Have you been charged with a drink driving offence?

We can help you minimise the punishment a court may impose – this includes possibly reducing the licence disqualification period or having the charge dismissed.

Drink Driving Offences are considered “serious offences” in New South Wales. Drink Driving Offences attract heavy fines, long periods of licence disqualification and possibly a gaol sentence.

Drink Driving charges in NSW are subject to the level of Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol (PCA) that exceeds your legal limit. This limit is determined by the class of licence and the vehicle that is being driven. For example, a provisional licence holder has a zero limit and a bus driver has a 0.02 limit. For most motorists, the blood alcohol limit is 0.05.

To minimise the hardship resulting from the severe penalties of drink driving charges contact a traffic lawyer to represent you in court.

Drink Driving Charges in New South Wales (NSW)

In NSW, police have the powers to stop drivers at random to test for alcohol consumption. If you are asked by police to undertake a breath test and subsequently obtain a reading that is higher that your allowed Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol (PCA) limit, you are likely to be arrested and charged with one of the following:

Low Range PCA: 0.05 – 0.08
Mid Range PCA: 0.08 – 0.15
High Range PCA: 0.15 or higher
Novice Range PCA: 0.00 – 0.02
Special Range PCA: 0.02 – 0.05
Refuse Breath Analysis

Drink Driving Penalties in NSW

The penalties for drink driving are severe and the subsequent impact on your life can be significant. If you have been charged with a drink driving related offence you should engage expert legal assistance. With their extensive experience in defending against drink driving charges, Prime Lawyers will help lessen the burden of this unfortunate experience.

We have put together an article outlining the minimum and maximum punishments the courts may impose on you for the different types of drink driving charges.

Possible Defences to a Drink Driving Charge

There are several ways that you may have a drink driving charge dismissed against you or possibly reduce the charge, eg. a High Range PCA to a Mid Range or having a Mid Range PCA reduced to a Low Range:

1. You were not driving a motor vehicle.
2. The breath analysis back at the Police Station took place outside of 2 hours from the time you were driving.
3. A breath test was taken at your home.
We frequently also arrange for our clients to obtain a pharmacology report from a Professor. It is possible that the Police PCA reading is incorrect and thus these reports can assist you. A Professor will take into consideration a number of factors before concluding what they believe your actual PCA reading would have been. A court can accept such evidence. Factors considered by the pharmacologist Professor which can affect your PCA reading are:

1. Your height and weight.
2. Your gender.
3. Your age.
4. Your body build.
5. Your food intake on the day in question.
6. Your alcohol intake on the day in question.
7. If you were taking any prescribed or over the counter medication.

Author Bio: Elizabeth Lane has many years experience working with the Traffic Lawyers Wollongong Prime Lawyers Wollongong.

Category: Legal
Keywords: