Should left-hand-drive vehicles be allowed on ACT roads?

At the moment, in the ACT, if your vehicle is younger than 30 years old and comes with a steering wheel on the left-hand side, it’s a rubbish truck. Literally.

Or you’re a diplomat or some sort of official on foreign service, or you’re testing a vehicle for the Australian market. That’s it.

Current regulations prevent anyone else from registering and driving a left-hand-drive vehicle on our roads.

But this is a massive lost opportunity, according to local car enthusiast Peter Bakos.

With the sponsorship of Canberra Liberals MLA Peter Cain, Mr Bakos has launched a petition asking for the government to allow for the registration of left-hand-drive vehicles of “any age” in the ACT.

“Permitting LHD vehicle registrations will encourage an acceleration of zero- and low-emission vehicles in the ACT and provide greater consumer choice for Canberrans,” Mr Cain posted to his official Facebook page.

Mr Bakos says the petition was inspired by one earlier this year when former Greens MLA Johnathan Davis called for the ACT Government to add Japanese-style numberplates to the mix available from Access Canberra.

Currently on offer in NSW and Victoria, these are narrower and taller than the standard Australian plate and fit inside the bumpers of many Japanese imports.

The petition was successful, with the government saying in June that the new number plates would be available to buy from Access Canberra sometime in 2025.

But there was also Mr Bakos’ own experience.

Last year, he imported two Soviet-era Trabants from Hungary, both obviously with the steering wheel on the ‘wrong’ side. As they’re more than 30 years old, it was easy enough to secure NSW historic rego through the Southern Tablelands Heritage Automotive Restorers Club.

But what about others?

“I’ve noticed there are so many low and zero-emission vehicles in North America, mainland Europe, as well as places from the Middle East, South Korea and Taiwan we don’t get here because they’re only built in left-hand drive,” he says.

“We place a strong emphasis on being a leader in zero-emission vehicles and I just feel like there are so many cars we’re unfairly locked out from having.”

Other right-hand drive jurisdictions, including the UK, Ireland, Japan and Malaysia, already allow LHD registration, but here in Australia, the Northern Territory is the only one.

Tasmania shares the same 30-year-old limit as the ACT, while in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, the car must be at least 25 years old. In Western Australia, it’s 15 years.

The petition needs 500 signatures to be referred to a Legislative Assembly committee for consideration, and since going live on 3 December, Bakos’ petition has received 16. But he’s confident there’s plenty of support out there.

“I’ve been making some posters with a scannable QR code to the online petition and putting them on concrete advertising columns around Canberra. Ultimately, I plan to attend car shows and car meets and hand my petition around.”

He’ll be at Summernats and the Canberra Festival of Speed, both in January, to get some pens to paper.

“I know it’s not going to be easy garnering support because there’s probably going to be some people who are completely against my idea or just simply don’t care, but I’m sure there are lots of people who support this who are out there somewhere.”

The petition closes on 29 May 2025.