Not surprisingly, driving a motor vehicle requires a person to pay a certain amount of attention, suitable to the speed and conditions in which they find themselves. Failing to do so can result in significant danger to themselves and others.
Because of this, Queensland has laws governing concepts around careless driving. Being found guilty of a careless driving offence can result in significant penalties, and the potential disqualification of your licence.
So let’s explore careless driving offences in Queensland, see how they work and what the consequences might be if a charge of careless driving is made out.
What is Careless Driving?
Careless driving, in Queensland, is when you drive a motor vehicle either:
- without due care and attention; or
- without reasonable consideration for other persons.
Because of the first point above, careless driving is often known as “driving without due care and attention”.
How Does the Court approach Careless Driving?
As usual, the definition itself requires more definitions. The main question to ask is, “how does the Court go about figuring out whether the amount of attention being paid or amount of consideration given was sufficient?”
Courts have been at pains to avoid providing a black and white set of principles, instead generally relying on a type of “reasonable person” test.
So, for example, a lack of due care is thought of as “failure to exercise the degree of care and attention that a reasonable and prudent driver would have exercised in the circumstances”.
To balance out some potential implications of that, the Courts also try to ensure that the test is not about measuring the driver’s conduct against an extremely paranoid or careful person. Similarly it is not about what you, as the driver, think is sufficient. But rather the measure is against:
“the standard of the average man who has regard for the safety and rights of others”
(you can safely replace “man” with “person” in that quote).
So, in big picture terms:
- the test is objective, not subjective; and
- the test is a measure of what the driver in question did against what a fictitious, reasonable, driver taking appropriate care in all the circumstances would have done.
Where is the Offence of Careless Driving Found in the Law?
You’ll find careless driving of a motor vehicle in section 83 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995, which says:
Any person who drives a motor vehicle on a road or elsewhere without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road or place is guilty of an offence.
When is Careless Driving likely to Come Up?
Although there are exceptions, careless driving is most likely to come up as an option after you have been involved in a traffic incident of some kind.
After a traffic incident, if the police form a view that you were at fault for the incident there is a reasonable chance they will issue careless driving charges.
Also bear in mind that you don’t need to be on a public road for careless driving to apply – if you look at the section we quoted above, you’ll notice it says a road “or elsewhere”. So doing doughnuts in the back paddock on your own property isn’t necessarily immune from police opinions about your degree of care.
What is the Penalty for Careless Driving?
The penalty for careless driving is a maximum of $4,000, or 6 months’ imprisonment. A careless driving charge will therefore be heard in the Magistrates Court.
Generally, the Court will lean towards issuing a fine rather than prison time, although you can’t always take that for granted.
In addition to these penalties, the Court has a discretion to disqualify you from driving for one month or more. Whether or not the Court considers disqualification, and how long that might be for, is going to depend on the circumstances of the driving and the relevant factors of the incident (speed, location, degree of danger and similar considerations).
Because of the range of penalties and the potentially significant disqualification options, it’s a good idea to get traffic lawyers involved in a careless driving charge.
What if there was a Death or Grievous Bodily Harm Involved?
While many careless driving incidents are minor, sometimes they do result in serious harm or death to another person.
There are separate considerations and penalties and preferred charges may be Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle causing Death or Grievous Bodily Harm, which we’ll deal with in a different article.
What about “Dangerous” Driving – is this Different?
Dangerous driving is a more significant charge than careless driving.
It carries higher penalties such as 10 years imprisonment or 14 years for more aggravated features and is one of the more serious charges involving use of a motor vehicle in Queensland.
While careless driving is a traffic offence, dangerous driving is a criminal offence (a misdemeanour).
Again, dangerous driving is its own subject and we’ll cover that in a separate article.
What to Do if Charged with Careless Driving
If you are involved in a traffic incident of any kind, you should be live to the possibility that police will issue careless driving charges.
That might not necessarily occur at the incident site – it could be some time later after police have considered all the circumstances of the incident, or perhaps because a complaint has been made by another individual.
It’s very important to ensure that you seek legal advice from traffic lawyers before giving police a statement. Your conduct and statements in response to a police enquiry could make a significant difference to the end outcome.
Get in touch today if you need help from our experts.