In Queensland, the drink driving legislation distinguishes between three levels of offences:
-
Low Range: Blood alcohol readings between .05 and .099
-
Mid Range: Blood alcohol readings between .1 and .149
-
High Range: Blood alcohol readings above .15
The different levels of drink driving also have different levels of immediate licence suspension by the police.
How long will my licence be suspended for?
The law Queensland provides that any person who is charged with a drink driving offence that is a mid-range or high-range drink charge will immediately lose the ability to drive. This lasts until a disqualification is imposed by the courts.
Those persons who have a low-range drink driving charge only have a 24-hour prohibition on driving after being arrested.
If you are charged with fail to provide police with a specimen of breath or blood then your licence will be suspended until your court date this also applies to being charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence
How might the immediate suspension affect me?
For low range drink drivers who only have a 24 hour suspension the impact will usually not be substantial.
Mid-range and high-range drink drivers who have received an immediate suspension notice from the police will often suffer a huge shock to both work and personal life arising from the inability to continue to drive. They will be unable to drive to and from work, collect children from school or drive to the shops.
Will the period of the suspension affect my disqualification?
The legislation does provide some levels of relief to the impact on the loss of a person's licence.
The first area in which the legislation provides some relief is that the period of suspension that a person has served under the notice may be taken into account by the Magistrate when setting the disqualification period for the drink driving charge. This does not mean that the disqualification that the court sets will run from the date of arrest, it will still run from the day that the Magistrate disqualifies the person's licence, however in setting the penalty the Magistrate may take into an account the period that a person has spent off the road. This is especially important as in Queensland we have mandatory periods of disqualification.
This is meant to work in the following way. If the Magistrate was considering imposing a disqualification of two months and the person had already been suspended for a period of one month, then the Magistrate should set a penalty of one month only.
In practise, the period of time a person has spent under suspension may very well be taken into account by the Magistrate but each Magistrate treats that period of suspension quite differently. As the legislation doesn't provide that the Magistrate must lower the disqualification as a result of the person's immediate suspension period, simply then it may be taken into account, each Magistrate will use their own judgement as to how much they take into account the immediate suspension period.
Can I get the suspension removed?
The other way the legislation provides some relief is that where a person is challenging a drink driving charge or applying for a work licence, then, under the act you are able to apply to the court for an immediate return of your licence. The requirements for the application are very similar to a work licence application in that a person must file an affidavit of themselves and an application form. This is known as a Section 79E Application.
Further information could be found on our website.
In practise this type of application is generally of most use where a person's court date for the hearing of a work licence application is some time in the future. For instance, Southport Magistrate's Court will not hear work licences on the first court date, so for example, say you had a mid-range drink driving charge and were immediately suspended and your first court date was three weeks into the future, then you will be suspended for the period up until your first court date plus whatever period runs from the date of your first court date to when the application for work licence is actually heard. This would generally be at least a week or two after the initial court date as Southport Magistrate Court only hear work licence applications on Tuesdays at 9am.
To mitigate that period of suspension, a person could lodge an application for a Section 79E Licence prior to the first court date and seek the ability to continue to drive up until the Magistrate ultimately deals with the entirety of the work licence application which as stated above, may be five weeks after the arrest.
There are strict timelines applying for people who are wanting to apply for a section 79E Licence and as such you need to take immediate legal advice should this be something you wish to pursue.
What happens if I am caught driving on the suspension?
Finally, we need to discuss the consequences of driving whilst on the immediate suspension. The law is extremely harsh in this regard. If you are caught driving whilst immediately suspended and before the court ultimately rules on your drink driving offence, then that driving will be treated as essentially driving whilst disqualified and will attract a minimum licence disqualification of two years. This would then be added on top of any period of disqualification you may receive for your drink driving charge.
We have had many examples where clients have recorded a drink driving charge, been arrested, then released and have immediately gone back to their car and started to drive again. As they breach the immediate suspension, their disqualification period can end up being in excess of three years when the drink driving disqualification is added on, especially where they have returned to the car still over the legal limit for driving.
In those cases the potential three-year disqualification cannot be mitigated by applying for a work licence as the driving under the immediate suspension charge eliminates that possibility.
What’s the difference between suspension and disqualification?
In reality they both stop a person driving but technically a suspension is imposed by the police or Queensland Transport while a disqualification is imposed by a magistrate.
