Statistics suggest that driver fatigue is responsible for around 20 percent of road fatalities and that drivers are at four times the risk of having a fatal accident while driving in what’s considered to be their body clock’s ‘normal’ sleep hours – between 10pm and dawn.

Furthermore, according to Transport NSW’s Centre for Road Safety:

• Fatigue-related crashes are almost three times as likely to be fatal than crashes not involving fatigue – drivers who are asleep can’t brake.
• Each year, about 67 people die and about 645 are seriously injured in fatigue-related crashes in NSW.

Is driver fatigue a criminal offence in New South Wales?

Surprisingly, given the seriousness of drivers’ fatigue, currently there are no laws regulating fatigued driving, unless you’re in charge of a ‘heavy vehicle, defined under the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) as a vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) or aggregate trailer mass (ATM) of more than 4.5 tonnes.

So, as a driver of a normal passenger vehicle, the responsibility lies firmly with the driver to avoid fatigue, by taking regular breaks – the recommendation is every two hours. It could save your life and the life of your passengers. However, fatigue doesn’t just affect drivers doing long road trips, it can occur even on relatively short trips, particularly if you’re sleep-deprived from too much celebrating.

Serious driving offences

It’s important to note that if you are responsible for an accident while driving fatigued, you can be charged with other serious driving offences, such as, for example, negligent driving, which is broadly defined as driving without the due care and attention reasonably expected of a driver. It puts you, other drivers and the public at risk, and can result in serious injury or death.

Negligent driving comes with a $425 fine and 3 demerit points in NSW.

There are more serious Negligent driving offences, including:

• Negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. If this is a first offence, the penalties include a maximum court-imposed fine of $2200, a maximum prison term of 9 months and a minimum driver’s licence disqualification of 12 months.
• Negligent driving occasioning death If this is a first offence, the penalty includes a fine of $3300, a maximum prison term of 18 months, and a minimum license disqualification period of 12 months. If it is a subsequent offence, the penalties are significantly higher.

Double demerit points over Christmas

Police will be out in force over the summer break. Even though you’re on holiday, the law is not. Remember too, that in peak holiday periods, double demerits apply during peak periods.

Make sure you know the rules about drink and drug driving, speeding, mobile phone use, car seats and restraints for children, seatbelts, and also what it means to be driving a ‘road worthy vehicle’ – you can be fined for worn tyres and broken lights.

Stay safe, and enjoy the holidays. If you’re travelling to this beautiful part of the world, such as Lennox Head or Evans Head, be aware of our signiifcant police presence during the festival season.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice. If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina, Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast.

To learn more about The Local Court Lawyers, see our What We Do page.

You can also follow us on facebook

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It includes, but is not limited to, behaviour which makes another person dependent on a partner, isolates a person from friends, relatives or other sources of support, controls or monitors a person’s day-to-day activities, manipulates, intimidates, humiliates or degrades another person.

What is coercive control?

Coercive control can be difficult to identify, however it has long been considered by domestic and family violence experts as a precursor to domestic violence, prevalent in the months prior to 99 percent of intimate partner homicides recorded between 2008 and 2016.

While coercive control has been a particularly complex area to legislate, there has been a great deal of consultation prior to these new laws being passed and the NSW Attorney General, Mark Speakman has said the legislation might not be “perfect” it is aimed at saving lives.

The Government has promised to review the laws as time goes on to ensure they work effectively.

New South Wales coercive control laws

The legislation will come into effect in 2024 to allow time to educate and train first-responders, such as police and paramedics, and emergency department workers, along with members of the judiciary and the wider community in what may be considered coercive control.Under the new laws, anyone found guilty of coercive control can be punished with a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.

The legislation consists of five elements to be proved beyond reasonable doubt:

1. An adult engages in a course of conduct repeatedly and continuously.
2. The course of conduct is ‘abusive behaviour’ that involves violence, threats or intimidation; and/or coercion or control of the person against whom the behaviour is directed.
3. The accused intends the course of conduct to coerce or control the other person.
4. A reasonable person would consider the course of conduct would be likely to cause: the other person fear that violence will be used against them: or a serious adverse impact on their capacity to engage in some or all of the other person’s ordinary day to day activities.
5. The course of conduct is directed at a current or former intimate partner.

