NRS-21934 | Road Users’ Handbooks and guides

Full description

The Motor Traffic Act 1909 (Act No. 5 of 1909, also known as the Traffic Act) and pursuant Regulations established requirements to regulate owners and drivers of motor vehicles (section 3(i)). Rules were required to ensure safety and responsibility on the roads. The Act stipulated offences for breaches of those rules.

Further legislation was later enacted governing licensing and registration and included the Road  Transport  (Driver  Licensing)  Act  1998 (Act No. 99 of 1998) and the  Road  Transport (Vehicle  Registration)  Act  1997 (Act No. 119 of 1997). The Road Transport Legislation Amendment Act 1999 (Act No. 19 of 1999) Schedule 1 repealed the Traffic Act 1909, which was superseded by the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (Act No. 18 of 1999) and the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 (Act No. 20 of 1999) and operated along with Act No. 99 of 1998 and Act No. 119 of 1997.

The Road Transport Legislation (Repeal and Amendment) Act 2013 (Act No. 19 of 2013) repealed the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1998, the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management Act 1999 and the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Act 1997. It renamed and amended the Road Transport (General) Act 2005 (Act No. 11 of 2005), which had repealed the Road Transport (General) Act 1999.

The Road Transport Act 2013 (Act No. 18 of 2013) and amendments consolidated the statutory requirements for road users, to facilitate a uniform national approach to the regulation of driver licensing and vehicle registration. The Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) commenced in NSW under the Heavy Vehicle (Adoption of National Law) Act 2013 (Act No. 42 of 2013); heavy vehicle handbooks and guides continued to be produced by RMS for NSW heavy vehicles.

The items are generally arranged chronologically by date of publication. Early booklets have an imposed series of classification numbers 15.13 with a numeric series of numbers following, for example, 15.13.3. Some booklets have alphabetic descriptors added, for example, 15.13.5 (C). The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system is also used.