Page 2345 - Week 08 - Thursday, 5 August 2021
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is up to all of us to ensure that Canberrans can get safely home to their families at night.
That is why the ACT government is introducing legislation today that will increase the protections for all road users. We are establishing a new offence for negligent driving that injures another road user, as well as increasing the penalties for negligent and culpable driving in a range of other cases. We want everyone to be safe on Canberra’s roads, and this bill will help to close a current gap in the protections that are available.
Unsafe behaviours on our road network threaten the lives and wellbeing of all members of our community. Unsafe driving can take many forms, including negligent, culpable, furious, reckless and dangerous driving. As transport options evolve and there is a wider range of users on our roads, it is vital that the territory’s laws reflect community expectations while supporting effective enforcement and compliance activities.
The bill I am introducing today enhances the existing penalty framework by strengthening the hierarchy of offences for negligent driving so that these better address the spectrum of harm Canberrans can experience on our roads. This is consistent with the ACT Road Safety Strategy 2020-25 and the ACT Road Safety Action Plan 2020-23.
The bill achieves this by: introducing a new offence to address negligent driving that occasions actual bodily harm; increasing the infringement notice penalty for negligent driving that does not occasion death, grievous bodily harm or actual bodily harm; increasing the minimum automatic licence disqualification periods for culpable driving and negligent driving occasioning death and grievous bodily harm; and introducing two new strict liability offences to address unsafe use of other vehicles, including personal mobility devices such as e-scooters.
It is an offence to drive a motor vehicle on a road or road-related area in a negligent manner. Current penalties are based on negligent conduct occasioning death, grievous bodily harm or in any other case. Negligent driving that causes someone harm but not to the standard of grievous bodily harm is not adequately addressed. This can mean drivers can receive a relatively minor penalty for injuring another road user if that injury is not to the level of grievous bodily harm. We think this gap needs to be closed, and that is what this bill will achieve.
The bill establishes a new offence in the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 of negligent driving that occasions actual bodily harm. The offence will have a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units, six months imprisonment or both. It creates a mid-tier offence for negligent driving that causes harm to other road users.
The nature of the harm that will be covered by the new offence is described by the common law—that is, harm that need not be permanent, but must be more than merely transient or trifling, as per R v Donovan. This may include major bruising, black eyes and lacerations. More serious harms, such as permanent or serious
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