15A   Second-stage provisional licences (provisional P2)

(1)  A licence (other than a motorcycle licence) that is issued to an applicant who has not previously held, for a period or periods totalling at least 36 months (not including any period of suspension), any of the following, namely:

(a)  a car licence, or

(b)  an Australian driver licence of a class considered appropriate by the Authority, or

(c)  a foreign driver licence of a type considered appropriate by the Authority,

      must (unless clause 15 applies) be a provisional P2 licence of class C, class LR, class MR or class HR.

(2)  A provisional P2 licence is to be issued for a period of up to 30 months.

(3)  However, the period for which a provisional P2 licence must be issued to a licence holder from another State, Territory or country may be reduced by the Authority by the amount of time that the person held the licence in the other State, Territory or country.

(4)  In addition to any other conditions that may be attached to the licence, a provisional P2 licence is subject to the condition that the holder must not drive any motor vehicle unless there is displayed conspicuously:

(a)  at the front and rear, or on the roof, of the vehicle, or

(b)  if the vehicle is towing a trailer, either:

(i)  on the roof of the vehicle, or

(ii)  both on the front of the vehicle and on the rear of the trailer,

      so as to be visible from ahead of and behind the vehicle, a sign, issued or authorised by the Authority, displaying the letter “P” in green on a white background.

(4A)  In addition to any other conditions that may be attached to the licence, a provisional P2 licence is subject to the condition that the holder must not drive a car-based motor tricycle.

(5)  The driver of an emergency vehicle, as defined in the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) (Road Rules) Regulation 1999 is exempt from the provisions of subclause (4) while driving the vehicle in the performance of his or her duty.

(6)  In addition to any other ground on which a licence may be cancelled or suspended by the Authority, a provisional P2 licence may be cancelled or suspended immediately by the Authority on any of the following grounds:

(a)  the holder of the licence is convicted of an offence under the Act or this Regulation or of an offence set out in Schedule 1,

(b)  the holder of the licence pays a penalty pursuant to section 15 of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 in respect of any such offence,

(c)  an order under Division 4 of Part 3 of the Fines Act 1996 has been made, or is taken to be made, against the licence holder in respect of any such offence,

(d)  the holder of the licence fails to observe any term or condition of the licence.

(7)  A person who holds a provisional P2 license is not eligible to apply for an unrestricted licence of the same class if:

(a)  the person has incurred 7 or more demerit points while holding the licence, and action under section 17 of the Act to cancel or suspend the licence as a consequence has not been taken or completed, or

(b)  the person has committed speeding offences, within the meaning of section 33 of the Act, while holding the licence, and action under that section to cancel or suspend the licence as a consequence has not been taken or completed.

(8)  If a provisional P2 licence held by a person is cancelled by the operation of section 26 of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999, the Authority may issue another provisional P2 licence to the person and require the person to hold the licence for a period of 24 months before being eligible to apply for an unrestricted licence of any class.

(9)  On the issue to a person of an unrestricted licence (other than a licence of class R), any provisional P2 licence previously issued to the person ceases to be in force.