Drink Driving Offences, Drink Driving Lawyers

Aston Legal Criminal Defence Lawyers > Driving Offences

Driving Offences

The courts have access to a broad range of penalties for traffic offences, and some of the penalties imposed are mandatory for certain offences. As such, defendants need the best possible legal advice and representation when defending traffic offences, if they are to obtain a satisfactory legal outcome. The criminal lawyers at Aston Legal are highly experience in driving and traffic matters, and have represented defendants on a wide variety of traffic offences in the past. Aston Legal can advise defendants on the best strategy in order to minimise the possible penalty. Among the matters with which we can assist you are:

Drink driving offences, ranging from novice-range to high-range Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol (PCA) offences. The following table is intended to give an idea about how PCA ranges are defined, and the possible penalties for offenders.

PCA offence	Penalties	First Offence	Second or subsequent offence
High range PCA (Blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more) OR Refuse a breath analysis, hinder or obstruct taking of a blood sample, wilfully alter the concentration in the blood.	Maximum court- imposed fine	$3,300	$5,500
	Maximum gaol term	18 months	2 years
	Minimum disqualification period	12 months	2 years
	Maximum disqualification period	Unlimited	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	3 years	5 years
	Immediate licence suspension	Yes	Yes
Mid range PCA (Blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 to less than 0.15)	Maximum court- imposed fine	$2,200	$3,300
	Maximum gaol term	9 months	12 months
	Minimum disqualification period	6 months	12 months
	Maximum disqualification period	Unlimited	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	12 months	3 years
	Immediate licence suspension	Yes	Yes
Low range PCA (Blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 to less than 0.08) OR Novice range PCA (Blood alcohol concentration over zero for novice drivers) OR Special range PCA (Blood alcohol concentration over 0.02 for special category drivers)	Maximum court- imposed fine	$1,100	$2,200
	Maximum gaol term	N/a	N/a
	Minimum disqualification period	3 months	6 months
	Maximum disqualification period	6 months	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	6 months	12 months
	Immediate licence suspension	No	No

Driving while under the influence of illicit drugs. The following table is intended to give an idea about how certain drugs are penalised under the law.

Offence	Penalties	First Offence	Second or subsequent offence
Drive under the influence of alcohol or another drug.	Maximum court- imposed fine	$2,200	$3,300
	Maximum gaol term	9 months	12 months
	Minimum disqualification period	6 months	12 months
	Maximum disqualification period	Unlimited	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	12 months	3 years
Drive with the presence of any of the following drugs in oral fluid, blood or urine: Cannabis Speed/ice MDMA or ‘ecstasy’	Maximum court- imposed fine	$1,100	$2,200
	Minimum disqualification period	3 months	6 months
	Maximum disqualification period	6 months	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	6 months	12 months
Drive with the presence of any of the following drugs in blood or urine: Morphine (unless proven for medicinal use) Cocaine	Maximum court- imposed fine	$1,100	$2,200
	Minimum disqualification period	3 months	6 months
	Maximum disqualification period	6 months	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	6 months	12 months
Refuse to provide oral fluid sample. OR Refuse or fail to submit to providing a blood sample when unable to provide an oral fluid sample.	Maximum court- imposed fine	$3,300	$5,500
	Maximum gaol term	N/a	18 months
	Minimum disqualification period	6 months	12 months
	Maximum disqualification period	Unlimited	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	3 years	5 years
Wilfully introduce or alter the amount of a drug in oral fluid or blood after being required to provide an oral fluid or blood sample.	Maximum court- imposed fine	$3,300	$5,500
	Minimum disqualification period	6 months	12 months
	Maximum disqualification period	Unlimited	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	3 years	5 years
Refuse to submit to taking of a blood or urine sample after involvement in a fatal crash. OR Wilfully introduce or alter the amount of a drug in blood or urine after involvement in a fatal crash.	Maximum court- imposed fine	$3,300	$5,500
	Maximum gaol term	18 months	2 years
	Minimum disqualification period	6 months	12 months
	Maximum disqualification period	Unlimited	Unlimited
	Automatic disqualification period in absence of court order	3 years	5 years

Common driving offences, including driving unlicensed, driving while disqualified or driving while suspended.
Speeding offences, including exceeding the speed limit by more than 10, 20, 30 or 45 kilometres.
Driving while using a mobile phone. It is illegal to drive a vehicle while using a hand-held mobile phone, or to drive while using a hands-free device if it causes you to lose control of a vehicle.
Seat belt penalties

Aston Legal will also be able to help you with a range of other traffic matters, such as:

Licence Appeals, including advice for taking the matter to Court. Penalties which may be appealed include suspension for exceeding the speed limit by more than 30 or 45 kilometres an hour, or suspension of a provisional driver for loss of merit points.
Quashing Habitual Offender Declaration. The Habitual Offender Scheme imposes penalties on people who accumulate 3 convictions for serious offences within a 5 year period.
Applications for the Interlock Driving Program. This program allows drivers convicted of serious alcohol-related offences to continue driving if they obtain an interlock license. The interlock device is an electronic breath-testing device which prevents a car starting if the driver fails a breath test.

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Driving Offences

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