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Key Takeaways

What is high range drink driving? High range drink driving is the most serious category of drink driving charge in New South Wales, carrying heavy criminal penalties, including imprisonment, fines, criminal conviction and disqualification of drivers licence. The alcohol driving limit for the high range drink driving threshold is 0.15g of prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA), which also engages the high range drink driving NSW guideline judgement.

High Range PCA Penalties

The prescribed penalty for high range drink driving in NSW and the actual penalty you will get in court for high range drinks driving depend on the following:

Is it your first time offence or a second or subsequent offence?
Your traffic and criminal history,
The extent of your blood alcohol limit,
The length of your journey,
Whether you were stopped by the police due to the manner of your driving in contrast to a random breath test,
Any collision and/or damage to person or property caused,
The extent of your need for a driver licence due to work, income and dependants,
The consequence(s) of a conviction on your job,
The number of people in the vehicle you were driving at the time,
The extent of traffic on the road at the time of driving,
The level of insight for your offence, remorse, and contrition demonstrated to the court (i.e. whether you have completed the traffic offenders program),
Any extenuating circumstances to explain the reason you drove, and whether you intended to drive or had a plan B which happened to change due to unforeseen circumstances.

A drink driving offence will be considered a 'second or subsequent offence' if in the last 5-years from the date the court convicts you for your current drink driving offence, you have been convicted of a 'major offence' (including drink driving).

If you have not been convicted of a 'major offence' in the last 5-years, your current drink driving offence will be considered a 'first offence'.

A 'major offence' includes any one of the following offences:

Any drink driving offence.
Driving negligently causing grievous bodily harm or death.
Driving with an illicit drug in your blood, urine or oral fluid.
Furious, reckless or driving at a speed dangerous.
Menacing driving.
Failing or refusing to provide or submit to a test or analysis.
Altering the alcohol or drug concentration in your body.

Section 110 of the Road Transport Act prescribes the below outlined penalties in NSW.

High Range Drink Driving First Offence NSW Penalties

A first time drink driver who commits a high range drink driving offence will face the following maximum penalties:

18 months imprisonment,
Drink driving fine: $3,300,
6 to 8 months compulsory disqualification of driver licence,
2 years minimum interlock period,
If the court exempts you from the interlock program, 1 to 3 years automatic disqualification of driver licence applies.

Second Or Subsequent High Range Drink Driving Offenders Penalties

A second or subsequent drink driver who commits a high range drink driving offence will face the following maximum penalties:

2 years imprisonment,
Drink driving fine $5,500,
9 to 12 months compulsory disqualification of driver licence,
4 years minimum interlock period,
If the court exempts you from the interlock program, 2 to 5 years automatic disqualification of driver licence applies.

If the court imposes a conviction for high-range drink driving, the 'mandatory interlock program' for a 'minimum interlock period' will be a mandatory requirement, unless a section 10 order is imposed by the court.

The mandatory interlock program is where a convicted drink driver is required to install an interlock device into the motor vehicle, whereby the vehicle will then only start if, after blowing into the device, the interlock device returns a zero-alcohol reading each time.

High Range Drink Driving NSW Guideline Judgement

The high range drink driving guideline judgement requires courts to have regard to it in order to assist the Judge or Magistrate to impose an appropriate sentence across all kinds of high-range drink driving cases.

This guideline judgement is summarised as follows.

