Number 10 — Sentencing drink-driving offenders

Sentencing drink-driving offenders

The most common drink-driving offences in New South Wales are three “prescribed concentration of alcohol” (PCA) offences created by s 4E of the Traffic Act 1909. These three offences involve driving, or attempting to drive, with a blood alcohol concentration in one of the following ranges:

• at least 0.05 grams, but less than 0.08 grams, of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (low range PCA)
• at least 0.08 grams, but less than 0.15 grams, of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (middle range PCA)
• at least 0.15 grams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (high range PCA)

These offences may be viewed as the product of developments in medical technology that allow accurate measurement of blood alcohol levels, along with breath-testing, as a routine procedure. Before such tests were readily available, drink-driving laws depended on the notion of “driving under the influence” (DUI), as found for example in s 5(2) of the Traffic Act and in some provisions of s 52A of the Crimes Act 1900 (this latter section was recently amended to take into account blood alcohol concentration as an aggravating factor). The PCA provisions, especially with the use of random breath testing, have enabled a more effective control of drink-driving than the older DUI offences, as evidenced by the significant reduction in the number of road fatalities following their introduction.