When a person has committed a drink driving offence over the middle alcohol limit or over the high alcohol limit (or UIL), or committed a Drive under the Influence of Drugs, then their licence is going to be immediately suspended under section 79B of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act, see our article on driving under a police suspension. This means that you are no longer able to drive until your matter has been finalised in court. This could be a few weeks, or in some cases, a few months. During this time off the road, life must go…

Driving whilst under the influence of a drug is illegal in Queensland and this includes synthetic drugs. What are synthetic drugs? Synthetic drugs are designed to mimic the effects of regular drugs, alter your mind, and therefore affect your ability to drive in the same way. There is currently a blanket ban in Queensland on the possession and/or sale of synthetic drugs or any substance that is designed to have a psychoactive effect other than alcohol. Why can’t you drive under the influence of synthetic drugs? Currently Queensland police are able to take swabs at the roadside of a person’s…

Defences to a charge of evading police The charge of evading police is an extremely serious charge with the Queensland Government enacting some of the toughest legislation in the country. The government have shown a continued desire to see people jailed for evading the police. The question then becomes are there any defences to the charge of evading police? First we will look at what evading police is, then the consequences and finally we will look at 5 potential defences. What is evading police? Section 754 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld) provides that to be charged…