QLD – legal placement of Sat Nav

[whynot]

I have heard this story now from a number of different sources. Apparently, a few weeks back, the Police were conducting a blitz on the Bruce Highway just north of Brisbane. The story goes that they were booking people who had the Sat Nav mounted on the windscreen, allergy for obstructing vision. Someone who was booked rang a local radio station to complain (or warn) and the story has since spread.

I have had a read of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 , and the closest that I can come is section 299. My reading of section 299 is that a Sat Nav falls under the category of “navigational or intelligent highway and vehicle system equipment” and does not apply. The legislation appears silent on mounting Sat Nav on windscreens.

Can anyone please shed some light on the Queensland rules for mounting Sat Nav?

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299 Television receivers and visual display units in motor vehicles
(1) A driver must not drive a motor vehicle that has a television receiver or visual display unit in or on the vehicle operating while the vehicle is moving, or is stationary but not parked, if any part of the image on the screen—
(a) is visible to the driver from the normal driving position;
or
(b) is likely to distract another driver.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.
(2) This section does not apply to the driver if—
(a) the driver is driving a bus and the visual display unit is, or displays, a destination sign or other bus sign; or
(b) the visual display unit is, or is part of, a driver’s aid; or
Examples of driver’s aids—
• closed-circuit television security cameras
• dispatch system
• navigational or intelligent highway and vehicle system equipment
• rearview screens
• ticket-issuing machines
• vehicle monitoring devices