Why should we have to play Russian roulette with potential killers every time we get into a car?
Up to three in every hundred cars hurtling towards us whenever we’re on the road are likely to be unregistered and driven by unlicensed or disqualified drivers.
If that doesn’t frighten you, a Queensland study found that 37.5% of disqualified drivers interviewed said they drove when they thought they may be over the alcohol limit and six per cent of unlicensed drivers said they always drove at more than 10 kph over the speed limit.
These are the kamikaze drivers who don’t give a damn about the safety of others and have total contempt for police and court decisions.
Drivers like the Ipswich man caught driving at 79kph in a 60kph limit while his licence was suspended, his registration had expired, his car had the wrong registration plates attached and yet was only given a suspended prison term.
And the driver who had been banned from holding a licence until 2030 and crashed into a parked car while under the influence of a cocktail of drugs killing two children and an adult.
My concern about this terrifying situation was sparked by the driver who was almost three times over the legal limit and sped away from traffic lights outside the Normanby Hotel like a drag racer, hitting a woman so hard she was flung three metres into the air.
Neville James Russ had a previous conviction for drink driving and had been convicted for speeding nine times, many of them for speeds in excess of 20km/h over the limit. The last conviction had been just three weeks earlier.
Why isn’t forceful action taken earlier to deal with drivers who display such an evident scorn for the rules of the road?
Guess what sentence Russ, with his appalling record, received for offences including aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to remain at the scene of a crash:
There are thousands of disqualified Queensland drivers who carry on driving, some of them immediately after having their licences suspended and many of them dangerously and under the influence of drink or drugs.
Barry Watson, of the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, found in a study of 120,376 disqualified drivers that 20,132 offended in some way during the disqualification period, 25% of the re-offenders by drinking and driving again and 3% by driving dangerously.
A roadside survey of unlicensed driving in Queensland by the Centre says it is widely acknowledged that suspended drivers are over-represented in fatal crashes.
It reported: “A recent study of crashes occurring from 1995 to 2004 in Queensland, showed that unlicensed drivers were involved in approximately 3-4% of total crashes but this increased to between 6-10% of fatal crashes confirming the overrepresentation of unlicensed drivers in more serious crashes.”
And Barry Watson found that crashes involving at least one unlicensed driver account for 10% of road deaths in Australia.
He analysed six years of Queensland road crash data (2003 - 2008) and found that unlicensed drivers represented 8.9% of drivers involved in fatal crashes and 5.1% of drivers involved in crashes resulting in hospitalisation but less than four per cent of minor crashes.
A 2003 study commissioned by the United Kingdom Department of Transport found that the comparative crash risk of disqualified, suspended or unlicensed drivers was 2.7 to 9 times greater than for licensed drivers.
In Victoria 29 people died in crashes involving banned drivers between 2010 and mid 2013.
What makes these statistics more alarming is that studies estimate that between one and three per cent of drivers are disqualified or unlicensed.
So between one and three per cent of drivers are causing up to 10 per cent of road deaths.
But the risk of encountering one of these potential killers has grown enormously.
The Queensland Travelsafe Committee found that over a five-year period the number of motorists caught driving in Queensland while disqualified had increased by 260%.
The Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council found that by 2008 the prevalence of the offence of driving while disqualified or suspended had become the most common principal proven offence in magistrates’ courts.
Professor Arie Freiberg, Chair of Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council, cites several cases of people committing more than 30 repeat unlicensed driving offences.
“They're the core of a really serious problem because they keep driving, they don't change their drinking behaviour and they're very, very dangerous on the roads,” he said.
“The problem is so deep and so entrenched that simply locking people in jail - where they will be released eventually - is not enough.”
Even if these menaces are caught by the police there is a chance that lawyers will succeed in keeping them on the road.
A Google search for “Driving while disqualified Qld” resulted in the first example being an advertisement for “Wiseman Lawyers - Disqualified Driving Lawyer in QLD. 100% Success Rate.”
The website boasts: “We successfully get eligible clients special drink driving work licences - we have never (that’s right - never) had an application refused.”
“The Wiseman Lawyers team consistently gets clients around half the licence disqualification period and around half the fine that they would otherwise receive for their Drink Driving charge,” says the advert.
