Page 1647 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
… It is critical that drivers recognise the equal rights of all road users to use the Territory’s traffic facilities without being put at risk. This legislation and its subsequent implementation should go a long way to achieve such a change in the attitudes of drivers and provide reassurances for vulnerable road users.
For me, those comments from the ACT and Region Chapter of the Australasian College of Road Safety really underline the purpose of this legislation very clearly.
Mr Hanson’s amendment seeks to remove the definition of vulnerable road users and remove behaviour that endangers vulnerable road users as an aggravating factor for the offence of furious, reckless or dangerous driving. I do not think that that is an appropriate way to proceed. This is a provision that is about improving road safety. It is one that we should move forward with at this point in time to ensure that those particularly vulnerable users do receive an increased level of protection.
In conclusion, I support the bill. I support it as an important measure in improving road safety, in stopping dangerous, reckless or furious driving on our roads, and in preventing the tragedy and trauma that can result from motor vehicle accidents. The recognition of vulnerable road users in ACT legislation is, I think, an important milestone as part of this legislation and I look forward to further positive work in this area.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (10.46), in reply: Madam Speaker, this bill is an important bill that introduces aggravating factors for the offence of furious, reckless or dangerous driving. This offence provides that a person must not drive a motor vehicle furiously, recklessly or at a speed or in a way that is dangerous to the public on a road or road-related area. As members would be aware, the potential for furious, reckless or dangerous driving to deliver a catastrophic result, such as serious injury or death, is very high and it is often by luck alone that this unacceptable behaviour does not result in serious injury or death to drivers, passengers or other road users.
The problem is that currently the highest penalty that can be applied to a driver who undertakes dangerous driving behaviour is 100 penalty units, imprisonment for one year or both. It is only if a driver actually causes death or serious injury that they can receive a higher penalty. In this case, they can now be charged with the offence of culpable driving, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years, or 16 years if the driving causes the death of a pregnant woman or the loss of the pregnancy.
The government recognises that imposing a substantial penalty on an offender only when through their dangerous driving behaviour they actually cause harm to a passenger or other road users does not send a clear message about the unacceptability of this behaviour or enable a suitable penalty to be applied.
The government’s view is that the existing offences need to be strengthened, and this view was shared by the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in his 2012-13 annual report where he referred to an accident in May 2012 where two Canberra Hospital
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video