In Queensland police are increasingly undertaking drug driving tests in conjunction with normal drink driving RBT units. Police officers who are able to conduct the drug testing need to be specially trained in the use of saliva testing equipment and testing procedures. The number of Police that are now qualified to conduct the drug tests has increased dramatically in the last few years as well as the addition of 13 specially built drug testing vehicle to Queensland roads. There is going to be an increasing amount of drug driving charges. For example the amount of drug driving tests for the…

Similar to drink driving charges which are categorised as either low, medium or high range, drug driving has different categories in which you can be charged under. If you are charged with drug driving you will either be charged with having a relevant drug in your system or, and more seriously, driving whilst under the influence of a drug. The drug driving tests look for traces of the following drugs being relevant in your system: 1.       THC – the active ingredient in cannabis 2.       Methylamphetamine – also known as speed and ice; and 3.       MDMA – the active ingredient in…

PLEASE NOTE THIS ARTICLE IS NOW OUT OF DATE - THE 21 DAY LIMIT HAS NOW BE REMOVED     A special hardship licence is a type of licence that may be issued by a Queensland Court to persons who travel over the speed limit by more than 40kms over hour (high speed suspension) and/or exceed their points on a good driving behaviour period. There are no other circumstances in which you can apply for a special hardship licence. A special hardship licence allows you to drive during the suspension of your licence (generally 6 months). A special hardship licence can…

Here at Clarity Law we receive enquiries every day from people who have been charged with drink driving in Queensland even though they carefully monitored their alcohol consumption and the time in which did so. Your BAC (breath alcohol concentration) is the measurement of the amount of alcohol in your blood stream. The legal limit in Queensland, for an open licence driver, is 0.05. This means your body can contain 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. What your legal BAC is depends on the class of licence you have. Learners and probationary licence holders have a no…

Please see our new article on driving on a police suspension in Queensland.

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…