Lawyers irate as drug drivers face on-the-spot licence loss under new laws before SA parliament

Drug drivers will lose their licences instantly upon returning a positive roadside result under proposed SA legislation – but lawyers are not impressed.

Drug drivers will immediately lose their licences upon returning a positive roadside result as part of proposed Australian-first laws to be introduced to state parliament on Wednesday.

But a national legal association has described the new Bill “the worst we have seen in the road safety space”.

The state government also wants SA Police to have greater powers to instantly remove dangerous, reckless and high-speed motorists from South Australian roads.

Road Safety Minister Vincent Tarzia told The Advertiser the proposed laws aimed to make the state’s roads safer for every driver, passenger, rider and pedestrian.

“Drivers who take drugs and get behind the wheel have a death wish,” he said.

“It’s unacceptable, unfair and tragic that their selfish choices could end up cutting short someone else’s life.”

The Advertiser in May revealed drug-driving detection rates across the state had surged more than 140 per cent in the past decade.

SA Police figures showed the number of positive roadside drug tests had increased from 2284 at a rate of one in 19 during 2011 to 5500 at rate of one in six last year.

A driver detected with a prescribed drug – methylamphetamine, cannabis or MDMA – in their oral fluid or blood receives an $863 fine and four demerit points.

Traffic Services Branch officer-in-charge Superintendent Bob Gray is concerned about the number of drivers with drugs in their system. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Current laws allow drivers who have returned a positive roadside drug test to remain behind the wheel for up to 28 days while an oral fluid sample is forensically analysed.

But the proposed laws will give SA Police discretion to immediately revoke a driver’s licence or determine whether circumstances require further testing.

Drug drivers face disqualification periods of:

THREE months for a first offence (no less than six months if convicted by a court).

TWELVE months for a second offence within five years.

TWO years for a third offence within five years.

THREE years for a subsequent offence within five years.

“This nation-leading road safety measure takes drug drivers off the streets the second they test positive for illegal substances,” Mr Tarzia said.

“We cannot forget driving is a privilege, not a right. The Marshall government is committed to ensuring every motorist makes it home safe.”

But the Australian Lawyers Alliance says the state government’s proposed legislation is unfair for drivers who take prescribed cannabis “with no evidence of impaired driving”.

“These proposed new laws in South Australia are probably the worst we have seen in the road safety space anywhere in Australia in recent years,” the alliance’s national criminal justice spokesman, Greg Barns SC, said.

“Drivers who take opioids or other prescription medication do not find themselves in court or risk losing their licence and neither should drivers who have taken a prescribed and legal dose of cannabis.

“With drugs such as cannabis there is not a clear link between a positive test and adverse driving particularly given that minute levels of the drug can be detected.

“There is no scientific support for this proposed law change. Cannabis is a legally recognised prescribed medication and the law needs to acknowledge this to stay relevant.

“This law will make cannabis the only prescription medication that excludes an individual from driving completely.”

The proposed laws will also allow police to issue an immediate six-month loss of licence to drivers caught speeding in excess of 45km/h, while introducing a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment for aggravated offences.

Reckless and dangerous drivers would face an instant 12-month licence loss and a maximum penalty of a $5000 fine or two years’ jail for a first offence, or three years in prison for a subsequent offence.

Driving while disqualified would also carry an increased maximum penalty of 12 months’ imprisonment for a first offence and three years’ jail for a subsequent offence.

SA Best MLC Connie Bonaros, whose party last year proposed new laws and worked with the state government, said common sense had prevailed.

“It’s a no-brainer,” Ms Bonaros said.

“The prevalence of drug drivers on our roads is totally unacceptable. Make no mistake – drug drivers on our roads are killing or seriously injuring innocent people.

“If motorists driving under the influence of illicit drugs are not prepared to act responsibly, that responsibility must be taken away from them through tougher and increased penalties.”

The state’s top traffic cop said in May he was concerned about the significant rise of drug-driving detections, which he attributed to a greater use of illicit substances in society.

“(Drug drivers) don’t particularly avert their mind to the fact they may have drugs in their system and probably a lot of them can’t not use drugs, and run the gauntlet and hope they don’t get detected,” Traffic Services Branch officer-in-charge Superintendent Bob Gray said.

“The cohort who use drugs really do not seem to perturbed about using them and a lot of them are probably dependent on them and that’s their life choice.”