The ACT Legislative Assembly recently passed reforms to drink driving laws that became law in the Australian Capital Territory on 1 December 2010. There are over 1,500 drink driving offenders detected every year in Canberra and at least one third are repeat offenders.
According to the ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Transport, Jon Stanhope, Australia-wide about 1 in 150 driver exceed the legal limit when subject to random breath testing, but in the ACT 1 in 70 are over the limit. Driver impairment is a serious road safety issue as drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs have a much higher risk of being involved in a crash. The new laws also allow for roadside drug testing.
ACT Changes to Allowable Blood Alcohol Concentration
The blood or breath alcohol concentration (BAC) for certain drivers and drivers of certain types of vehicles has been reduced from 0.02 grams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 210 litres of breath to zero. The zero tolerance rules apply to the following:
- Learner drivers
- Provisional drivers
- Supervisors of learner drivers
- Probationary drivers
- Restricted drivers
- Drivers of dangerous goods vehicles
- Drivers of heavy vehicles over 15 tonnes
- Drivers of public passenger vehicles (eg taxis, buses, hire cars
- People learning to drive heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes
The prescribed alcohol concentration for ordinary drivers remains at 0.05g of alcohol in 100mL of blood or 210L of exhaled breath.
Different Penalties for First Offenders and Repeat Offenders
Under the new laws introduced on 1 December repeat drink drivers face higher penalties under the Act, including longer automatic disqualification periods. A "repeat offender" now means anyone with a conviction for a drink driving or relevant offence, irrespective of how long ago that conviction was recorded.
Anyone caught drink driving on or after 1 December 2010 who is a repeat offender will not be eligible to apply for a restricted (“work”) licence while they are disqualified. In addition range first offenders who exceed the applicable alcohol concentration by 0.05 or more (i.e. for full licence holders , a alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more) will also be denied access to a restricted licence.
Higher Penalties for Higher Alcohol Limits
The penalties for drink driving offences depend on the level of alcohol concentration and there are 4 different levels:
- level 1 is less than 0.05g
- level 2 is 0.05g or more but less than 0.08g
- level 3 is 0.08g or more but less than 0.15g
- level 4 is 0.15g or more
For each level there are different fines, maximum penalties and default penalties, which are lower for first offenders.
Roadside Drug Testing Introduced in ACT
The new laws passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly permit roadside drug testing of motorists for the presence of cannabis, methamphetamine and ecstasy. Although the law began on 1 December 2010 random drug testing operations are not expected to commence until 2011.
Under section 20 of the Road Transport (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1977 it is an offence for a person to drive a motor vehicle if the person has a prescribed drug present in their blood or oral fluid. Repeat offenders will receive a harsher penalty than first offenders.
Reason for the New Drink Driving and Drug Driving Laws
The new laws are aimed at curbing reckless drink driving which endangers many Canberrans every day. By having a zero alcohol tolerance for new drivers it sends the message that they have to choose between drinking or driving.
All convicted drink drivers, including first offenders, will have to attend an alcohol awareness course before they can get a probationary or restricted drivers licence. The ACT Government is advertising the new laws with a “Drink or Drive” media campaign and reminders will also appear on roadsides via Variable Message Signs and in selected licensed premises.
Sources:
Drink and drug driving laws for the ACT
Tough new drink driving laws to commence Dec 1, 2010
Jo Jackson - Jo is an Australian writer with an MBA and a B.Sc.(Hons) in botany. She has wanted to write since she first discovered books and currently ...
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