South Australian Current Acts

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1961 - SECT 46

46—Reckless and dangerous driving

        (1)         A person must not drive a vehicle recklessly or at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to any person.

Maximum penalty:

            (a)         in the case of a first offence—$5 000 or imprisonment for 2 years;

            (b)         in the case of a subsequent offence—imprisonment for 3 years.

        (2)         In considering whether an offence has been committed under this section, the court must have regard to—

            (a)         the nature, condition and use of the road on which the offence is alleged to have been committed; and

            (b)         the amount of traffic on the road at the time of the offence; and

            (c)         the amount of traffic which might reasonably be expected to enter the road from other roads and places; and

            (d)         all other relevant circumstances, whether of the same nature as those mentioned or not.

        (3)         If a court convicts a person of an offence against subsection (1), the following provisions apply:

            (a)         the court must order that the person be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence—

                  (i)         in the case of a first offence—for such period, being not less than 12 months, as the court thinks fit; or

                  (ii)         in the case of a subsequent offence—for such period, being not less than three years, as the court thinks fit;

            (b)         the disqualification prescribed by paragraph (a) cannot be reduced or mitigated in any way or be substituted by any other penalty or sentence unless, in the case of a first offence, the court is satisfied, by evidence given on oath, that the offence is trifling, in which case it may order a period of disqualification that is less than the prescribed minimum period but not less than one month.

        (4)         In determining whether an offence is a first or subsequent offence for the purposes of this section, only a previous offence against subsection (1) for which the defendant has been convicted that was committed within the period of five years immediately preceding the commission of the offence under consideration will be taken into account.

        (5)         It is a defence to a charge of an offence against this section for the defendant to prove that the defendant was, at the time of the offence—

            (a)         carrying out duties as an emergency worker; and

            (b)         acting in accordance with the directions of the defendant's employing authority; and

            (c)         acting reasonably in the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be.

        (6)         In this section—

"emergency worker" means a police officer or a person who is an emergency worker as defined by the regulations for the purposes of this section;

"employing authority" means—

            (a)         in relation to a police officer—the Commissioner of Police; or

            (b)         in relation to a person who is an emergency worker as defined by the regulations for the purposes of this section—the person defined by the regulations as the employing authority for that person.