Hit-run drivers face immediate licence loss under new Victorian laws
HIT-run drivers and those involved in fatal crashes could lose their licence immediately in a bid to get dangerous motorists off the roads.
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HIT-run drivers and those involved in fatal crashes could lose their licence immediately in a bid to get dangerous motorists off the roads.
Victoria Police and the Department of Justice and Regulation are formulating new laws targeting high-risk drivers.
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Now, motorists can only have their licences suspended if magistrates make it part of their bail conditions, while police only have the power to suspend or cancel licences immediately for drunk and drugged drivers. Under the proposed crackdown, to be put to the state government in coming months, police would have the power to immediately strip the licence of a driver charged with serious traffic crimes, including death crashes.
The Herald Sun recently revealed police investigated 736 hit-and-run incidents in Victoria in 2017.
This figure prompted the state’s top traffic cop, Doug Fryer, to blast the runaway drivers as “un-Australian” and lacking “any kind of human decency”.
Many drivers who vanished, leaving their victims bleeding on roadsides, were high on drugs, drunk, in stolen cars and/or unlicensed.
Police Minister Lisa Neville on Friday confirmed hit run and killer driver laws were under review.
“The Andrews Labor Government has commenced a review of the operation of laws relevant to suspension and cancellation of driver’s licences of a person charged with serious traffic crimes, including those which have resulted in death,” she said.
“This review … will examine whether the current arrangements provide adequate protection to Victorian road users.”
Jeynelle Dean-Hayes has been fighting to change the law since her son, Tyler Dean, 18, was killed in a hit-run crash last year, with the accused driver free and still able to drive.
“It’s about trying to keep other families safe, and if it has happened, don’t let these people out there to give it a second go,” she said.
“They have proven they are unsafe on the road. There are so many hit runs now and the crime is not being taken as seriously as it should be.”
As part of the state government review, sentencing decisions and bail conditions will also be examined to determine if courts have been imposing relevant licence suspensions.
Early this month, 14-year-old Aivy Nguyen died after being hit by a truck while heading to school.
The truck driver did not stop but later handed himself in and has since been released pending inquiries.
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