More than 1.2 million motorists in NSW will have a demerit point removed from their licence, after demonstrating 12 months of safe driving.
The 12-month demerit point trial, put in place by the NSW Government, ended on January 16. Now 1.24 million drivers who remained offence-free from January 17, 2023, will earn one demerit point back.
The scheme gave 1.7 million motorists the chance to have a demerit point erased, with 70 per cent of those initially eligible set to benefit.
Data from Transport for NSW shows there are about 114,000 drivers with more than ten demerit points on their licences, according to a snapshot taken this month.
The accumulation of 13 demerit points leads to an unrestricted licence being cancelled.
Motorists can expect to see the removal of a demerit point from their records from April.
The lag period allows for recent offence notifications to be received and some court matters settled before a final list of offence-free drivers can be finalised.
“Safety is the main aim of this trial. The scheme will be extended so anyone with an unrestricted and professional licence with at least one demerit point on their record on 17 January 2024 has a chance to be rewarded for driving safely in 2024,” said Premier Chris Minns.
“Our message couldn’t be clearer: drive safely and you’ll get a point scrubbed from your licence. The more drivers who follow the road rules, the more who will qualify to have a point removed in 2024 and keep our roads safe.”
The NSW Government also recently announced a road safety forum to be held in Sydney next month to lead the conversation on how to address the road toll, which has risen across the country.