Digital driving licence - make sure you take some precautions
Everyone is excited about this, and we are happy about it in my house because my ADHD husband can lose things, but before you jump on board please be aware of a few things. The penalty for driving without carrying your driving licence is $2,200.
You don't have to physically hand your phone to the police officer (section 61C of the Act), it is enough for you to show them and they will scan the QR code. You do have to hold it in a productive fashion, or refresh the screen or otherwise assist them to see it. Bear in mind that if you are in an awkward spot, on the side of the road, with the sun glaring off of your screen it may not be possible for you to hold it in a way that ‘assists them to see it’ they may have to hold it themselves.
You probably do have to hand it to another drive if you are in an accident, you cannot demand that they have a QR code and failing to provide details after an accident is a criminal offence. Before you ditch the physical licence think about whether you want to have to hand over your phone after an accident.
It does not count as a driver's licence if your screen is damaged in any way. Keep your physical licence with you or buy one of those drop proof, water proof cases.
If you don't have data you don't have a licence. Allegedly the App will allow you to access your licence without data if you don't log out of the App, however it is your responsibility to carry your licence, not the App's responsibility. Additionally we all know that technology is not fool proof. If you have spotty data don't use this app, if you do use the app don't log out.
Do not (repeat, do NOT) download this unless your phone is pass code protected. If you lose your phone you will lose far too many personal details. Losing your ID as well could be really costly.
Do not download this app onto a work phone, the phone is often the first thing they grab when you are fired. If you lose your job you also lose your ID, until you can sort it out.
If your phone tends to go flat you should not do this. That seems obvious but it needs to be said, if you are constantly carrying a charge cord and recharging then this app is not for you. ‘My phone was flat’ is not a defence to failing to carry your licence.
Depending on what is happening the Police Officer or the other driver may end up holding your licence (in this case, your phone), see the first two dot points above. You should have guided access enabled on your phone so that you can open the licence and then lock the phone screen. (For those of you who aren’t parents, guided access is a thing you can enable on your phone, usually before you hand your phone to a child, so that they can use the app that you have opened for them but they cannot exit the app or open anything else on the phone).
If you are texting and driving this is going to become fairly obvious when the friend texts you back while the police officer is looking at your phone. Simple answer here, don't text and drive.
If you want more information about digital licenses you can check out the information from the government below.
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