New South Wales is the first state to legislate coercive control as a standalone criminal offence. Queensland is most likely to be next. Legislation is currently before parliament.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice. If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina, Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast.

To learn more about The Local Court Lawyers, see our What We Do page.

You can also follow us on facebook

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The woman was issued the fine after the infringement was caught by a seatbelt and phone detection camera on the Gold Coast.

It serves as a warning for all of us who live in the Northern Rivers region and tend to cross over the Queensland/ New South Wales border on a regular basis.

What are the rules for mobile phones while driving?

When the woman took to social media, noting that while the phone was in her bra she did have both hands on the steering wheel, the comments were divided with many people urging her to dispute the fine, with one saying “I’m struggling to work out how a phone down a woman’s bra is any different than a phone in a jeans pocket (which is perfectly legal),” and others reminding her that ‘no part of the body’ should be in contact with the mobile phone while driving.

In New South Wales you can be fined for driving with your phone on your lap.

Each state and territory has their own rules with regard to driving with mobile phones, but they are all the same in one respect – hands off, while driving.

In New South Wales, this chart from the Transport NSW website  outlines the general rules:

Learner, P1 and P2 licence holders

Restricted licence holders are not permitted to use their phone at all while driving or riding. This includes use of hands-free and Bluetooth functions, including music streaming such as Spotify.

The New South Wales Government has invested heavily in a network of high-tech cameras which are capable of detecting illegal mobile phone use from as far as a kilometre away, in a range of weather conditions, and at night. Of course, police patrols can also detect illegal phone use.

The penalties – fines and demerit points

The penalty for offending is five demerit points and a $362 fine ($481 in a school zone).

The penalty increases to 10 demerit points during double-demerit periods – it’s important to remember this over the Christmas Holiday period.

• An unrestricted licence (most road users) have 13 points.
• Professional drivers have 14 points.
• Provisional P2 licences have 7 points.

Demerit points stay active on your licence for a 3-year period, starting from the date of the offence.

Disputing mobile phone fines

If you’ve been caught by a camera, or if you are fined by police you will receive a penalty notice which will outline the specific offence and the appropriate penalty.

Instead of paying the fine, you can elect to go to court and appear before a Magistrate in the Local Court.

At court, you can either,

• Enter a plea of guilty and ask the Magistrate for leniency, or
• Enter a plea of not guilty and defend the allegation if you’re innocent.

It’s important to get the right professional legal advice so you understand your options. It’s also important to remember that if the court determines that you are guilty of the offence, you can be fined up to $2,200 as well as the demerit points, which is significantly greater than the original penalty.

 This post is informative only. It is not legal advice.

If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina,

Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast

The post Woman fined $1000 for driving with her phone in her bra appeared first on Local Court Lawyers.

Many people simply prayed that this young man would be found safe. Others offered accommodation and support to Theo’s family who arrived distraught – desperate to find their 18 year old son who went out drinking one Friday night in Byron Bay and never returned.

And sadly, three years later, the mystery has not been solved, and looks unlikely to ever be.

Findings of the Coronial Inquest into Theo’s disappearance and death

A recent Coronial Inquest, conducted by NSW State Coroner has determined that Theo is dead but she is unable to determine the cause or manner of his death. Ms O’Sullivan said suicide appeared to be highly unlikely and there was no reason for Theo to intentionally vanish, but she could not make a finding on two competing theories put forward to the Inquest, firstly that Theo suffered a terrible accident as he tried to climb towards the lighthouse at Byron Bay, or that one or more persons caused his death and disposed of his body.

No remains of Theo, except a hat, have ever been found.

In her final report, Ms O’Sullivan made recommendations to cut the red tape involved in searching for missing persons, including a review of the “significant legislative gaps, roadblocks and inconsistencies” that hamper effective missing persons investigations at a state, federal, and international level.

“Many of these legislative barriers are inexplicable and removing them could save lives and prevent the awful grief of ambiguous loss suffered by Theo’s family and many others,” she said.

