Page 1648 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 3 June 2014
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employees were struck whilst crossing the road after work by a stolen car driven at high speed. Tragically, one of these two women was killed and the other was seriously injured. The driver in that case had three previous convictions for driving offences, including furious driving, dangerous driving and reckless driving. As the DPP’s annual report noted:
In all three previous incidents police and the public had been put in danger, and it was a matter of good fortune that no one had been killed or seriously injured.
The bill, therefore, targets high risk driving behaviour, behaviour that has the potential to be catastrophic in its consequences. The amendments in this bill focus on the conduct of drivers who drive furiously, recklessly or dangerously in certain defined circumstances. These circumstances were selected as furious, reckless or dangerous driving in circumstances where they pose a greater risk to road users than such conduct where those circumstances do not exist. The bill does this by introducing a number of aggravating factors. A person who commits an offence of furious, reckless or dangerous driving where one or more of the aggravating factors are present will be subject to the higher maximum penalties.
The first aggravating factor is failing to comply with a request or signal given by a police officer to stop the vehicle. Furious, reckless or dangerous driving while evading police represents a significant road safety risk due to the common practice of such drivers to travel at high or unsafe speeds, drive erratically and disobey traffic signals and lights.
The next aggravating factor is if the offence occurred whilst the driver was intoxicated by alcohol and drugs. The devastating consequences of drug and drink-driving are well understood. Research has consistently shown that driving performance skills are impaired at blood alcohol concentration levels of around .05 grams per 100 millilitres. At that level, your risk of being involved in a road crash is double to that of a zero reading. At .1 grams concentration of alcohol, your risk is seven times higher than at zero.
Drug driving is equally dangerous. Research has shown that drug use can affect drivers by slowing down their reaction time, causing a distorted view of time, speed and distance, reducing a person’s ability to drive safely and identify hazards. Drugs stimulate the nervous system and can lead to a reduced attention span and the sudden onset of fatigue. Drugs also affect driving ability by causing muscle weakness and poor vision.
The significant impairment of a person’s driving ability caused by alcohol or drug intoxication is why being intoxicated is an aggravating factor for the offence. Driving whilst intoxicated is dangerous enough, with intoxication a contributing factor in 40 per cent of crashes on our roads. Furious, reckless or dangerous driving whilst intoxicated is even more dangerous, and the bill ensures that drivers who undertake such antisocial behaviour face appropriate sanctions.
The third aggravating factor is excessive speeding. The road safety risks posed by speeding are well established and are twofold: firstly, the faster the vehicle is
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