Drink Driving Law & Lawyers

Australia has strict laws about drinking alcohol and driving. Australian Police are authorised to stop any vehicle and breath test the driver at any time. There is no absolute safe level of alcohol consumption for competent driving. For fully licensed car drivers the legal limit is 0.05 g/100ml. For special licence categories the legal limit is 0.02 (which in practice means no alcohol at all). Learner and provisional drivers or riders (which includes equivalent L and P drivers and riders visiting NSW) must not exceed zero blood alcohol. If tested by the Police, drivers must be below their allowable legal limit.

If you are going to drink any alcohol the best advice is to plan not to drive at all. Guides are available for drinking very moderate quantities of alcohol over time and remaining below the 0.05 legal BAC level (for fully licensed car drivers) but because everybody's metabolism differs the effects of alcohol will not be the same in every case.

The police perform regular roadside "random breath testing" (RBT) of drivers in metropolitan and rural areas. There are heavy penalties for drink driving, including imprisonment.

If you have been charged by the police for drink driving offence, or would like legal help in legal representation from a specialist lawyer regarding any aspect of drink driving law, then please complete your free legal enquiry form to be put in contact with a lawyer specialising drink driving law.

Pleading Guilty to a Drink Driving Offence

The penalties for drink driving offences can be far reaching and to some, life changing. Please take a look at our drink driving penalty calculator for more specific details of the penalty you could be facing for a drink driving conviction. The penalty will be based on the level of your breath, blood or urine reading along with other factors and in particular whether you have a previous conviction for an excess alcohol offence, generally within the last 10 years.

Whilst many people understand that the minimum penalty for drink driving is a 12 month ban (or 3 years ban for a repeat drink driving offender) many drivers do not realise how a drink driving conviction can also mean:

1. The loss of your job;
2. A massive increase in insurance premiums when you are able to drive again (see our money saving calculator) ;
3. The possibility of undergoing medical examinations before you can drive again;
4. Attendance on a drink driver’s rehabilitation course;
5. A possible prison sentence (although this is reserved for repeat drink driving offenders or those who have been found to be several times over the drink driving limit) ;
6. Visa restrictions (particularly in terms of entry to the USA) ; and
7. A criminal record with the conviction for drink driving remaining on your licence for over 10 years. If you are a professional (doctor/accountant/solicitor) you will most likely have to report the conviction to your regulatory body.

A good drink driving lawyer are more likely to persuade the court to exercise leniency with the penalty they impose.

To request help from a drink driving lawyer, please complete your free legal enquiry form on the right.

Pleading Not Guilty to a Drink Driving Offence

If you know that you wish to challenge the prosecution, it is essential that you seek legal representation at the earliest opportunity, preferably well in advance of your first court hearing. Much of the crucial police evidence in your drink driving case could be destroyed fairly soon after your original arrest if a specific request for it to be preserved is not made immediately.

If you have been charged by the police for drink driving offence, or would like legal help in legal representation from a specialist lawyer regarding any aspect of drink driving law, then please complete your free legal enquiry form to be put in contact with a lawyer specialising drink driving law.

Drink Driving limits in Australia

Road laws are state or territory based, but all states and territories have set similar rules.

In Australia, laws allow police officers to stop any driver and perform a random breath test without reason. Roadblocks can be set up - for example leading out of town centres on Friday and Saturday nights, or during football or other events - where every single driver will be breath-tested. This differs from UK and US laws, where police generally need a reason to suspect that the driver is intoxicated, before requesting a breath and/or sobriety test.

Australian Capital Territory

Zero for drivers and motorcyclists holding a learner, provisional, restricted or probationary licence and for drivers operating heavy vehicles over 15t GVM or driving a public vehicle for hire or reward (for example taxi and bus drivers).
0.05% for all other drivers and motorcyclists.

New South Wales

Zero for Learner and Provisional licences
0.02% for Drivers of vehicles of "gross vehicle mass" greater than 13.9 tonnes, vehicles carrying dangerous goods or public vehicles such as a taxi or bus.
0.05% for all other drivers
Zero limit for methamphetamine, Cannabis and MDMA.

Northern Territory

Zero for provisional (probationary) licence holders.
0.05% for all other drivers.

Queensland

A Zero limit applies to the drivers of trucks, buses, articulated vehicles, vehicles carrying dangerous goods, pilot vehicles, taxis, all learner drivers and provisional drivers.
0.05% for other drivers.
Zero limit for methamphetamine, Cannabis and MDMA.

