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Defending
Drink Driving Offences in Victoria
Drink driving laws in
Victoria are constantly getting
tougher. The most common way to
save your drivers license in a drink
driving case is to plead not guilty and
be acquitted. In most cases, it is
impossible to avoid license loss after
pleading guilty. If you need to save
your drivers license you will need to
plead not guilty and you will need to
get good legal advice. Please read the drink
driving FAQ
as it answers many common questions on
contesting drink driving offences.
Police usually give
drink drivers a traffic
infringement notice
if they are first offenders under 0.10%.
All other offenders are usually served
with a charge
and summons
to appear in court. If you are found
guilty and your license is cancelled,
you will then have to apply to a court
to be relicensed.
You will also have an interlock
condition imposed on your licence.
In most cases,
defending the charge in court is
essential if drivers want to avoid
losing their driver's license or
suffering an interlock. Sean
Hardy has successfully defended many
drivers charged with traffic offences
and saved them from mandatory licence
loss. Every person charged with a drink
drive offence has a chance to keep their
driver's licence if the case is handled
properly. The chance of success is not
affected by how high the reading is, how
many prior offences you have or your
personal circumstances.
Victoria's drink
driving laws are strict liability
offences. They carry harsh mandatory
licence loss penalties which leave no
room for forgiveness, excuses or second
chances. Often that operates unfairly,
so getting quality legal assistance is
often the only way to oppose the
draconian nature of these mandatory
penalties. The absence of any court
discretion and no option for
drive-for-work licences makes it
necessary to win in court if your
livelihood is at stake. If you need to
avoid licence loss you should get expert
legal advice at the earliest
opportunity.
Any driver with an
alcohol concentration at or over 0.05%
will need to win in court if they wish
to keep their licence. All second
offenders need to win their case in
court if they want to keep their
licence. People who receive a notice of
immediate
suspension
of driver's licence are able to appeal
against the suspension to regain their
licence pending the court hearing.
Before you decide what
to do with your case, you should read
the pages on breath
tests,
fines,
the
drink driving FAQ,
penalties
and
legal
advice
because those
pages explain your options clearly and
answer all common questions.
The first step to
getting legal advice is to contact me to
make an appointment. The best time to
make an appointment is as soon as you
receive a court date, or immediately if
your licence is suspended prior to the
court case.
I have a thorough
knowledge of all Victoria's drink
driving laws
and I regularly challenge the
interpretation and effect of these laws
in the Supreme Court. I specialise in
winning drink driving cases. Pleading
guilty is a last resort because that
usually results in license cancellation.
Although most of my work involves
defending drink driving charges, I also
act for people who want expert
representation in court on a plea of
guilty, in order to keep licence loss
periods, fines and jail terms to a
minimum.
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