Caught Doing 10km/h Over in NSW (2026): The Exact Fine, 1 Demerit Point, and Why It Doubles on Long Weekends
If you were caught doing 10km/h or less over the limit in a regular NSW zone on a full (unrestricted) car licence, the penalty notice is $149 and 1 demerit point. That's the base case. The same 10-over becomes $246 and 2 points inside a school zone, wipes out a P1 licence in one hit, and the point count doubles on gazetted long weekends — even though the dollar figure never moves.
"Ten over" feels trivial. A GPS drifting, a downhill patch, a 45 zone you thought was 50. But NSW treats low-range speeding as a real offence with a fixed price, and the exact consequence depends on four things that have nothing to do with how fast you were actually going: your licence type, whether you were in a school zone, whether it was a double-demerit period, and — spoiler — not whether a camera or an officer caught you. Let's work through each with the current Revenue NSW figures.
The base case: 10km/h over on a full licence
NSW groups speeding into five bands: 10km/h or less, over 10, over 20, over 30, and over 45km/h. The lowest band — "exceed speed by not more than 10km/h" under Road Rule 20 — is the one almost everyone lands in. For a car on an unrestricted licence outside a school zone:
- Fine: $149 (penalty level 2A)
- Demerit points: 1
- Subject to double demerits: Yes
One point sounds harmless, and on a full 13-point allowance it nearly is — you'd need to do this thirteen times in three years to lose your licence on points alone. The catch is that the point sits on your record for three years, and it stacks with everything else. It's the double-demerit and school-zone versions where "10 over" stops being cheap.
Marcus, full unrestricted C-class licence, driving to work. A fixed camera clocks him at 55km/h in a signposted 45km/h zone in Parramatta on a normal Tuesday. That's exactly 10km/h over — the lowest band.
The calc:
- Offence: exceed speed limit by not more than 10km/h (Rule 20), light vehicle → penalty level 2A
- Fine: $149
- Demerit points: 1 (out of his 13-point allowance)
- Not a school zone, not a double-demerit weekend → no multipliers apply
Result: a $149 penalty notice and 1 point. Marcus now has 1 of 13 points used, expiring three years from the offence date. He pays within 28 days (or elects to have it heard in court). Nothing else changes — no suspension, no licence condition.
Same 10 over, inside a school zone: $246 and 2 points
Every NSW speeding offence carries a higher fine and extra demerit points when it happens in an active school zone. School zones run 8:00am–9:30am and 2:30pm–4:00pm on gazetted school days, with the limit dropping (usually to 40km/h). Do the identical 10-over there and the offence jumps from level 2A to 3A:
- Fine: $246 (up from $149)
- Demerit points: 2 (up from 1)
Same driver, same 10 over — but a school zone at 3:15pm. Marcus rolls through a 40km/h school zone at 50km/h during afternoon pickup. Still just 10km/h over, still a full licence, still a car.
- Offence: exceed by not more than 10km/h in a school zone → level 3A
- Fine: $246
- Demerit points: 2
Result: the exact same driving behaviour costs $97 more and one extra point purely because of where and when it happened. And school-zone speeding is a double-demerit offence too — see below.
On P-plates: the fine is identical, the points are not
Here's the widely-repeated myth worth correcting. People assume a P1 or P2 driver pays the same fine and gets the same points as a full-licence holder, just against a smaller allowance. Half right. The fine is identical — $149 for the same non-school-zone 10-over. But NSW hands learner and provisional drivers 4 demerit points for that same low-range offence, not 1.
That matters enormously, because the demerit allowances are tiny:
| Licence type | Demerit allowance (3 yrs) | Points for 10-over (non-school-zone) | Outcome of one 10-over |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted (full) | 13 | 1 | 1 of 13 used — fine only |
| P2 provisional | 7 | 4 | 4 of 7 used — over halfway to suspension |
| P1 provisional | 4 | 4 | Hits the cap → suspension |
| Learner | 4 | 4 | Hits the cap → suspension |
Priya, P1 provisional licence. She does the same 55-in-a-45 as Marcus — 10km/h over, normal road, no school zone.
- Fine: $149 — identical to the full-licence driver
- Demerit points: 4 — not 1
- P1 allowance: 4 points
Result: one single low-range speed puts Priya at exactly her 4-point limit, triggering a licence suspension (minimum 3 months for provisional and learner drivers). A P2 driver in the same spot would burn 4 of their 7 points on one offence. The dollar amount is the same as a full-licence driver's — the licence consequence is night and day.
Double demerits: 1 point becomes 2
On declared long weekends and holiday periods — Australia Day, Easter, Anzac Day, King's Birthday, Labour Day, and the Christmas–New Year stretch — NSW runs double demerits. The rule is precise and often misunderstood: only the demerit points double. The fine does not.
