What you really need to know about drug driving charges
Drug driving and drink driving can have similar consequences. In a worst case scenario, it can have fatal car crash. And because it risks innocent lives, motorists who unknowingly engage in this activity get stringent punishment once they are found guilty. Here is what you need to know about drug driving charges in Western Australia.
Western Australia driving laws
The drink driving laws in Western Australia are governed by the Road Traffic Act 1974, and if we talk in particular then sections 63 to 64AAA.
Driving with Prescribed Illicit Drug in Oral Fluid
To charge a motorist with the above, police must have valid ground to believe that the driver is affected by one or more drugs while driving. In many cases, erratic driving such as speeding, swerving or failing to obey traffic signs, alerts police that something is wrong. Police arrive at an accident scene to find a seemingly uninjured acting little weird. In any case, police will rely on training, experience and personal observations of driver’s behaviour and appearance to find out if he or she is under the influence of drugs at the time. Blood tests may also be conducted to confirm the officer’s suspicions.
In this context, it is important to note that it doesn’t matter whether you are under the influence of a legal or illegal drug while driving. A positive blood test coupled with other evidences will likely result in conviction.
Drug Impaired Driving under the Influence of Drugs
Someone can be charged with this offence if they have drug residue in their saliva or blood. These offences are mostly applicable where police have evidence of suspicious or erratic driving behaviour. In most cases, police conduct a roadside saliva swab test to confirm the presence of drug in saliva. These tests are specifically designed to react with ingredients of certain drugs and immediately result into a ‘negative’ or ‘positive’ result. If the result is positive, additional evaluation or assessment is done to detect the presence of active ingredients in ecstasy, marijuana or speed.
Police can conduct the test to check the active ingredients in other illegal drugs. And although they don’t use field kits to detect ‘legal’ drugs, the detection of prescription medicines like Pethidine and Methadone isn’t unheard of.
Therefore, it is important to consult your healthcare provider or physician about how long any traces of prescription medicines will remain in your system and how the use of prescription medicine may affect your ability to drive.
Punishment upon conviction
In general, the various types of punishment you may get upon conviction for these offences include:
· Fine
· Imprisonment
· Loss of driving permission
The severity of the punishment depends on certain factors, including your unrelated traffic offences, past convictions for other or same offence. Criminal Defence Lawyers Perth play a vital role in reducing the punishment.
Hiring a traffic lawyer for this
If you are facing such charges, it is recommended to hire a traffic offence lawyer Perth. They have years of experience and can help you represent case rightfully.
You can also consider contacting law firms that have a team of Criminal Lawyers Perth and traffic lawyers who can help you get a fair judgement either by reducing the sentence duration or amount of fine.
