Over a quarter of people convicted of drug driving get off penalty free.
I’ve never been pulled over for a drug driving test. Many times I’ve seen the booze bus out in force particularly the day after New Year’s Eve or late on Australia Day, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a drug driving test in NSW.
Yet every year NSW police are successfully catching motorists who take drugs and drive. In fact Australia has taken a lead role when it comes to drug driving tests globally, with almost 1,400 people convicted of drug driving between 2007 and 2010 in NSW alone.
On the surface this might sound like drivers are being caught and penalised for this dangerous activity. In fact over a quarter (27%) of people convicted of driving with illicit drugs in their system are getting off penalty free.
How can this be?
Drug drivers can be let off under Section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 offenders have their conviction dismissed or discharged without penalty.
Regardless of how many drug drivers the police catch, one in four of those convicted of driving with illicit drugs in their system will walk away penalty free. Worse still the number of Section 10s being handed out have more than doubled since 2007 from 13 to 30 per cent in 2010.
In the Windsor Local Court 11 out of 13 convictions from 2007 to 2010 received a Section 10 or were convicted without penalty, while in Mount Druitt 55 out of 132 convictions were recorded without penalty. As you can see the alarm bells should be ringing.
The consequence of not imposing these penalties is alarming and completely sends the wrong message. As a community we cannot afford to be flippant about drug driving when we consider that in South Australia alone one-in-four drivers or riders killed between 2005 and 2008 tested positive to illicit drugs. Drug driving is illegal, it’s dangerous and it can kill.
Its simple, people should get punished for drug driving. The penalty for getting caught drug driving is a $1,100 fine and a minimum three month disqualification for a first time offence, yet this is not getting handed down often enough. I know I would feel safer on the road knowing that these people are getting some sort of punishment.
These penalties were put in place to keep our roads safe and we believe the community would expect them to be enforced more often to stamp out this highly dangerous and illegal behaviour.
People caught drug driving are putting their lives and the lives of others at risk. A fine and some time without a licence is an appropriate penalty and should be enforced more often.
Tell us what you think?
Two comments.
Firstly, judges aren’t stupid – I’m sure if you went and looked at some of the “conviction without penalty” rulings you’d find those “alarm bells” are largely false alarms.
Secondly, and quite probably related to the first, the “drug driving” tests – particularly the one related to the image you’ve chosen to run with this article, are quite different from the roadside alcohol testing, in that they’re not particularly good tests of the current incapacitation of the driver – the cannabis test can come up positive many _weeks_ after the use of the substance.
Now I certainly dont condone driving while under the influence of cannabis or even the recreational use of it – but given that we know it’s use is widespread, and the detection might come up positive days or weeks after a driver has stopped being incapacitated by the drug, and that judges aren’t stupid, it seems to me that perhaps justice is being served here…
These decisions by the judiciary must drive the police nuts.
And yes, judges are stupid, and it’s no wonder the public has no faith in the judicial system.
If a person is found guilty of a crime, how can they then have no verdict recorded, and, in the case of a motoring offence, have no fine or loss of demerit points applied ?
If a drug can be detected in a person’s system days or weeks after use, then the effects, however small, must still be relevant.
It’s bad enough that we have to accommodate dipsticks on the roads as it is, without having to put up with drunks and druggies as well.
But then again, the NRMA advocated increasing the number of demerit points before loss of license, so responsible, law abiding motorists are fighting a losing battle aren’t we. Both the NRMA and the judiciary are definitely not in our corner.
Go get your facts straight before making such stupid comments. “However small must still be relevant ” Seriously ??
Drugs don’t have to be illegal remember, in fact the most dangerous drugs to driving are probably available to millions of people in medicine cabinets and pharmacies, however the police don’t test for these as far as I’m aware the tests done at roadside are for marijuana and amphetamines. Painkillers and Sleeping pills are probably far more dangerous.
I think ‘morgul the friendly drelg’ , with respect, is showing their ignorance… if you believe trace amounts have any affect on the human body. It’s more to do with how your body rids itself of the substance, in the case of marijuana this can be in your hair, presuming you have hair this could be detected for some time after and is not an indicator of being ‘high’ but an indicator that you have smoked.
australia has one of the worst habits of criminalising it’s residents as it is, it’s a highly profitable business putting otherwise good people in front of judges for drugs related offences, these sorts of charges are extremely damaging on people for what are relative misdemeanors. Driving under the influence of anything is not good and i’m not condoning it, but Section 10 is a just and fair way of dealing with these issues given that you can’t begin to understand any of the circumstances without looking at it case by case.
This blog entry was poorly researched and somewhat sensationalist in my opinion.
Spoken like a true user.
Rules and laws are set by politicians for the protection of society as a whole. The police monitor them , and we expect both the police and the judiciary to apply penalties when they are broken.
If you don’t agree with them, lobby your local pollie to change them.
Currently, there are limits as to what is allowable and not allowable.
So, if you drink or take drugs, and exceed these limits, what circumstance make this acceptable ? and why should these issues be treated on a case-by-case basis ?
If you break the law and get caught, you pay a penalty. Simple.