How Long will a Court Disqualify my Licence for?

Steven Brough — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 07:42:00 +0000

There are a range of driving related offences in Queensland, with various disqualification periods for each of them.

Driving Offences and Disqualification Periods

The Queensland Parliament has legislated so that certain driving offences carry mandatory minimum disqualifications. This means when a court is deciding how long to disqualify your licence for, it cannot go lower than the minimum, regardless of what a lawyer says or what the Court may want to do. The primary (but not only) legislation that creates driving offences is the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995.

Below, then, is a list of the most common mandatory disqualification periods:

Low range drink driving – 1 month.

Driving while drug present in saliva – 1 month.

Middle range drink driving – 3 months.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or a drug/high range drink driving – 6 months.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or a drug/high range drink driving – 6 months.

Failing to provide a breath test – 6 months.

Driving while disqualified by court order – 2 years.

Evading police – 2 years.

Driving while demerit points suspended – 6 months.

Careless driving – no minimum.

Driving while unlicenced (didn’t renew driver licence) – no minimum.

Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle/Dangerous driving – 6 months.

Take note that minimum disqualifications will be higher, in most cases, if you have prior offences for drink driving or drug driving within 5 years of the offence.

Some of the disqualifications above can also “cumulate” which means they stack on top of each other. This usually occurs when there are multiple offences. To give some examples:

Multiple drink driving and/or drug driving offences committed at different times, but sentence imposed at the same time – cumulative.

Unlicenced driving type offence and drink driving/drug driving offence committed at the same time – cumulative

Can I be Disqualified for more than the Minimum?

In most cases, yes. The minimum is the starting point, and the Court has the discretion to impose a higher disqualification.

Is There No Way to Avoid a Disqualification?

In limited situations you can make an application to the Court for a restricted licence, also known as a work licence.
If you have not been disqualified or suspended within 5 years prior to the offence, the offence is low or middle limit drink driving, or driving while a drug is present in your saliva, and you would have a valid open licence if not for the disqualification, then you are eligible.

There are further tests before getting a work licence;
you need to be deemed by the Court a fit and proper person, and you need to prove you would be deprived of your means of earning a living if the work licence was not granted. It is an involved process which requires the preparation of sworn affidavits and a detailed description of your personal and financial circumstances. We are experts in getting people work licences, and you may wish to help yourself to a free consultation with our firm if you want to explore your options.

Another way to avoid a possible disqualification is to write to the prosecution and ask them to downgrade or withdraw your charge, which is called a “submission”. This is also an involved process and often requires a persuasive argument backed by evidence you are working or made an honest mistake or have exceptional personal circumstances that would warrant some leniency. We have had some great successes with our submissions, for a few examples:

Downgrading of a charge which had a mandatory disqualification of two years down to one of just one month.

Downgrading of a charge from 6 months minimum to a charge which had no minimum.

Getting prosecutors to drop one of two charges, which halved the minimum disqualification from 12 months to 6 months.

The final way to avoid a disqualification is to contest the charge, and win, in court. This is an option that cannot be easily generalised in a short article and is better explained with targeted legal advice.

Are There Defences Available?

There are, of course. However, there are specific lines of defence for each charge and each set of circumstances which is beyond the scope of this guide.

What Things Does the Court Consider When Deciding the Disqualification Period?

The Court will take into account a number of factors. If it is a drink driving offence, the Court will:

Take note of your blood alcohol content.

Consider if you have a history of committing similar offences and driving offences in general,

Consider the manner of your driving; i.e. did you come to the attention of the police because you were swerving all over the road, or was it a random breath test?

Look at whether you have completed an education course such as Queensland Traffic Offenders Program.

These above are some of the things the Court will consider.

Conclusion

As you will have seen, although there are minimum disqualification periods, the period will differ depending on the charges and the circumstances of each case. You are able to avoid total disqualification, or achieve a lower length of disqualification, but this will almost always require the expertise of a lawyer. Each lawyer at Clarity Law is a driving law expert. We have appeared in hundreds of driving matters each, and thousands of cases in total. If you want the best possible outcome for your case, help yourself to a free consultation.

Charged and unsure what this means for you? This article is general information, not legal advice. For advice on your exact situation, call 1300 952 255 — free, 7am–7pm, 7 days — or visit our Traffic law services page.

Defences to a Disqualified Driving Charge in Queensland

Steven Brough — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 11:36:00 +0000

Disqualified driving is an extremely serious traffic charge in Queensland. The Courts are particularly hard on these types of offences as to be charged with disqualified driving you must have already been disqualified by a court. Disqualified driving is the most common traffic offence that causes people to be sentenced to jail.

The charge is different to a simple unlicensed driving charge as there must be a previous disqualification by the courts still in place at the time the offence was committed.

The court will impose a further minimum disqualification of 2 years however there may be circumstances where there is a defence to a disqualified driving charge.

The vehicle was not driven on a road

The law requires that to be guilty of disqualified driving the person must be driving a vehicle on a road. If the vehicle is being driven on private property this may be a full defence to the charge.

You weren’t driving the vehicle

There are often occasions were someone has taken or borrowed your vehicle and either triggered a speed camera or more seriously has evaded the police. In those circumstances it is critical to get immediate legal advice as very short and strict time limits may apply to being able to nominate another person as the driver. If you fail to nominate the other driver within the time limits then you can be legally declared the driver, also if you pay a speeding ticket or infringement notice may deemed to be the driver.

You were driving for an emergency

The law allows an exception for driving in an emergency. This in the past only extended to driving emergency situations such a person to hospital where no other transport was available. The courts have recently however begun to accept that not all situations require a dire emergency. For example we were successful in having a disqualified driving charge withdrawn against our client in the circumstances where our client drove to a chemist to get Panadol because everyone in the house was sick and he was the only person who could drive.

The key question is not what a reasonable person would have done but what an ordinary person in the shoes of the accused could have done. Once the defence is raised the onus fall on the prosecution to prove an ordinary person would not have acted in the same way as the accused.

There are also other defences such as mental capacity which are not covered in this article.

If you have a defence then in most cases you will need to take the disqualified driving charge to trial to be found not guilty. There are however often occasions where it is possible to make submission to the Prosecution Service to drop the charge before it goes to trial. This is a very involved process and should never be undertaken without a lawyer.

If the matter goes to trial then the charge would be held before a Magistrate but not a jury. If the court finds a person not guilty then that is the end of the matter. If however after trial a person is found guilty then it is important to note the further disqualification period only starts from when the Magistrate makes his or her decision. The Magistrate will also impose a fine and depending on a number of factors including traffic history might impose a term of imprisonment which may or may not be partly or wholly suspended.

If you think you have a defence, want to engage us or just need further information then you can either;

Visit on disqualified driving webpage
Use our contact form
Call us on 1300 952 255 seven days a week, 7am to 7pm

This article is written by Belinda Smyth and provides general information only. It is not intended to be legal advice.

For advice about your own situation, speak with our disqualified driving lawyers — call 1300 952 255, 7am–7pm, 7 days.

Disqualified driving – Driving Law