“We achieve these results by persuasively explaining to the Magistrate that our clients are hard working, upstanding members of the community, who in most instances have made a one off error of judgment. Also, we provide our clients with a number of resources which allow them to take steps to show that they have learnt their lesson prior to attending court.”
And the advert boasts: “Dangerous Driving while Intoxicated & Racing, collision, Longreach Magistrates Court, 9 month disqual, $700 fine, No Conviction Recorded.”
And: “We have kept people charged with their ninth disqualified driving charge out of jail.”
The Queensland Government has toughened the penalties for drivers who breach road rules and court orders in an extreme manner.
Since November people committing a second offence of driving without a licence or exceeding a speed limit by more than 40kph or with an alcohol-blood content of more than 0.15% or driving a vehicle while it is uninsured and unregistered will have their vehicles impounded for seven days.
A third offence leads to a 90-day impoundment. It’s not until a fourth offence that the vehicle will be seized permanently.
The legislation is geared to giving serious offenders several chances to reform - or re-offend - rather than protecting innocent road users.
The Travelsafe Committee said: “The clear message out of (a) road safety summit is that Queenslanders want unlicensed and disqualified drivers to be prevented from getting behind the wheel.”
Too true!
So why not put further pressure on this dangerous minority to conform by impounding their vehicles for seven days the first time they are caught putting lives at risk with their flagrant disregard for safe driving?
This way their vehicles would be taken from them for 90 days for a second offence.
Remember, we’re not talking about drivers who have strayed slightly over the speed limit or had reasonable grounds to believe they were fit to drive. These are people who are more than three times over the alcohol limit, or perhaps driving at 100 kilometres an hour in a 60kph limit or have been ordered off the road because they are a danger to others and are unlicensed and uninsured – or a lethal combination of all those behaviours.
Increasing our protection from these dangerous drivers would be an ideal way for the Queensland Government to show its get-tough credentials.
Police Minister Jack Dempsey can be contacted at [email protected]
Up to three in every hundred cars hurtling towards us whenever we’re on the road are likely to be unregistered and driven by unlicensed or disqualified drivers.
If that doesn’t frighten you, a Queensland study found that 37.5% of disqualified drivers interviewed said they drove when they thought they may be over the alcohol limit and six per cent of unlicensed drivers said they always drove at more than 10 kph over the speed limit.
These are the kamikaze drivers who don’t give a damn about the safety of others and have total contempt for police and court decisions.
Drivers like the Ipswich man caught driving at 79kph in a 60kph limit while his licence was suspended, his registration had expired, his car had the wrong registration plates attached and yet was only given a suspended prison term.
And the driver who had been banned from holding a licence until 2030 and crashed into a parked car while under the influence of a cocktail of drugs killing two children and an adult.
My concern about this terrifying situation was sparked by the driver who was almost three times over the legal limit and sped away from traffic lights outside the Normanby Hotel like a drag racer, hitting a woman so hard she was flung three metres into the air.
Neville James Russ had a previous conviction for drink driving and had been convicted for speeding nine times, many of them for speeds in excess of 20km/h over the limit. The last conviction had been just three weeks earlier.
Why isn’t forceful action taken earlier to deal with drivers who display such an evident scorn for the rules of the road?
Guess what sentence Russ, with his appalling record, received for offences including aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to remain at the scene of a crash:
- Seven years’ imprisonment, disqualified from driving for life and a $5000 fine;
- Four years’ imprisonment, disqualified from driving for life and a $3000 fine;
- Imprisonment suspended after just 12 months, disqualified from driving for three years and no fine?
There are thousands of disqualified Queensland drivers who carry on driving, some of them immediately after having their licences suspended and many of them dangerously and under the influence of drink or drugs.
Barry Watson, of the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety, found in a study of 120,376 disqualified drivers that 20,132 offended in some way during the disqualification period, 25% of the re-offenders by drinking and driving again and 3% by driving dangerously.
A roadside survey of unlicensed driving in Queensland by the Centre says it is widely acknowledged that suspended drivers are over-represented in fatal crashes.
