Registration, roadworthiness and towing in NSW

Registration, green slips and pink slips

Before anything else, a car needs current registration, and that rests on two pieces of paper.

• A car must be registered before it goes on a road, and there is no grace period once the rego expires.
• The green slip is compulsory third party insurance. It pays for injuries to people, not dents in cars, so property damage needs separate cover.
• Drive an unregistered car and there is no compulsory injury cover, so you could be personally liable for anyone you hurt.
• Most light vehicles more than five years old need a pink slip safety inspection before rego can be renewed. A three year old car usually does not.
• Failed the inspection and the rego has since lapsed? The car stays off the road until it is repaired, passed and registered.

Forgot to renew? Even a short run to the shops in an unregistered car means driving with no compulsory injury cover.

Number plates and defect notices

Two things can make an otherwise sound car illegal to drive.

• Number plates must stay clean and readable, so wipe the mud off after a dirt road trip.
• A bike rack or tow bar must not hide a plate. If one does, fit a plate to the rack.
• A defect notice restricts a car until the fault is fixed and cleared, and that applies to any driver.
• Borrowing a car? Ask whether it has a defect notice, and read exactly what it allows before you take it out.

Keeping the car roadworthy

Roadworthy means every safety part of the car does its job.

• Every light and indicator, plus the horn, wipers and brakes, has to be working. A single blown brake light is enough to make the car unroadworthy.
• Each tyre, spare included, needs at least 1.5 mm of tread with no cuts or bulges.
• Set tyre pressures to the figure on the maker's placard, not the maximum printed on the tyre wall.
• Heavy load or long fast trip ahead? Many makers list a higher loaded pressure, best checked with the tyres cold.
• Soft tyres drag on the road and burn more fuel. Gentle acceleration and steady speeds save fuel and cut emissions too.
• With ABS, brake hard and hold the pedal down in an emergency. A pulsing pedal is normal, so do not pump it.

Wipers that quit in a dry spell still leave the car unroadworthy. Get them fixed before the rain arrives.

Loads and towing limits

A load or a trailer changes what the car can safely carry, and the rules set firm limits.

• Tie down every load, from tools in a ute tray to a mattress on the roof racks, so it cannot shift or fall.
• Tow one trailer at a time, never two together.
• Keep under the car maker's towing limit and under the tow bar's rating as well. Where they differ, the lower figure is your limit.
• The trailer needs its own registration, working lights and its safety chains connected.
• Nobody rides in a trailer or caravan while it is towed, not even to steady the load.
• Learners may not tow at all. On red Ps, the most you can tow is a trailer of 250 kg unloaded.

Driving with a trailer behind you

Once hitched up you are steering something longer and heavier, and it handles that way.

• Expect longer stopping distances and leave more room ahead.
• A trailer cuts inside the car's path on corners, so slow down and take turns wider to keep its wheels off the kerb.
• If the car and trailer together measure more than 7.5 metres, you count as a long vehicle.
• On country roads, keep at least 60 metres behind another long vehicle so overtaking traffic can pass one of you at a time.
• When a queue builds behind you, pull over where it is safe and let it through.