Pleading Guilty to Drink Driving (NSW)
If you have been caught drink driving in New South Wales, you are likely to incur a fine and a term of disqualification from driving, and to have a conviction recorded against your name. In very serious cases, you may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment or some other criminal penalty. This page outlines how you can expect to be dealt with when pleading guilty to drink driving offences in New South Wales.
Legislation
In New South Wales, drink driving offences that are based on the recording of a blood alcohol content (BAC) are set out in section 110 of the Road Transport Act 2013.
Low range, mid-range and high-range offences
The maximum penalty that you face for drink driving in New South Wales depends on whether you are guilty of low range, mid-range, or high-range drink driving.
The penalty that you will receive will generally include a fine, and a term of disqualification from driving. You may also face a more severe penalty such as a term of imprisonment.
You will generally be disqualified from driving for a period of between three months and five years, depending on the offence and your driving record.
A conviction will generally be recorded against you.
Determining the seriousness of the offence
When sentencing a person for drink driving, the court will have regard to a range of factors to determine how serious their wrongdoing was.
The factors that will be considered include:
- how far the person drove
- how high their BAC was
- whether their behaviour endangered others, such as passengers
- whether their driving was reckless, aggressive, or otherwise dangerous
- whether the offence resulted in a collision.
Conviction
In the vast majority of cases, when a court finds a person guilty of a drink driving offence, it will impose a conviction. However, it is possible to receive a non-conviction for a drink driving offence, but this occurs only in exceptional circumstances.
Convictions are generally imposed for drink-driving offences in recognition of the fact that these are serious and common offences, which need to be dealt with seriously. If you have a conviction recorded, this means that you have a criminal record, which may have to be disclosed in a range of situations in the future.
If a person commits a drink driving offence under circumstances where the offence is highly ‘technical’ in nature, where there is no risk to the safety of any person, or where the offence was committed under compelling mitigating circumstances, the court may consider dealing with the matter without recording a conviction. For example, if a person drink drives in order to take another person to hospital, a conviction may not be recorded.
When a person is found guilty of a drink driving offence, but no conviction is recorded, the matter may be discharged without any penalty. Alternately, they may be sentenced to a minor penalty such as a good behaviour bond.
Disqualification period
There is a standard disqualification period that applies for each BAC drink driving offence. The standard disqualification period is not the maximum period that applies; it is the period of disqualification that the court will impose in an ordinary situation. In other words, it is the period that will be ordered if the offender did not drink drive under strong mitigating circumstances, but nor did they drink drive under aggravating circumstances.
A sentencing court may impose a period of disqualification that is less than the standard disqualification period if it considers it is appropriate to do so. It may be appropriate to do this if the offender is likely to be more severely impacted by disqualification from driving than the average person. For example, if they live in a rural area where there is no public transport and will have to relocate for the period of the disqualification, it may be appropriate to shorten the disqualification period in recognition of this.
A sentencing court may also impose a longer period of disqualification than the standard period if it considers that this is appropriate. This may occur in situations where a person has committed serious drink driving offences repeatedly, or where a lot of people were endangered by their offending.
Penalty
For each level of BAC drink driving, there is a maximum fine that can be imposed, as well as a maximum term of imprisonment. In some cases, though, courts may hand down other types of penalties.
If you have been found guilty of low range or mid-range drink driving and it is your first offence, the penalty you receive is likely to be a fine only.
If you have been found guilty of high-range drink driving, or if you have been found guilty of drink driving offences repeatedly, you may receive a penalty that includes a fine as well as other sentencing orders – such as a community corrections order, or a term of imprisonment.
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Go To Court Lawyers.
Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.