Is it Illegal to Sleep in your Car While Drunk?
By Sahar Adatia and Jimmy Singh. There’s a good reason why you might find yourself asleep in your car: You had a bigger night out than expected and now you’re stuck, unable to drive home. So, you consider the options… Of course, you could just get a cab. But cabs are expensive. Then there’s ...continue reading
New Penalties for Low Range Drink Drivers: On-The-Spot Fines & Immediate Suspensions
As of 20 May 2019, a police officer can issue an on-the-spot fine of $561 and an immediate 3-months driver licence suspension period to people who are caught driving with a low-range concentration of alcohol level on a NSW Road if it is their first offence. The low-range concentration of alcohol level is where ...continue reading
What are the Police Powers to Conduct a Random Breath Test?
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in Victoria has suspended a $4 million road safety funding it had previously granted to Victoria Police. This came following revelations from an internal police investigation that over a 5-year period, over 258,000 breath tests were falsified by police officers in attempts to return negative readings. It is reported ...continue reading
Can Eating Hot Cross Buns Put You Over the Drink Driving Limit?
By Sahar Adatia and Jimmy Singh. Every year, the early sale of hot cross buns in supermarkets across the country sparks a whole lot of hullabaloo and one hell of a debate about when exactly is “too early” to be putting the popular Easter bakery treat on the shelves. This year, months out from ...continue reading
The Law on the Honest and Reasonable Mistake of Fact Defence
Before outlining the honest and reasonable mistake of fact defence, it is important to get a general understanding of ‘absolute liability offences’ and ‘strict liability offences’. Absolute Liability Offences An absolute liability offence is any offence which there is no requirement to have a guilty mind (‘mens rea’) at the time of committing the ...continue reading
The Law and Penalties for Mid-Range Drink Driving in NSW
New South Wales Police did almost 5 million road side breath tests just last year. New drink driving laws were announced earlier this year, effectively introducing on-the-spot fines of $561 (penalty notice) and immediate 3-month licence suspensions to anyone caught drink driving with a low-range concentration of alcohol in the breath or blood. A ...continue reading
What are the Penalties and Defences for High-Range Drink Driving Charges?
Primary School Teacher Charged for High-Range Drink Driving on 8 February 2018, a primary school teacher was charged for high-range drink driving when Kelly Littlejohn aged 40, allegedly returned a reading of 6 times the limit- 0.306. The primary school teacher from Caringbah was driving after having attended a parent teacher night. Police allege ...continue reading
Your Rights as a Driver in NSW when Confronted by Police
On July 13, highway patrol officers approached and stopped a 29-year-old mother who was driving along Wentworth Street with front end damage which caught the attention of the officers. This prompted them to follow and stop her to conduct a random breath test. Parked outside the Commercial Hotel, the mother gave a negative alcohol ...continue reading
New NSW Sentencing Penalty Introduced: The New ‘Intensive Corrections Orders’
On 24 October 2017, Parliament in NSW assented to the amending legislation which effectively changed the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW). As of 24 September 2018, three major new sentencing options were introduced into NSW. A Magistrate or Judge can now impose any one of these new sentencing or penalty options for traffic ...continue reading
New Sentencing Option Introduced in NSW: ‘Community Correction Orders’
Our previous blog outlined how the ‘section 10 bond’ has now replaced the new ‘conditional release order’ as a new sentencing option in NSW for criminal and traffic offences. This blog outlines a further new sentencing option called a ‘community corrections order’ which effectively replaces the old ‘section 9 bond’ and ‘community service order’ penalties, ...continue reading