Road Safety: Penalties

The following penalties apply for drink driving offences under the Road Traffic Act 1961.  These penalties are designed to send a clear message to drivers about the severity of drinking alcohol and operating a motor vehicle and reflect the danger these drivers present to themselves and to the safety of other road users.

Drink and drug driving penalties strengthened

From 1 February 2010, any person who commits a drink or drug driving offence will face tougher penalties, including:

  • A three month licence disqualification for a first court conviction when:
    • driving with a prescribed drug (including cannabis, speed or ecstasy) present in saliva or blood, or
    • driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 to 0.079.
  • Heavier penalties for repeat offenders, with courts considering previous drink and drug driving offences during sentencing.
  • An alcohol or drug dependency assessment may be required (depending on the number of previous drink or drug driving offences committed).

For example, if a person has, within the previous five years, expiated or been convicted of one of the following offences they will require an alcohol or drug dependency assessment.

  • Three or more Category 1 offences.
  • Two Category 1 offences and one Category 2 offence.
  • Two or more serious drink driving offences.
  • Two or more drug driving offences.

A blood sample must be taken from any person 10 years or older, who attends or is admitted to hospital for treatment as a result of a boat or motor vehicle accident (previously the minimum age was 14 years). In addition, South Australia Police will now be able to test boat operators for prescribed drugs (including cannabis, speed and ecstasy) under the same conditions as drug testing for vehicle drivers. 

Definitions
Category 1 drink driving offence - an offence between 0.05 and less than 0.08 BAC
Category 2 drink driving offence - an offence between 0.08 and less than 0.15 BAC 
A serious drink driving offence includes:
Driving under the influence of an intoxicating liquor
Refusing to provide a sample of breath or blood for alcohol testing
Driving with a BAC at or above 0.15
Driving with a BAC at or above 0.08 where a previous alcohol offence exists within the last 5 years.  

Previous offences

Where a person commits a drink driving offence and has committed any of the offences listed in the tables below within the previous five years, that person is dealt with as a second offender, whether or not both offences are in the same category.  Where the previous offence is a first offence of exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol of 0.05 - .079, the period is 3 years. 

Driving with prescribed concentration of alcohol in blood
(section 47B of the Road Traffic Act 1961)
  First offence Second offence Third or subsequent offence
Category 1 offence (0.05-0.079)

'On the spot’ fine; and
4 demerit points

OR

Court penalty – a fine up to $1,100; and
4 demerit points; and Licence disqualification - not less than 3 months

 Court penalty – a fine up to $1,100;

AND

4 demerit points; and
Licence disqualification – not less than 6 months		 Court penalty - a fine of up to
$1,100;

AND

4 demerit points; and
Licence disqualification – not less than 9 months

Subsequent offence – as above + licence disqualification not less than 12 months
Category 2 offence ++ (0.08-0.149) 

Court penalty – a fine of not less than $900and not more than $1,300;

and

5 demerit points;

and

Licence disqualification – not less than 6 months

 Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,100and not more than $1,600;

and

5 demerit points;

and

Licence disqualification – not less than 12 months		 Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,500 and not more than $2,200;

and

5 demerit points;

and

Licence disqualification – not less than 2 years
Category 3 offence ++ (0.15 or over) Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,100 and not more than $1,600;

and

6 demerit points;

and

Licence disqualification – not less than 12 months		 Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,600 and not more than $2,400;

and

6 demerit points;

and

Licence disqualification – not less than 3 years		 Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,900 and not more than $2,900;

and

6 demerit points;

and

Licence disqualification – not less than 3 years


DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF AN INTOXICATING LIQUOR OR DRUG

(section 47(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1961)

 

 First
offence		 Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,100 and not more than $1600; or imprisonment for not more than three months; and
6 demerit points; and
Licence disqualification – not less than 12 months
Subsequent offences Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,900 and not more than $2,900; or imprisonment for not more than 6 months; and
6 demerit points; and
Licence disqualification - not less than 3 years


REFUSAL OR FAILURE TO SUBMIT TO ALCOTEST OR BREATH ANALYSIS ++

(section 47E(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1961) 

 First
offence		 Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,100 and not more than $1,600; and
6 demerit points; and
Licence disqualification – not less than 12 months
Subsequent offences  Court penalty – a fine of not less than $1,900 and not more than $2,900; and
6 demerit points; and
Licence disqualification - not less than 3 years
++ denotes offences to which “immediate loss of licence” applies under s47IAA of the Road Traffic Act 1961.
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