So the base 10-over becomes:
| Scenario (car, 10km/h over) | Normal fine | Normal points | Double-demerit points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full licence, normal zone | $149 | 1 | 2 |
| Full licence, school zone | $246 | 2 | 4 |
| P1 / learner, normal zone | $149 | 4 | 8 |
Marcus again — but Easter Saturday. Same 55-in-a-45, same camera, same $149 fine. Because it's a gazetted double-demerit period, his 1 point becomes 2. Fine stays at $149. For a P1 driver during the same weekend, the 4 points would double to 8 — quadruple their entire 4-point allowance in a single low-range offence.
This is why "it was only 10 over" is a dangerous thought on a long weekend: the point that would've been a rounding error on a full licence becomes two, and on P-plates a routine holiday drive can end a licence. Check the Transport for NSW demerit points page for the current year's declared periods before you drive.
Camera or police — does the amount change? No.
A common assumption is that a camera fine is "just money" and a police-issued fine "comes with points." In NSW that's not how it works. The penalty — both the dollar figure and the demerit points — is set by the offence, not by how it was detected. A fixed camera, a mobile camera, an average-speed (point-to-point) camera, or an officer with a radar all produce the same $149 and 1 point for a full-licence 10-over.
The one real difference is administrative, and it only bites with cameras:
- Police-issued: the officer identifies you on the spot, so the fine and the demerit points attach to you directly.
- Camera-detected: the penalty notice goes to the registered operator of the vehicle. If you were the driver, points apply to you. If someone else was driving, you must formally nominate them (a statutory declaration) so the points move to the actual driver — otherwise, as the operator, you can be held liable.
NSW removed, then reinstated, warning signage on mobile speed cameras — but the penalty itself has never depended on whether you saw a sign or a flash. Ten over is ten over.
Putting it all together
| Situation (car, exactly 10km/h over) | Fine | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Full licence, normal zone, normal day | $149 | 1 |
| Full licence, school zone | $246 | 2 |
| Full licence, normal zone, double-demerit | $149 | 2 |
| Full licence, school zone, double-demerit | $246 | 4 |
| P2 provisional, normal zone | $149 | 4 |
| P1 / learner, normal zone | $149 | 4 (= suspension) |
| P1 / learner, normal zone, double-demerit | $149 | 8 (= suspension) |
- $149 and 1 point is the base NSW penalty for a full-licence car doing 10km/h or less over, outside a school zone (Revenue NSW schedule, as at 1 July 2025).
- School zones lift the same offence to $246 and 2 points — no faster driving required.
- P-platers pay the same $149 but cop 4 points, which alone meets the P1/learner 4-point cap and triggers a minimum 3-month suspension.
- Double demerits double the points, never the fine — 1 becomes 2, 4 becomes 8 — on gazetted long weekends and holidays.
- Camera vs police makes no difference to the amount. The only wrinkle is that camera notices go to the registered operator, who must nominate the real driver for the points to move.
Frequently asked questions
Is the fine for 10km/h over in NSW really $149?
Yes — for a light vehicle (car) on an unrestricted licence, outside a school zone, the "exceed speed by not more than 10km/h" penalty is $149 and 1 demerit point, per the NSW Government / Revenue NSW speeding-offences schedule as at 1 July 2025. Heavy vehicles attract a higher fine ($443+). Amounts are indexed and can change, so confirm against the official NSW speeding-offences page.
Do I get demerit points for a camera-detected 10-over, or just a fine?
You get both — the same 1 point a police officer would issue. In NSW the penalty is fixed by the offence, not the detection method. The only difference is that a camera notice is sent to the vehicle's registered operator; if you weren't driving, you must nominate the actual driver so the points attach to them.
Why do P-platers get 4 points for the same 10-over when full-licence drivers get 1?
NSW assigns learner and provisional drivers a higher demerit count (4 points) for low-range speeding, even though the fine is the same $149. Combined with the small 4-point allowance for P1 and learner licences, a single low-range speed can reach the suspension threshold in one hit.
Does the fine double on a double-demerit weekend?
No. During NSW double-demerit periods only the demerit points double — the dollar fine stays the same. A full-licence 10-over stays $149 but the point count goes from 1 to 2; on P-plates the 4 points double to 8.
How many demerit points can I have before losing my licence in NSW?
The thresholds over a rolling 3-year period are: 13 points for an unrestricted (full) licence, 7 for P2, 4 for P1, and 4 for a learner. Reaching your limit results in a suspension — a minimum 3 months for provisional and learner drivers.
How long does the 1 demerit point stay on my record?
Demerit points in NSW count for 3 years from the date of the offence (not the date you paid). After that they no longer count toward a suspension, though the offence remains in your driving history.
Know the number before the flash
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