Motorcycle Riding, Alcohol, Other Drugs and Medical Conditions in Victoria

Alcohol

The handbook explains why the limits are so strict. Alcohol and riding is dangerous because it:

• weakens your judgement of risk, distance and speed
• affects your sense of balance
• gives you false confidence, so you take more risks
• makes it hard to concentrate or do more than one thing at once, so you may not see or react to hazards
• slows your reaction time, making a crash more likely

If you are a drink driving offender who has been disqualified, you will likely need an alcohol interlock fitted to your motorcycle once you get your licence or permit back. It stops the bike starting if the rider has been drinking. More on the car-driver side: zero BAC and drink driving and drink driving penalties.

Other drugs

• Any drug, legal or illegal, can make you drowsy, dizzy, weak or less able to ride.
• Ask a pharmacist or doctor whether your medicine could affect your riding.
• Mixing drugs with alcohol or other drugs can be especially dangerous.
• Cannabis is a major concern: it may reduce skills, cause lapses in attention and reduce your ability to process information.
• Police may do roadside saliva tests for speed or ice (methamphetamine), cannabis (THC) and ecstasy (MDMA). Having these in your blood or saliva is an offence, and penalties include licence loss.

The handbook's tip: if in doubt about a drug you have taken, do not ride.

Medical conditions

If you have a condition that might affect your riding, such as diabetes or epilepsy, you must check with VicRoads whether you can hold a permit or licence. If you develop one after you are licensed, you must tell VicRoads. See also the licence steps and risks for new riders.

Based on The Victorian Rider Handbook (2023, Department of Transport and Planning) and the VicRoads motorcycle pages. This guide covers Victoria: other states and territories have different rules, and rules change from time to time, so check vicroads.vic.gov.au for the latest.