Queensland drink driving penalties are consider some of the harsher penalties in Australia for drink driving.  Queensland has a mandatory loss of licence for all drink driving offences. The purpose of this article is to try and give some guidance as to how the court comes up with the penalty for drink driving and what that penalty may be.   What is drink driving? The law states that a person can be charged with drink driving if the driver; Is over the legal limit for that category of driver; and Drove a vehicle; or Attempted to put in motion…

Drink driving offences are some of the most common matters that Queensland courts see however this does not mean the consequences of losing the ability to drive is not serious. People’s lives can be ruined by long periods of disqualification especially if no work license is granted. The questions then arises is there a defence to a drink driving charge, in other words can you beat a DUI? When can the police undertake a breath or blood test? The police can require a person to provide a sample of breath or blood if they reasonably suspect a person in the…

  It is essential for anyone making a special hardship license application to ensure that the application is accompanied by a detailed and comprehensive affidavit.  The affidavit for the special hardship order application needs to cover everything from your financial situation to the hours and days you need to drive.  Its critical to get the affidavit right as it’s the primary thing the court will look at when determining whether to grant a hardship licence and if they do on what terms. This page is just about the affidavit needed, for full information on hardship license applications in Queensland visit…

Dangerous driving is one of the most serious traffic related charged that can come before a court. Unlike drink driving or unlicensed driving which are considered traffic offences dangerous driving is considered a criminal offence and carries serious penalties if found guilty especially if the charge is dangerous driving causing injury or death. We have an Essential Guide to Dangerous Driving that explains all about dangerous driving and the penalties that can be imposed. This blog post is about possible defences to dangerous driving in Queensland. What is Dangerous Operation of a Vehicle? The legislation provides the formal definition of…

  Special hardship licences or hardship licences are an option the Queensland Magistrates courts have to allow a person to continue to drive even though their licence will be suspended by Queensland Transport for incurring more than 1 demerit point on a good driving behaviour period or driving over 40km/h. We have a full page devoted to special hardship licences that explains all the details. This blog post is all about what conditions will the court impose if they grant a hardship licence.   SHO conditions When a Queensland magistrates court grants a special hardship order it will impose certain…

Police may charge members of the community with valid offences under law. Whilst police can charge people with criminal as well as traffic offences, this short article will concentrate on traffic offences. The article will outline what happens after you have been charged with a traffic offence that requires a court appearance. Why was I Charged? The most common traffic offences are related to drink driving, drug driving and unlicenced driving. It will generally be quite obvious why you have been charged; for example, you have been pulled over for a random breath test and the testing instrument has returned…

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…