Ms O’Sullivan also emphasised the importance of technology in locating missing persons investigations and made a suite of recommendations to improve police technological expertise and ability to quickly access data from multinational corporations like Google and location apps such as Uber.

Coronial Inquest Reports are available to the public, you can read more about the case of Theo Hayez here.

What is a Coronial Inquest?

The Coroner’s Court, which is headed by the State Coroner, ensures that all sudden, unexpected or unexplained deaths, suspected deaths, fires and explosions are properly investigated.

The Coroner’s Court operates under legislation called the Coroners Act 1980, which sates that a coronial inquest will be held if the Minister for Justice (currently Mark Speakman, NSW Attorney General) or the State Coroner determines that an inquest will be held.

However, the court is strictly state-based therefore a Coroner’s jurisdiction extends only to cases where there is a strong and relevant connection to New South Wales.

For example, at the time of death, the deceased person was ordinarily a resident of New South Wales, or visiting New South Wales.

In the case of explosions and fires, these must have occured in NSW. Where there may be incidents which have links or crossovers with other states, the NSW State Coroner will work with her peers around the country.

A coronial Inquest is usually held in the following circumstances:

• unnatural, unexpected, sudden and suspicious deaths, including deaths in custody
• suspected deaths (in the case of missing persons)
• fires and explosions that cause serious injury or damage to property.

Coroners rely on information from police, GPs, specialist forensic pathologists and other specialist physicians, subject experts, and, on occasion, information from the general public.

A Coroner attempts to answer a number of questions including when and where did the person die, how, what happened and why. In the case of a fire or explosion a Coroner will aim to determine the cause and origin of the incident.

A Coroner will also examine all the evidence and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths or incidents in the future, sometimes this includes suggestions for law reform.

There are however, circumstances where a Coroner is unable to make a solid conclusion, and this is what is called an ‘open finding’.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice.

If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina,

Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast

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No matter what offence you have been charged with, the first step – and the most critical – is to seek legal advice. A professional lawyer will help you to understand the charges against you, your rights, and your options in court.

Of course, you can represent yourself, everyone has the right to do that, but it does help to have a lawyer on your side who can help you to navigate the system.

If English is not your first language, or you are a person with a disability or cognitive impairment, there are specialist services available to you.

While Courts have done a lot to make themselves more ‘accessible’ and less formal, the law itself and some of the court processes remain steeped in tradition. For example, the language used in the legal system can be complex if you are not familiar with it.

Preparing for your local court hearing

To prepare for the day itself, it’s important that you know the time, the date and the location of the court you are attending. This will be stated on your Court Attendance Notice (CAN).

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many Court processes, including some hearings, transitioned to technology which means that you may be able to have your case heard via video-link or teleconference where the facilities are available, and the Magistrate grants you ‘leave’ to appear via AVL/phone (‘leave’ is just another word for permission).  Be aware, for sentencing, you will almost always need to attend in person.

What if I can’t attend court?

If you cannot attend court on the day specified, at the time specified, you can apply to have this date changed and you must explain why. If you live a long way from the court that you are required to attend, then you can also ask to have the location of the mention/sentence changed – but pleas will be required on one of the early court dates, in the originating court.  A matter will generally not be moved to another court if you plead not guilty.  However if you plead guilty and want to have the forum for sentencing changed to a court closer to you, this can often be arranged.

It’s important to know that if you miss your court appearance then the Court has the power to make decisions in your absence, and you will forfeit the opportunity to explain your version of the events, which means the Court won’t be able to take into consideration any personal circumstances or other issues surrounding the incident you were allegedly involved with.

If however, the court does make a decision because you are absent, such as finding you guilty,  you do have options to appeal the decision.

Word of caution: missing court dates can result in further charges, and even a warrant for your arrest.  Whatever you do – if you have a court date, don’t simply ignore it.

What do I need to take to court?

If you have engaged a lawyer, then he/she will help you to prepare for court. If you’re self-representing, it’s a good idea to take notes with you so that you remember everything you want to say when it is your turn to speak.

You should take any documents relevant to your matter, including the CAN and the Police Fact sheet.

