Page 603 - Week 02 - Thursday, 18 February 2016
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Members may have seen that this week I released the most recent road safety strategy and it is underpinned by the vision zero philosophy. Vision zero is based on ethics and it emphasises that every human being is unique and irreplaceable. It is also based on science and it recognises the limits to human physical and mental capabilities. For example, humans make mistakes and the road system needs to recognise this. Vision zero says road safety responsibility does not rest solely with the road user; it is a shared responsibility.
Limiting pursuits to situations where there is a need to protect someone from serious harm or death aims to strike the right balance between protecting life and the need to apprehend offenders. We have re-examined the balance between law enforcement and road safety risk. Is it worth pursuing someone for something like a traffic offence when a pursuit creates such a risk to human life and when other means can be used to identify and apprehend the driver?
This new policy falls on the side of safety and the side of protecting human life. In this day and age pursuits do not need to be the primary means for apprehending a driver who flees police. There are other ways police can apprehend an offender. For example, often those who do not stop for police are known to police or can be identified through other means. The government and the police have worked very closely and cooperatively on this issue, resulting in the revised pursuits policy and the bill I am presenting today.
I put on record my genuine thanks to ACT Policing and Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers for their involvement and efforts on this issue. Police are at the coalface on issues like this. They are charged with protecting the community, with stopping dangerous drivers, with making difficult and urgent decisions. They have my respect for their ongoing work and I appreciate their involvement in the considerable policy process that has led to today’s announcement.
The bill I am presenting proposes a number of amendments to the road transport legislation to strengthen offences relating to failing to stop for police and to enhance ACT Policing’s ability to identify drivers who commit this offence. It provides a framework to empower police to maintain law and order using an investigatory approach to apprehending offenders as opposed to undertaking police pursuits resulting in the risks to human life that I have discussed.
The development of the bill I am presenting and the revised pursuits policy I have flagged has been assisted by an ACT Policing review of its pursuit guidelines. The review identified possible changes related to ACT Policing policy and procedures and possible legislative reforms to help reduce the need for police pursuits. The government has carefully considered ACT Policing’s recommendations for legislative change. In close collaboration with the police we have identified an acceptable suite of changes to enact into legislation.
The first amendment in the bill substantially increases the penalties for failing to stop a motor vehicle for police. Currently, a driver of a vehicle who fails to comply with a request or signal made by a police officer to stop the vehicle faces a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units. This penalty is amongst the lowest applying in Australia and does not reflect the seriousness of the offence.
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