, there were 537 local councils across Australia, all of them potentially responsible for fixing potholes and the vast majority of them employing pothole repairers either as staff or contractors.This comes down to who makes the rules, and who you need to deal with will relate to who is responsible for fixing potholes on that section of road. And since the GFC and Covid, when all departments are feeling the pinch, the clauses are getting ever more pernickety.But there must be more to it than that? Probably, and as well as a general tightening of budgets around the country, many councils who once employed road crews would have calculated that the average pothole repair cost was less than paying out a car owner’s claim.But these days, when so much roadwork is conducted by contactors maybe that’s not the case any more. And if you can wriggle out of the claim and wait until the pothole can no longer be ignored, perhaps that’s the financially sound – if not them morally correct – approach at work.If you do wind up on the wrong end of a pothole with a damaged car, the first thing to do is make sure everybody is safely off the road (assuming the car is no longer driveable). You can then elect to either change the tyre yourself (if no other damage has been done) or call the road patrol cavalry.From there, you need to document all the damage and keep notes, quotes and receipts for any rectification work. Finally, it’s then up to you to contact the relevant department (once you’ve worked out who that is) and put your case forward. Good luck.You may find an independent inspection of the car by your local workshop or state motoring club is a good idea, too, but make sure you get a written report of the damage to present as part of your case. Don’t forget to take photos of the pothole at the scene.The other thing you need to do before embarking on this damage claim journey is make sure the damage is indeed, pothole inflicted.There are plenty of ways to damage a car’s suspension or wheels, but if the damage coincided with hitting a giant crater in the fast lane, that’s the big clue in how to tell if pothole damaged car parts are what you’re looking at versus general wear and tear. Perhaps the impact was recorded on your dashcam? Even better.Meantime, it’s important not to confuse pothole damage with debris damage. And who is responsible for road debris damage? Another debatable question.If the debris is the actual bitumen parts of a pothole being flung everywhere by a leading or oncoming car, you probably have a case. But if the debris is just general rocks and stuff thrown up by other cars, or junk falling from a tradie’s ute and then struck by your car, you’re more likely to be on your own.Potholes are most likely to develop after rain. The water gets under the bitumen, loosening the road base and allowing the top layer of bitumen to break up.By the time a few hundred cars and a dozen heavy trucks have further pummelled that same section of road, potholes are being born. And until pothole repairs have been carried out, it’s only going to get bigger. Any driver who clobbers it at that point is very likely to suffer car damage.

What is the fastest P-plate legal car in Australia? There’s no hard and fast winner when it comes to what is the fastest legal p-plate car, as each state has differing rules about what is allowed.