If you have other documents which may support your case, such as a medical certificate, or a letter from a psychologist, or proof that you have undertaken a safe driving program or drug/alcohol rehabilitation since the alleged offending occurred, or character references, then you need to take at least three copies of these documents. The original will be kept by the court, the police prosecutor will be given a copy, and you keep a copy.

If you’ve never been to court before, you could ask permission from the court to attend a court day on your own, to familiarise yourself with how the court operates. It’s important to note though, that some Local Courts in New South Wales still have Covid protocols in place, and visitors to court may be limited in some circumstances.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice.

If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina,

Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast

The post Preparing for Local Court appeared first on Local Court Lawyers.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) is a government-funded agency within the Department of Communities and Justice. It was established in 1969 and so has a good bank of data on crime trends across New South Wales. Its research is interesting, not just for lawyers or police officers, journalists or those with an interest in social justice.

If you’re moving to a new suburb in New South Wales you can take a look at the types of offences that are most common in the area. Pretty cool, huh? The website is easy to get around – not just boring old numbers, there are interactive maps and tables which make the data easy to understand.

Why do we need crime stats?

The main aims of BOCSAR are to:

• identify factors that affect the distribution and frequency of crime;
• identify factors that affect the effectiveness, efficiency or equity of the NSW criminal justice system;
• ensure that information on these factors and on crime and justice trends is available and accessible to our clients.

By meeting these objectives BOCSAR can inform policy makers and administrators in the criminal justice system to develop and implement strategies which help to reduce crime, and provide a more efficient, effective and equitable justice system.

Crime trends on the Mid-North Coast of NSW

BOCSAR presents a number of reports on a regular basis, but for this article we looked at long term crime trends from the geographical area Coffs Harbour to Grafton, across a number of criminal offences.

Over a five year period (2017-2018 to 2021-2022) the statistics show that the nature of crimes is increasing for some offences; while there’s a decreasing trend for other offences.

The snapshot of our little corner of New South Wales mirrors the data for the state overall.

Many crimes are declining

Crime numbers have been fairly stable over the past five years. Criminal offences such as break and enter, robbery, and car theft are in decline. This trend has been attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, which put a stop to a lot of crime – because of  lockdowns, travel limitations, curfews and a heavy police presence in public, enforcing pandemic health regulations.

However, the data also shows that Domestic Violence assaults have increased by 11% over the five-year period, and reports of Sexual Assault have also increased 14% over the same period.

We know that lockdowns-related travel limitations had an adverse effect on Domestic Violence offences and this is reflected in the numbers too.

Sexual assault offences are also on the rise, and while this could be the result of an increase in these offences, it could also be a result of more victims feel comfortable speaking up and reporting incidents.

This could be because the wider community conversation is encouraging them to do so, whereas even a decade or so ago Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault were not often talked about, leaving victims feeling ashamed, powerless and left to suffer in silence behind closed doors.

 This post is informative only. It is not legal advice.

If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina,

Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast

The post BOCSAR Crime Stats appeared first on Local Court Lawyers.

A second man has been charged over the death of 17-year old Ned Gronow in Casino earlier this year.

An 18-year old will face Lismore Local Court next month, charged with concealing a serious indictable offence. A person can be charged with this offence if they know or believe  that a serious indictable offence has been committed by another person, and they know or believe they have information which may help police investigations.

A ‘serious indictable offence’ is an offence dealt with in the District Court or Supreme Court that is punishable by a term of five years imprisonment or more.

Concealing serious indictable offence

Section 316 of the NSW Crimes ACt 1900, states that

(1) An adult–

(a) who knows or believes that a serious indictable offence has been committed by another person, and

(b) who knows or believes that he or she has information that might be of material assistance in securing the apprehension of the offender or the prosecution or conviction of the offender for that offence, and

(c) who fails without reasonable excuse to bring that information to the attention of a member of the NSW Police Force or other appropriate authority,

is guilty of an offence. The maximum penalty is:

(a) 2 years – if the maximum penalty for the serious indictable offence is not more than 10 years imprisonment, or

(b) 3 years – if the maximum penalty for the serious indictable offence is more than 10 years imprisonment but not more than 20 years imprisonment, or

(c) 5 years – if the maximum penalty for the serious indictable offence is more than 20 years imprisonment.

