Getting caught while driving under influence is considered a serious offence by the government of Australia. In Western Australia, the penalties for such an offence depend on more than just the outcome of a breath test. The judge looks at the nature of the crime, your past criminal record, and the situation in which you were driving.
The individual who was driving without harming anyone would get a totally different penalty than someone who had been convicted before or someone who caused an accident while driving. This guide highlights the most important factors that the court may consider when deciding a penalty.
The presence of alcohol in your body will be the first thing to be taken into consideration by the court. The more alcohol in your blood, the more severe the offence and the penalties.
Penalties differ from one BAC level to another in WA. This means that the result of the test is very vital in the case. The situation under which the test was performed might also be considered depending on the case at hand.
Having no prior convictions can play an important part in the sentencing process by the courts. Repeat offending is viewed seriously because earlier penalties have not stopped the behaviour. Minimum disqualification periods can be extended for repeat offences, and the financial repercussions can be harsher.
Your driving history should therefore be looked at alongside the current charge. If you are unsure how an earlier offence could affect your case, a criminal lawyer in Perth WA can assess your circumstances and explain the position.
“Drink driving” is often used as a general term, but there are different offences under WA law. The particular charge can affect the penalty that may follow.
The court may want to know what your driving was actually like. The BAC figure does not show everything that happened on the road.
There is a difference between someone who was stopped during an otherwise uneventful journey and someone whose driving created an obvious danger to others.
The court may consider things such as:
These details help establish how serious the particular incident was.
The outcome of the driving can have a major bearing on sentencing. If nobody was hurt and there was no collision, the circumstances may be quite different from a case involving an injured person.
Where alcohol-related driving causes serious injury or death, the legal consequences can be much more severe. Such cases may involve separate and more serious offences.
For that reason, the court looks beyond the alcohol reading. What happened because of the driving matters too.
Sentencing is not completely detached from the person involved. The court can take relevant personal circumstances into account when deciding an appropriate penalty.
Employment, family responsibilities and other individual circumstances may be raised as part of sentencing. For someone who depends on a licence for work, losing the ability to drive can have significant consequences.
That does not mean personal hardship cancels a penalty. It simply gives the court more information about the person and the practical effect of the sentence.
The period after the incident can also be relevant. The court checks whether the individual has acknowledged the situation, shown any remorse, or if they took any measures to prevent the situation from arising. None of the above-mentioned actions assures a certain sentence for the accused.
The danger is not limited to the person behind the wheel. Penalties are therefore intended to do more than punish an individual. They can also discourage future offending and reinforce the risks associated with driving after drinking.
For certain offences, an alcohol interlock may form part of the consequences. In WA, this requirement applies to particular high-range and repeat drink driving offences.
There is no single factor that decides a drink driving penalty. The court considers the BAC, previous convictions, the charge itself and the way the vehicle was driven. The consequences of the incident, personal circumstances and steps taken afterwards can also matter.
If you are facing a drink driving charge, getting advice before your court date can help you understand what you are dealing with. Drink driving lawyers Perth can review the circumstances of the case and explain the penalties that may apply rather than relying on general examples from other cases.
