Types of Dangerous Driving Offence
There are essentially 4 types of dangerous driving offences (which are set out in section 52A, Crimes Act 1900), and these are as follows:
(1) Dangerous driving occasioning death (which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment)
(2) Aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death (which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment)
(3) Dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm (which carries a maximum sentence of 7 years imprisonment)
(4) Aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm (which carries a maximum sentence of 11 years imprisonment).
To be charged with one of these dangerous driving offences, the offender must, at the time of the impact, been driving:
(a) under the influence of intoxicating liquor or of a drug, or
(b) at a speed dangerous to another person or persons, or
(c) in a manner dangerous to another person or persons.
Dangerous Driving Offences are Serious
Dangerous Driving offences are obviously very serious offences. Do you plead guilty or not guilty? You should seek legal advice before you enter your plea. Although these offences of dangerous driving are often reasonably clear-cut, there may be occasions where not all of the elements of the offence can be adequately established by the prosecution. In those circumstances a plea of not guilty may be appropriate.
Many offenders charged with these offences who plead guilty (or are found guilty after a trial) are sentenced to full time imprisonment. However, depending upon your circumstances and the precise circumstances of the offence being committed, if you have been charged with a dangerous driving offence, it certainly may be possible for a penalty to be imposed which does not involve full time jail. There are many factors related to both the particular circumstances in which an offence was committed, the magnitude of the effects of the offence having been committed, and an offender’s own personal circumstances, which a Court can take into account. For more information relating to the types of factors that can be taken into account, and the matters that are required to be taken into account according to the Guideline Judgment for dangerous driving offences, click here.
To find out what your options are if you have been charged with a dangerous driving offence, call our lawyers on