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Archived
Drink Driving
News
3
December 2004 The High Court has
refused special leave to appeal in the
matter of Korybutiak v. DPP which was a
case disputing the validity of a
traffic infringement notice on the
basis that it did not properly set out
the driver's rights to object to the
notice. The High Court determined that
the case was not affected by sufficient
doubt and did not result in any serious
injustice to warrant the High Court
spending time on the matter.
20
June 2004 The decision of Halepovic
was 'reversed' this week by the Bracks
Labor Government when it passed
legisation that now makes it possible
to convict a person of refusing a
breath or blood test even if no breath
test device or doctor exists. Under the
new law drivers must somehow comply
with a request to provide a sample of
breath (or blood) even when the breath
test device (or doctor) is not present
or available, else face at least 2
years mandatory licence loss. Don't
blame me, I voted Greens.
1
March 2004 The Court of Appeal
allowed the Crown appeal in the matter
of Korybutiak, and the driver is now
seeking leave to appeal to the High
Court. The application to leave to
appeal will most likely be heard in
September 2004 in Melbourne.
30
January 2004 The Supreme Court
today dismissed the DPP's appeal
against Korybutiak. This confirms that
nearly all licence loss infringement
notices issued in Victoria to date are
invalid. This impacts on people who
have lost their licence because of an
on-the-spot-fine for speeding or drink
driving, as well as any demerit points
incurred for exceeding the speed limit
by more than 25kmh. DPP is expected to
take the matter to the Court of Appeal.
The police are now issuing corrected
infringement notices.
18
November 2003 The Age has published
an inaccurate story on the result of
the Halepovic Appeal. For 40 years it
has been the law that a driver is not
under any obligation to provide a
sample of breath for analysis unless a
breath test machine is present (basic
common sense, actually). The Halepovic
decision confirms that the same
principle applies to police requests to
allow a doctor to take a sample of
blood, i.e. if the doctor is not
present, there is no obligation on a
driver to comply with the request
(because the request can not be
complied with).
30
July 2003 Today a charge of driving
whilst suspended was defeated when the
court declared invalid the Infringement
Notice that was alleged to have
triggered the licence suspension.
Drivers should seek advice on the
validity of their infringement notices
especially if the notices result in
licence loss from drink driving or
speeding. (The DPP has appealed this
case. Decision handed down 30 January
2004, appeal was dismissed).
15
December 2002 Mandatory licence
loss is now imposed on drivers who
drive at 25kmh or more over the speed
limit (previously it was 30kmh over).
See s.28(1). Mandatory licence
suspension periods for speeding have
dramatically increased. If you are
travelling at 45kmh over the posted
limit, you now lose your licence for at
least 12 months, previously it was 4
months. See Schedule 5 Road Safety
Act.
3
June 2002 Judge Hanlon today
pleaded guilty to drink driving with a
reading of 0.18%. The sentence included
18 months licence disqualification.
This is a typical sentence in Victoria
for that offence, is the minimum
disqualification period available in
Victoria, and also Australia's longest
minimum disqualification period for
0.18%.
13
May 2002 Repeat drink driving
offences committed after this date may
result in the driver having to install
an alcohol interlock device if the
driver is relicenced following the
disqualification period. See
s.50AAA
1
February 2002 The Age reports that
police want to confiscate motor
vehicles of repeat drink drivers
following an alleged 44% increase in
the number of offences since Christmas
2000. Yet in 2000 police generally did
not book people for drink driving
unless their reading was over 0.07%.
Also, they allowed a 0.02% grace zone,
in part to avoid arguments about
inaccuracies in the machine. Since
December 2000 the legal limit has been
reduced by 20%. In 2000 it was lawful
to drive with a reading of 0.05%. One
year later it was illegal to drive when
over 0.04%. Drivers are now charged for
exceeding 0.04%, with no grace zone
allowed. The 44%increase in offending
arises because the police now book all
drivers who read at 0.05%, 0.06% and
0.07% when previously none of these
drivers were booked. P-platers at 0.01%
and 0.02% are being booked, whereas
previously they were not. The vast
majority of these drivers are first
timers, not repeat offenders. A graph
of readings of motorists booked for
drink driving will show large numbers
of drivers with low readings, and far
fewer drivers with high readings. Add
to that the increased resources put
into detection of these offences. The
44% increase in drink driving offences
is occuring at the bottom end of the
scale. The police are tapping into new
markets not previously exploited! The
increase is in the detection and
prosecution of the offences, not in the
incidence of offending. There is no 44%
increase in drink driving above 0.10%
or in respect of repeat offenders. My
experience indicates it has
significantly decreased. The police use
a bare figure of 44% to call for the
confiscation of people's cars. Go
figure...
21
December 2001 Mandatory sentencing
laws were strengthened in Victoria
today. Courts must not allow people to
keep their licences unless their
reading is .05% or .06% and it is their
first offence, in which case they will
incur 10 demerit points instead. You
will no longer be able to keep your
licence if your reading is between 0.07
and 0.10. Here is the current version
of the Road Safety Act and here is the
parliamentary bill containing the
amendments. Drink drivers who keep
their licence now incur 10 demerit
points.
31
October 2001 The Age reports that
the Victorian Labor Government intends
to pass legislation tightening
mandatory sentencing for drink driving
offences in this State.
More...
28
June 2001 Victorian drink driving
laws were tightened today. In an
attempt to bring Victorian laws into
line with some other states, the
Victorian parliament has reduced the
blood alcohol limits at which offences
are committed for drink driving. At the
same time the Victorian parliament has
restricted the discretion in the courts
to allow persons found guilty of drink
driving to continue to drive following
a drink driving offence. Unlike most
other Australian states, Victoran
courts must now impose mandatory
sentencing of licence loss of 6 months
for all drivers who are .10% or more.
It is now an offence to drive while
over 0.04%. Previously it was 0.05%.
Victorian drink drive laws will never
be brought into line with other States
while the penalties applied to
Victorian drivers are far stricter than
in any other State and Victorian courts
have far less sentencing discretion in
drink driving cases than do courts in
other States.
6
Apr 2001. A bill amending the Road
Safety Act proposes to make it an
offence to drive with a BAC of 0.05%
(presently the offence is "more than
0.05%" i.e 0.06% or more). It will also
impose mandatory licence cancellation
for a reading of 0.10% (presently you
can retain a licence if 0.10%).
Probationary drivers will be subjected
to an absolute zero alcohol limit,
whereas presently they do not offend if
their blood contains less than 0.0100
grams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.
The explanatory memorandum says the
changes are intended to reverse the
effect of the Supreme Court decision of
Blanksby v. Barnes.
1
Dec 2000. Amendments to the Road
Safety Act, which prohibit driving
while impaired by a drug, take effect.
The new impairment assessment procedure
is contained in the Government Gazette.
An analysis of the amendments is
here.
Drink
Driving on the increase - The Age
3.9.99
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