Criminal Law Consolidation (Driving at Extreme Speed) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 22 June 2021.)

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:55): I rise to indicate SA-Best's support for the Criminal Law Consolidation (Driving at Extreme Speed) Amendment Bill 2021. While SA-Best patiently awaits more sweeping reforms to the Road Traffic Act, something the minister has assured us are on their way, this bill immediately deals with the serious circumstances and consequences of what is commonly referred to as hoon driving. As we have seen in recent times, this has become more prevalent, often with very tragic outcomes.

SAPOL statistics reveal 3,174 drivers were caught travelling at least 30 kilometres above the limit, including 637 clocked speeding 45 km/h or more on the state's roads last year. I am sure others in this chamber and the broader community were as sickened and outraged as I was watching the confronting vision of a motorcyclist who filmed himself doing a staggering 267 km/h as he weaved his way in and out of traffic on a busy metropolitan road at night earlier this year, before crashing into the back of a stationary truck at 140 km/h.

The rider was in a coma for two months and now has permanent brain damage. He is unable to communicate clearly and has two full-time carers. His family has agreed for SAPOL to publicly release the vision in the hope it might discourage other road users from driving so recklessly, posing a danger not only to themselves but, of course, to other innocent road users.

These idiotic—I think is the only word that comes to mind—drivers seem to be in a special category all of their own with their blatant disregard for their, or anybody else's, safety. I appreciate that in this particular instance this gentleman has sustained what can only be described as debilitating injuries, which he and his family will have to live with for the rest of their lives. That is a sad outcome, but it is the reality of the sort of behaviour that was undertaken by the individual involved. As police commissioner Grant Stevens said in the media around the time:

This is not a re-enactment. These are not actors. This is real-life video of someone making incredibly stupid decisions on our road and paying a very high price for that.

These reckless actions effectively turn their vehicles into lethal weapons—lethal to them and unsuspecting innocent members of the public. So I welcome the creation of a new offence targeted specifically to their particularly irresponsible and, as police minister Tarzia has described, often 'moronic' behaviour.

The bill introduces a new offence into the Criminal Law Consolidation Act of driving at excessive speeds by over 55 km/h in a 60 km/h zone, or 80 km/h in an above 60 km/h zone. I understand ordinarily this would be a minor indictable offence, prosecuted by police in the Magistrates Court. Conviction carries steep penalties of up to three years' imprisonment and a minimum licence disqualification of two years for the first offence or five years for subsequent offences.

If the offence is deemed to be aggravated—defined by a comprehensive range of circumstances, such as causing harm or death to another, escaping police, having passengers in the car, not holding a full licence or any licence at all, driving a stolen car, or driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs—then that penalty is up to five years' imprisonment and a mandatory loss of licence for five years.

This last aggravated element in the provision that these are forfeiture offences, along with the ability for police to impose an immediate licence disqualification, are entirely consistent with what SA-Best has been calling for in regard to drug driving for some time now. I am pleased to see the government finally get on board with the need for these stronger and more immediate penalties to protect us and to act as a deterrent to keep these drivers off our roads. Of course, that will not happen in every single instance, but our laws need to, as much as possible, act as a deterrent.

The often trotted out spurious argument that drug drivers should be given the benefit of the doubt to be able to hold onto their licence until their secondary forensic test results have been received seems to have been finally put to bed. The driving public deserves and are entitled to have these drivers removed from the roads immediately. I strongly support the government for including these provisions.

While I appreciate the expert opinion of the Law Society of South Australia, I disagree that the current provisions of the Road Traffic Act are sufficient to deal with hoon driving because clearly they have failed to do so to date. I also reject the claim that it will be confusing and the courts can already fix a longer period of licence disqualification. That may very well be the case, but this new offence is actually very simple and is in addition to the provisions in the Road Traffic Act. Like all of those charged under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act, there will be the usual common law defences available to defendants.

I also do not accept that the offence will be difficult to prosecute because SAPOL will have difficulty measuring the excess speed. I suppose only time will tell whether that actually transpires or not. That does not mean that we should not be trying to implement these laws to see what deterrent effect they can have. In the meantime, if problems arise I suggest we deal with them as those problems arise. It is up to SAPOL to ensure its officers have the tools they need to accurately record speed to prosecute offences under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act and under the Road Traffic Act. If that is a matter of resourcing, then that is one that the government will have to consider separately to the merits of this legislation.

As members in this place know, we have advocated strongly for SAPOL to ensure their tools are properly calibrated and verified so that they can be relied upon. More needs to be done to discourage hoon driving on our roads to ensure the safety of all road users and I think this bill goes some way towards addressing those issues. I note again that we are still waiting patiently for those other changes from the government that I have commented on in this place several times now, which I am told are not very far off.

Again, we indicate our strong support for the proposal before us and look forward to not only the passage of this bill but that further piece of legislation that is to follow, which will deal specifically with drug driving offences. With those words, I indicate our support for the second reading of the bill.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:03): I thank honourable members for their contributions and for the second reading indication.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:05): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.