You can read more from our article on Disqualification vs Suspension, what is the difference in Queensland?
Conclusion
Understanding the nuances of Queensland's drink driving legislation is crucial for individuals facing charges. Seeking legal advice promptly and exploring relief measures can minimize the impact on personal and professional life.
Our experience
Since 2010 we have been representing people throughout Southeast Queensland who have been charged with traffic offences such as drink driving and need a good drink driving lawyer to represent them. We aren’t a firm that does traffic law as just one area of law, we do traffic law exclusively. This means we have handled over 1,500 drink driving matters.
Our client’s often come to us nervous, worried and needing answers. This is not a time for uncertainty over your future nor the costs you will pay. The stress that a drink driving charge causes to people can be overwhelming, having an experienced drink driving law firm to help will give you a lot of relief.
We strive to give you immediate comprehensive advice and a fixed fee so you can be sure of your legal costs and whether you qualify for a work licence. While we will never be the cheapest we do offer the best value in our humble opinion.
Steven Brough our founder is one of the most experienced traffic lawyers in Queensland and makes sure the whole firm is professional, caring and effective in getting the best for our clients.
What courts do you appear in?
We appear in every court in Southeast Queensland from Southport to Hervey Bay. Just some of the courts we appear in are representing drink drivers include;
Brisbane
Holland Park Pine Rivers Richlands
Sunshine Coast
Gold Coast
Beaudesert Coolangatta Southport
Darling Downs
Fraser Coast
Maryborough Hervey Bay
What do you charge?
We charge a flat upfront fee for our services, that means no hidden charges or unexpected bills. The money goes into a trust account and cannot be taken by us until the matter is completed.
We are also upfront with our fees, if you look at other law firms few, if any, clearly list how much they are going to charge you. Clarity Law on the other hand are happy to list our prices as we are sure that although we are not the cheapest our prices, given our experience, is very competitive
Click here to see what we charge or see below for our current prices for a first time drink driving offence.
Work Licence (includes price of guilty plea) $1,999
Drink Driving - Low range $1,499
Drink Driving - Mid range $1,599
Drink Driving - High range $1,699
If this is not your first drink driving charge, you have other charges or an extensive history we will provide you with a fixed price quote.
If I contacted you what would occur?
If you contact us, then Steven Brough the firm’s founder or our office manager Belinda Smyth will take the call or receive the email or contact form. They have over 45 years legal experience between them, we can provide immediate legal assistance and answer any questions you have. We will discuss your case, provide guidance and send a quote by email with additional relevant information about your charge, all at no cost.
If you want to engage us then it’s easy, there is a form you can complete online in less than 15 minutes. If you don’t want to engage us or want to engage another firm that’s fine, you won’t be hassled and at worst you will just have more information about your charge. Once engaged one of our lawyers will go through your matter and contact you to discuss what the best way forward is to achieve the best results. Every one of our lawyers are very experienced with many hundreds of courts appearances for drink driving charges each.
Remember its critical you get advice before going to court, a drink driving charge no matter the reading will have an impact on you, your family and your employment or business.
How do I get more information or engage you to act for me?
If you want to engage us or just need further information or advice then you can either;
-
Use our contact form and we will contact you by email or phone at a time that suits you
-
Call us on 1300 952 255 seven days a week, 7am to 7pm
-
Click here to select a time for us to have a free 15 minute telephone conference with you
-
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
-
Send us a message on Facebook Messenger
-
Click the help button to the right and leave us a message
We are a no pressure law firm, we are happy to provide information to assist you, if you want to engage us then great, if not then you at least have more information about drink driving.
You won’t be chased or hounded to engage us. Remember its critical you get advice before going to court, a drink driving charge no matter the reading will have an impact on you, your family and your employment or business.
Need more information?
We have a range of articles on drink driving on our traffic law blog. Some of the most recent have included:
-
Case Study - High Range Drink Driving and Disqualified Driving
-
Going through a drink driving charge in Brisbane Magistrate Court
-
Navigating Drink Driving Charges in Queensland: Top 5 Do's and Don'ts
-
Disqualification vs Suspension, what is the difference in Queensland?
-
How does a traffic matter proceed in the Southport Magistrates Court?
-
Will I get a criminal conviction for a drink driving charge?