Murders affect the small community

An 18-year-old youth from Casino has already been charged with Ned Gronow’s murder. He was charged in the immediate hours following the stabbing in June this year. The maximum penalty for murder in New South Wales is life imprisonment, meaning the rest of your life, until death, in prison. However, this is the maximum penalty and it is only handed down in the most serious cases, although murder does have a standard non-parole period of 20 years which means that any person convicted of murder will generally spend at least 20 years in prison.

After the stabbing deaths of Ned Gronow and Lachlan Andrews who was killed in a separate incident only weeks earlier, NSW Police feared that there might be a “kill list” circulating in the small regional town of Casino. Lachlan Andrews was stabbed during a brawl outside KFC – he died later in hospital. Another teenager Harrison Hone was seriously injured in the same brawl.

Educating youths via new anti-violence campaign

Detectives launched Strike Force Linford to investigate whether the stabbings of Lachlan Andrews and Ned Gronow were connected, but have since said they are “not believed to be related” – just both tragic incidents which have rocked the small community this year.

In August this year NSW Police announced it would be launching an anti-violence campaign throughout secondary schools across the state in a bid to stamp out youth violence. A 12-minute video is expected to be shown in all public secondary schools by the end of this year to students in grades seven to 10.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice. If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, particularly the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina, Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast.

To learn more about The Local Court Lawyers, see our What We Do page.

You can also follow us on facebook

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‘No body, no parole’ laws have been discussed for several years, and have, over time, been implemented in other states and territories. New South Wales is one of the last to do so.

Essentially the laws mean that where a person has been murdered and the body has never been found, if the convicted murderer does not co-operate with police to disclose the whereabouts of the remains, they will not be eligible for parole.

How will the laws work?

In New South Wales, a charge of murder is punishable by a term of life inprisonment, which does indeed mean, for the term of one’s natural life. However, courts are able to determine a lesser term, however they must adhere to what’s known as a ‘standard non-parole period’ (SNP) which is the time, set by law, that a convicted person must serve, before being eligible for parole.

Currently, where the victim was a police officer, emergency services worker, correctional officer, judicial officer, council law enforcement officer, health worker, teacher, community worker, or other public official, exercising public or community functions and the offence arose because of the victim’s occupation or voluntary work; or a child under the age of 18 years, the standard non-parole period for murder in New South Wales is 25 years. In other murder cases, the standard non-parole period is 20 years.

The conviction of Chris Dawson reignited the need for these laws

Introducing the ‘no body, no parole’ laws has been precipitated by the recent conviction of former school teacher Chris Dawson who was found guilty of the murder of his wife Lynette in 1982. This is a case that has interested Australians for more than 40 years. Lynette disappeared without a trace, leaving behind two daughters aged two and four.

At the time, her husband was having a sexual relationship with one of his students, whom he moved into the family home days after Lynette went missing. He reported Lyn missing six weeks after she disappeared – telling police she left because of marital problems and he believed she may have joined a religious group.

Over the years two cronial inquests determined that Lyn was murdered and that criminal charges should be laid against Chris Dawson, but the Department of Public Prosecutions did not believe they had sufficient evidence to take the matter to trial.

The DPP guidelines for prosecution outline that the duty of the DPP is to “serve the public interest first and foremost.” Further … “The prosecutor owes a duty of fairness to the community. The community’s interest is twofold: that those who are guilty be brought to justice and that those who are innocent not be wrongly convicted.”

There are a number of guidelines the DPP follows prior to deciding whether or not to take a matter to trial.

However, in 2017, New South Wales police re-opened the investigation into the murder of Lynette Dawson, who was still listed as a ‘Missing Person’. Chris Dawson was extradicted from his home in Queensland and charged with murder.

