135Unlawfully interfering with, or detaining, vehicles etc.#

A person must not, without the owner’s consent—

(a) drive or otherwise use a vehicle on a road; or
(b) wilfully interfere with—
(i) any mechanism or other part of, or equipment attached to, a vehicle or tram on a road or elsewhere; or
(ii) the harness or other equipment attached to an animal on a road; or
(c) detain a vehicle parked or stopped on a road or elsewhere by—

(i) attaching an immobilising device to the vehicle; or
(ii) placing an immobilising device near the vehicle.

Maximum penalty—40 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment.

For subsection (1)(c), the owner’s consent must be given expressly.

Subsection (1) does not apply to a police officer exercising the officer’s powers or performing the officer’s functions, or a person acting under a lawful direction of a police officer.

Subsection (1)(c) does not apply to the sheriff or another person authorised by law to execute a warrant of execution against the vehicle.

Subsection (1)(c) does not apply to an enforcement officer under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 who is enforcing an immobilisation warrant under that Act.

This section does not limit the exercise of a power over a vehicle that a person may have as the holder of a security interest in the vehicle.

The common law remedy of distress damage feasant in relation to trespass on land by a vehicle is abolished to the extent that it is inconsistent with subsection (1)(c).

However, subsection (5) does not limit a right a person may have to remove, or cause to be removed, from land a vehicle parked or stopped on the land.

Subsection (6) does not apply to a person who has detained a vehicle in contravention of subsection (1)(c).

In this section—

detain: includes immobilise.
immobilising device, for a vehicle, means—: (a) wheel clamps; or (b) another device that effectively detains the vehicle.
interfere with: includes damage, destroy and remove.
owner of a vehicle: includes a person in lawful possession of the vehicle.
security interest: has the meaning given by the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cwlth), section 12.