|
Defending
Drink Driving Offences in Victoria
Drink driving laws in
Victoria are constantly getting tougher.
It is quite difficult for offenders to
retain their driver's licence in
ordinary cases. For most drivers it is
not possible to plead guilty and save
your licence. Nevertheless, every driver
charged with drink driving has a chance
of keeping their licence. Please read
the drink
driving FAQ
as it answers many common questions on
contesting drink driving offences.
Police give drink
drivers a traffic
infringement notice
if they are first offenders under 0.15%.
All other offenders are served with a charge
and summons
to appear in court.
In most cases drivers
will need to go to court and win if they
want to avoid losing their driver's
licence. Sean
Hardy is a lawyer who has successfully
defended many drivers charged with
traffic offences and saved them from
mandatory licence loss. Every person
charged with a drink drive offence has a
chance to keep their driver's licence if
the case is handled properly. The chance
of success is not affected by how high
the reading is, how many prior offences
you have or your personal circumstances.
Victoria's drink
driving laws are strict liability
offences. They carry harsh mandatory
licence loss penalties which leave no
room for forgiveness, excuses or second
chances. Often that operates unfairly,
so getting quality legal assistance is
often the only way to oppose the
draconian nature of these mandatory
penalties. The lack of court discretion
and no option for drive-for-work
licences makes it necessary to win in
court if your livelihood is at stake. If
you need to avoid licence loss you
should get expert legal advice at the
earliest opportunity.
Any driver with an
alcohol concentration at or over 0.07%
will need to go to court if they wish to
keep their licence. All second offenders
need to defend their case in court if
they want to keep their licence. People
who receive a notice of immediate
suspension
of driver's licence are able to appeal
against the suspension to regain their
licence pending the court hearing.
Before you decide what
to do with your case, you should read
the pages on breath
tests,
fines,
penalties
and
legal
advice
because those
pages explain your options clearly. You
should avoid wasting your time calling
me with simple questions that are
already answered on this site because I
will merely refer you back to these
pages.
I have a thorough
knowledge of all Victoria's drink
driving laws and I regularly challenge
the interpretation and effect of these
laws in the Supreme Court of Victoria or
the Court of Appeal. I specialise in
winning drink driving cases. Clients
come to me to win, so pleading guilty is
generally a last resort. In nearly all
cases it is not possible to advise a
driver whether or not to plead guilty to
a drink driving charge without seeing
all the police paperwork. Although most
of my work involves defending drivers
and doing everything possible to save
their licence, I also act for people who
wish to plead guilty but still want
expert representation to ensure they
keep licence loss periods to a minimum
and/or avoid possible jail terms.
|