South Australia

Zero limit for learner, provisional, probationary, heavy (greater than 15 tonne) vehicle, taxis, licensed chauffeured vehicles, dangerous goods, and bus licenses.
0.05% for all other drivers.
Zero limit for methamphetamine, Cannabis and MDMA.

Tasmania

Zero limit for learner, provisional, truck, bus, and taxi licences.
0.05% for all other drivers.
Zero limit for methamphetamine, Cannabis and MDMA.

Victoria

Zero limit applies for unlicensed drivers, holders of learner permits and probationary licences, "professional" drivers, and certain relicensed drunk-drivers.
Below 0.05% for most other drivers.
Zero limit for methamphetamine, Cannabis and MDMA.

There are also other restrictions for drivers in Victoria:

Limits apply within 3 hours of driving - that is, police can require a person to submit to an alcohol or drugs test within 3 hours of driving and it is an offense to fail that test, unless the drug or alcohol use occurred after driving (see Road Safety Act 1986, ss. 49, 53 and 55E).

Licenses canceled for certain serious drunk-driving offenses may only be reissued after obtaining a court order. This is the case for repeat offenders, and first offenders above 0.15% . In such cases, the relicensed driver is subject to a zero limit for 3 years following relicensing, or for as long as the person is required to use an alcohol interlock.

Alcohol interlocks must be imposed whenever a repeat drunk-driver is relicensed.

A court also has discretion to impose an alcohol interlock when relicensing a first offender in certain serious cases, generally when the offense involves a BAC of 0.15% or higher.

The law requires interlocks to be used for certain minimum periods, but the requirement to use an interlock does not automatically end at the completion of the minimum period. Once that period has expired, an individual may apply to a court to have the interlock condition removed from their driver's licence. The State Police must be given notice of the application and may make submissions to the court on whether the interlock condition should be removed. The court will also take into account data recorded by the interlock itself (e.g. whether any attempts were made to start the vehicle by a person who had been drinking).

Driving without an interlock when one is required carries severe penalties, including imprisonment.

If a doctor sees any patient who is aged 15 years or over as a result of a motor vehicle accident, the patient must allow the doctor to take a blood sample for testing for alcohol and drug content in a way that preserves the chain of evidence. If this process is skipped the doctor may not be able to discover the alcohol blood level. The results can be used as evidence in subsequent court proceedings.

The law allows a police officer to require any driver (or any person who has driven a vehicle within the last three hours) to perform a random saliva test for methamphetamine, Cannabis or MDMA, all of which are subject to a zero limit (see Road Safety Act 1986: ss. 49, 55E & 55D)

Western Australia

0.02% for learner, provisional (probationary) licence holders (0.00% as from July 1, 2008) or persons convicted of driving under the influence (for three years after the offense) and failing to comply with a request for breath, blood or urine (for three years after the offense).
0.05% for all other drivers.

Readings over 0.08% but under 0.15% BAC, and 0.15% BAC and above (legally defined as Drunk Driving) comprise separate offenses, the latter attracting heavier penalties. Persistent offenders may be barred from driving for terms up to and including life, and may also be imprisoned.

The law allows a police officer to require any driver to perform a random saliva test for methamphetamine, Cannabis or MDMA, all of which are subject to a zero limit

If you have been charged by the police for drink driving offence, or would like legal help in legal representation from a specialist lawyer regarding any aspect of drink driving law, then please complete your free legal enquiry form to be put in contact with a lawyer specialising drink driving law.

Factors influencing alcohol concentration

Different people metabolise alcohol at different rates. Some of the factors that influence the concentration of alcohol in a person’s breath or blood (BAC) include:

The amount and type of alcohol consumed
The rate of drinking and the time since the last drink
The amount of alcohol that remains in the stomach
Other foods or liquids in the stomach
The amount of alcohol already metabolised by the liver
The general health and competence of the liver
The person’s metabolic rate
The person’s emotional state
Physical factors, including gender, body size and lean tissue to body fat ratio
The volume of water in the tissues of the body, which can be affected by such things as medication, illness and the menstrual cycle.

Estimating blood alcohol concentration (BAC)

The only way to measure your BAC is by using a fully calibrated testing machine. The general advice on limiting your drinking to a particular number of standards drinks per hour may work for some people, but not for others. There are simply too many factors to take into consideration. If you are concerned about your BAC, err on the side of caution and don’t drive.

If you have been charged for drink driving and would like legal help, please complete your free legal enquiry form.

If you have been charged by the police for drink driving offence, or would like legal help in legal representation from a specialist lawyer regarding any aspect of drink driving law, then please complete your free legal enquiry form to be put in contact with a lawyer specialising drink driving law.

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