High-Range Drink Driving Guideline Judgement	Type of Drink Driving Offence	Realistic Range of Punishment
If this is your 'first offence'	You drove to avoid inconvenience, or you believed you were not that affected by alcohol. You were detected randomly for a random breath test. You were not detected due to the manner of driving. You have a good traffic record, and you're of prior good character. A loss of licence will significantly inconvenience you. There will be little to no risk of you re-offending.	s10 would rarely apply automatic disqualification of 3 years will apply unless good reasons to reduce to 1 year conviction with a good behaviour bond will be more appropriate
If this is your 'second or subsequent offence'	You drove to avoid inconvenience, or you believed that you were not alcohol affected to that extent. You were not detected from the manner of your driving. You were detected at random for a random breath test. You have a good traffic record, and you are of prior good character. You will suffer significant inconvenience if you were to lose your licence. There is either little to no risk of you re-offending.	Conviction with community service order would be more appropriate
If this is your 'second or subsequent offence'	You drove to avoid inconvenience, or you believed you were not affected by alcohol to that extent. You were not detected due to the manner of your driving. You were detected at random for a random breath test. You have a good traffic record, and you're a person of prior good character. A loss of licence will cause you significant inconvenience. There is little to no risk of you re-offending.	Conviction with a community service order, or a more serious punishment would be appropriate
If this is your 'first offence'	Your reading was significantly above 0.15. You drove erratic or aggressively. Your vehicle was involved in a collision. You were driving competitively or you were showing off. you drove a long distance, or you intended to do this. You were in the vehicle with other passenger(s).	Conviction with a punishment of community service order, or a more serious punishment would be appropriate
If this is your 'second or subsequent offence'	Your alcohol reading was significantly above 0.15. You were driving erratic or aggressively. Your vehicle was involved in a collision. You were driving competitively or you were showing off. You were travelling a long distance, or you intended to do so. You were in the vehicle with other passenger(s).	A punishment of at least suspended sentence, intensive corrections order, home detention or full-time prison would be appropriate.
If you have a previous high-range drink driving conviction in last 5 years	Your alcohol reading was significantly above 0.15. You were driving erratic or aggressively. Your vehicle was involved in a collision. You were showing off or driving competitively. You were travelling a long distance or you intended to do so. There was another passenger(s) in the vehicle.	Full-time prison would be appropriate

The above high-range drink driving guideline judgement is used as a guide by all Magistrates and Judges in order for them to decide on an appropriate penalty when sentencing an offender. It's very important to be aware of and understand it before going to court.

Every case is different and your drink driving case may well have some compelling or unusual features about it that may convince a court to impose a lenient sentence, or a sentence that allows you to walk away conviction-free without the loss of your licence, under section 10.

Will I go to Jail for High Range Drink Driving?

While the guideline judgment for high range cases prescribed imprisonment depending on the circumstances of the case, the courts will try to avoid sending someone, especially a first time drink driving offender, to imprisonment. Not everyone goes to gaol for high range drink driving, especially if you have a good lawyer who puts the time, care and attention into the preparation and appearance in court for your case.

Some tips at increasing your chances of jail for high range drink driving include:

Get immediate legal advice and guidance from an experienced drink driving lawyer,
Enrol and complete the Traffic offenders program,
Get guidance in properly drafting an apology letter for drink driving to the court and good character letter for drink driving. Your lawyer should give you feedback and proper guidance as to what things needs to be addressed in each letter, and who to get those letters from,
Get a copy of your up to date traffic history in advance of your court date and give your lawyer a copy of it. This helps better prepare,
Take the time to explain to your lawyer the circumstances of the drink driving offence, including, the distance travelling, number of people in the car, reason for the police stopping you, why you decided to drive, why you need your licence, the impact of a loss of licence on any dependants and your job, how many drinks you had before driving.

Is High Range Drink Driving a Criminal Record?

High range drink driving normally results in a criminal record which is also referred to as a conviction, unless a section 10 or conditional release order non conviction sentence is imposed by the court. The court's rarely issue a section 10 non conviction sentence for high range cases because of the inherent seriousness of this type of drink driving offence in Australia. However, courts have and do give out non conviction sentences for high range drink driving, albeit rarely, and each case depends on its own merits.

An experienced drink driving lawyer can guide you in gauging as to the realistic chances of both asking for and getting a non conviction section 10 sentence for a high range drink driving case in court after conducting a consultation with you to know enough about your case.

High range drink driving: A complete guide in New South Wales

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