Road Traffic Act 1961

This section applies if an authorised officer believes on reasonable grounds that a light vehicle on a road is—

causing serious harm, or creating an imminent risk of serious harm, to public safety, the environment or road infrastructure; or

causing or likely to cause an obstruction to traffic or any event lawfully authorised to be held on the road; or

obstructing or hindering, or likely to obstruct or hinder, vehicles from entering or leaving land adjacent to the road.

The officer may direct the driver or operator of the vehicle to do either or both of the following:

to move it, or cause it to be moved, to the extent necessary to avoid the harm or obstruction;

to do anything else reasonably required by the officer, or to cause anything else reasonably required by the officer to be done, to avoid the harm or obstruction.

A person commits an offence if—

the person is subject to a direction under subsection (2);

the person engages in conduct that results in a contravention of the direction.

In proceedings for an offence in relation to the contravention of a direction under subsection (2)(a), it is a defence if the person charged establishes that—

it was not possible to move the vehicle concerned because it was broken down; and

the breakdown occurred for a physical reason beyond the driver's or operator's control; and

the breakdown could not be readily rectified in a way that would enable the direction to be complied with within a reasonable time.