He was tried in a judge-alone trial, which is an option in cases where there is significant public interest in a trial, and a real concern that it might not be possible to find 12 impartial people to serve on the jury. In New South Wales, up to 15 people can be empanelled if a trial is expected to last longer than three months. In the case of Chris Dawson, the case was considered ‘high profile’ – much has been written and publicly speculated about Lyn’s disappearance over four decades. Mr Dawson’s legal team has already stated its intention to appeal the criminal conviction.

‘No body, no parole’ – giving grieving families closure

Now that Chris Dawson has been convicted of Lyn’s murder, Lyn’s family are calling on Chris Dawson to tell her family where her body is, so that they can finally put her to rest.

‘No body, no parole’ laws are underpinned by a desire to ensure justice for the family and friends of those people who have been murdered and the body never recovered. Finally having a body, or remains, can help to provide emotional closure and enable the family to bury remains where they want to, rather than where they have been discarded.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice. If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina, Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast.

To learn more about The Local Court Lawyers, see our What We Do page.

You can also follow us on facebook

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The driver, who is only 18 years old himself, was the only survivor of the crash. He has been charged with five counts of dangerous driving occasioning death. Police crash investigators are still piecing together the evidence, trying to understand what caused the ute to veer off the road, and hit a tree, the impact of which was so severe that the ute split into two.

The young driver has been refused bail and the court has heard that he has a history of speeding offences. The ute itself was also only registered for four passengers and yet had six people inside.

The court also heard that police found video footage on the driver’s phone, taken some time before the crash. Police allege the footage shows that the young man was driving erratically with only one hand on the wheel.

It’s reported that the young man blew a negative breath test at the scene, although the results of subsequent blood and urine tests taken after the crash are not yet known. Police believe speed may also have been a factor.

Dangerous driving (occasioning death), compared to negligent driving (occasioning death)

‘Dangerous acts’ (as the law sees them) while driving (such as speeding, using a phone, running a red light) are the factors that elevate offences to a more serious charge.  For example, if a driver kills another road user, while the driver is slightly speeding or on the phone, a charge of dangerous driving occasioning death may result. If the other road user is seriously injured, but survives say, with internal injuries or broken limbs, the charge may be dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. So, what’s the difference, in simple terms, between negligent driving occasioning death or grievous bodily harm, and dangerous driving occasioning death or gbh?  It’s the presence of some of these factors (e.g. speed, mobile phone use, being distracted, breaking a road rule such as running a stop sign), that elevate the driving to ‘dangerous’.  I say all this to explain a point in general terms – but facing such charges requires professional advice – that’s probably the best advice I can give you – get advice!  Dangerous driving occasioning death can carry a sentence of 10 yrs gaol; negligent driving occ death carries a comparatively much lesser sentence.

The Crimes Act defines ‘dangerous driving occasioning death’ like this:

Section 52A of the NSW Crimes Act 1900 states that:

“A person is guilty of the offence of dangerous driving occasioning death if the vehicle driven by the person is involved in an impact occasioning the death of another person and the driver was, at the time of the impact, driving the vehicle –

(a) under the influence of intoxicating liquor or of a drug, or

(b) at a speed dangerous to another person or persons, or

(c) in a manner dangerous to another person or persons.”

I won’t canvass here the circumstances of aggravation that elevate dangerous driving occasioning death, to an even more serious offence (such as ‘aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death’) but there are factors that if the police identify them as being present at the time of the accident, can lead to an even longer gaol term.

The tragedy of road deaths

In the aftermath, much has been said about young men and their susceptibility to road fatalities – their willingness to engage in risky behaviour, the pace of normal neurological development which affects responses in emergency, the perils of driving on rural roads, and also driver inexperience.

According to statistics young men are about three times more likely than young women to die on our roads, and in recent days given all the debate, there have even been calls to raise the legal driver licensing age for young men, to 21 years.

Statistics, brain science and road policy aside, this is a complete tragedy. Five young lives have been lost, and the driver, who is only 18 years old himself, is now facing very serious criminal charges.

This post is informative only. It is not legal advice.  These are serious offences and the best advice we can give you is to get legal advice.

If you have a specific legal matter you’d like to discuss, please contact us.

We service NSW, but specifically the area from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, Ballina, Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads regions on the Far North NSW Coast.

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