It reported: “A recent study of crashes occurring from 1995 to 2004 in Queensland, showed that unlicensed drivers were involved in approximately 3-4% of total crashes but this increased to between 6-10% of fatal crashes confirming the overrepresentation of unlicensed drivers in more serious crashes.”
And Barry Watson found that crashes involving at least one unlicensed driver account for 10% of road deaths in Australia.
He analysed six years of Queensland road crash data (2003 - 2008) and found that unlicensed drivers represented 8.9% of drivers involved in fatal crashes and 5.1% of drivers involved in crashes resulting in hospitalisation but less than four per cent of minor crashes.
A 2003 study commissioned by the United Kingdom Department of Transport found that the comparative crash risk of disqualified, suspended or unlicensed drivers was 2.7 to 9 times greater than for licensed drivers.
In Victoria 29 people died in crashes involving banned drivers between 2010 and mid 2013.
What makes these statistics more alarming is that studies estimate that between one and three per cent of drivers are disqualified or unlicensed.
So between one and three per cent of drivers are causing up to 10 per cent of road deaths.
But the risk of encountering one of these potential killers has grown enormously.
The Queensland Travelsafe Committee found that over a five-year period the number of motorists caught driving in Queensland while disqualified had increased by 260%.
The Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council found that by 2008 the prevalence of the offence of driving while disqualified or suspended had become the most common principal proven offence in magistrates’ courts.
Professor Arie Freiberg, Chair of Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council, cites several cases of people committing more than 30 repeat unlicensed driving offences.
“They're the core of a really serious problem because they keep driving, they don't change their drinking behaviour and they're very, very dangerous on the roads,” he said.
“The problem is so deep and so entrenched that simply locking people in jail - where they will be released eventually - is not enough.”
Even if these menaces are caught by the police there is a chance that lawyers will succeed in keeping them on the road.
A Google search for “Driving while disqualified Qld” resulted in the first example being an advertisement for “Wiseman Lawyers - Disqualified Driving Lawyer in QLD. 100% Success Rate.”
The website boasts: “We successfully get eligible clients special drink driving work licences - we have never (that’s right - never) had an application refused.”
“The Wiseman Lawyers team consistently gets clients around half the licence disqualification period and around half the fine that they would otherwise receive for their Drink Driving charge,” says the advert.
“We achieve these results by persuasively explaining to the Magistrate that our clients are hard working, upstanding members of the community, who in most instances have made a one off error of judgment. Also, we provide our clients with a number of resources which allow them to take steps to show that they have learnt their lesson prior to attending court.”
And the advert boasts: “Dangerous Driving while Intoxicated & Racing, collision, Longreach Magistrates Court, 9 month disqual, $700 fine, No Conviction Recorded.”
And: “We have kept people charged with their ninth disqualified driving charge out of jail.”
The Queensland Government has toughened the penalties for drivers who breach road rules and court orders in an extreme manner.
Since November people committing a second offence of driving without a licence or exceeding a speed limit by more than 40kph or with an alcohol-blood content of more than 0.15% or driving a vehicle while it is uninsured and unregistered will have their vehicles impounded for seven days.
A third offence leads to a 90-day impoundment. It’s not until a fourth offence that the vehicle will be seized permanently.
The legislation is geared to giving serious offenders several chances to reform - or re-offend - rather than protecting innocent road users.
The Travelsafe Committee said: “The clear message out of (a) road safety summit is that Queenslanders want unlicensed and disqualified drivers to be prevented from getting behind the wheel.”
Too true!
So why not put further pressure on this dangerous minority to conform by impounding their vehicles for seven days the first time they are caught putting lives at risk with their flagrant disregard for safe driving?
This way their vehicles would be taken from them for 90 days for a second offence.
Remember, we’re not talking about drivers who have strayed slightly over the speed limit or had reasonable grounds to believe they were fit to drive. These are people who are more than three times over the alcohol limit, or perhaps driving at 100 kilometres an hour in a 60kph limit or have been ordered off the road because they are a danger to others and are unlicensed and uninsured – or a lethal combination of all those behaviours.
Increasing our protection from these dangerous drivers would be an ideal way for the Queensland Government to show its get-tough credentials.
Police Minister Jack Dempsey can be contacted at [email protected]