Dangerous driving to escape police pursuit
Under s 19AC of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) it is an offence to drive a motor vehicle negligently, recklessly or at a speed or in a manner that is dangerous to any person in order to escape pursuit by a police officer or to cause a police officer to engage in a pursuit.
Penalty:
Mandatory driver's licence disqualification for a minimum of 2 years in addition to the maximum penalty:
Basic offence: 3 years imprisonment
Aggravated offence: 5 years imprisonment*
* An aggravated offence in this instance means that at the time the offence was committed the driver [s 5AA(1b):
- was driving or using a motor vehicle that was stolen or being driven without the consent of the owner of the vehicle and the driver knew or was reckless about this;
- was driving a motor vehicle knowing that he or she was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence or that his or her licence was suspended;
- was driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood; and/or
- was driving a motor vehicle in contravention of s 47 (driving under the influence) or s 47AB (driving with a prescribed drug in oral fluid or blood) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA).
Dangerous driving to escape police pursuit : Last Revised: Mon Oct 14th 2019
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