The short answer
One serious offence, or two less serious ones, leads to a mandatory advanced seminar and extends the probationary period to four years. The seminar is not optional: failing to attend costs you the licence. The fine and the points arise separately, under the usual schedule.
The post arrives weeks after the incident and runs to two letters: the penalty notice, and the order from the licensing authority. The second is the important one, and it is the one more often overlooked.
What counts as serious
- Crossing a red light
- Exceeding the speed limit by 21 km/h or more
- Insufficient following distance at higher speeds
- Alcohol or drugs at the wheel — during probation from the first drop
- Using a mobile phone while driving
- Failing to give way, and leaving the scene of an accident
What follows from it
On a first serious offence the authority orders an advanced seminar and extends the probationary period to four years. Two less serious offences together have the same effect as one serious one. If another follows after the seminar, there is first a formal warning with a recommendation to seek traffic-psychological counselling; on the next one the licence is withdrawn. It is a sequence of steps, and it runs independently of the points register.
The conversation usually starts with the fine — and only in the second sentence does it emerge that there was another letter, still unopened on the table. The deadline inside it is the part that must not be allowed to pass, and it is the only reason we always ask for the date on this subject before we say anything else.
What happens in the seminar
- It takes place in a small group, spread over several sessions
- There is also an observed drive, which is not assessed and is not a test
- It is run by instructors specifically authorised for it; the authority or a call to us will tell you who
- At the end you receive a certificate of attendance to submit — no pass, no fail
The deadline is the decisive part
The order names a date by which the certificate has to be submitted. Miss it and the licence is withdrawn — not because of the original offence, but because of the seminar you did not attend. That is the point at which a fine turns into starting over.
If you are starting again after a withdrawal, that is a different route from a first course of training — ask us via contact before you enrol. How the probationary period itself works is set out separately.
What to take away
The expensive part of an offence during probation is not the fine, it is the second letter. Open that one first, write the deadline down, and book the seminar before you start being annoyed about the notice.