Page 3823 - Week 12 - Thursday, 29 October 2015
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
statutory declaration to the Road Transport Authority to declare that he or she was not the person who has committed the offence and to provide details of the person who is alleged to have been driving the vehicle at the time of the offence. This is known as an infringement notice declaration. This declaration allows the infringement notice to be redirected to the appropriate person.
This amendment provides an online alternative to the current method of submitting an infringement notice declaration by way of statutory declaration. This means that a person served with an infringement notice who alleges that he or she was not driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence has the option of making an online declaration stating that the vehicle was used by another identified person without consent or the vehicle was in the possession of another identified person or the vehicle had been sold or disposed of to an identified person before the time of the offence. This amendment will provide members of the community with a quicker and more convenient method of responding to infringement notices where they were not driving the relevant vehicle at the time of the alleged offence.
The third amendment made by the bill will create consistency in the appeal rights of drivers who face default disqualification of their driver licence for a drink or drug driving offence. A person who is convicted of a relevant drink or drug driving offence is automatically disqualified from driving for a default period under the legislation unless the court orders a shorter period of disqualification.
The current legislation has been interpreted by the courts to mean that only drivers who are sentenced by the court to a shorter period of disqualification are able to appeal. Under this interpretation drivers who are sentenced to the default period of disqualification cannot appeal their sentence. This amendment will provide equality of treatment for all drivers by ensuring that those who are disqualified for the default period and those who are disqualified for a shorter period are both able to appeal their sentences.
The fourth amendment made by this bill removes from the Crimes Act an existing police power of entry to arrest for a drink or drug driving offence. This power is redundant as police operate under the provisions of the road transport legislation, not the Crimes Act, when dealing with drug and drink driving offences.
The bill also amends the road transport legislation to provide police with a limited power to enter premises to require alcohol and drug screening tests where a number of particular preconditions are satisfied. The first of these preconditions is that police must have a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a drink or drug driving offence. This suspicion may arise from, for example, a police officer observing the driver driving erratically or exiting a licensed venue with a demeanour that suggests intoxication or impairment before driving a vehicle.
The next precondition is that police must have a reasonable suspicion that that person was also either the driver of a vehicle that was involved in a road accident or has failed to comply with a police request to stop a vehicle the person was driving on a road or road-related area. The third precondition is that police must have an existing power under the Road Transport (Alcohol and Drugs) Act to require that person to undergo alcohol or drug screening tests.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video