Traffic lawyers in Brisbane

The Brisbane public transport problem

A work licence under section 87 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) requires the court to be satisfied that refusing the application would cause extreme hardship to you or your family by depriving you of your means of earning a living. In Brisbane the police prosecutor has an obvious answer ready: catch the train.

That answer is not always right, and beating it is a matter of evidence rather than argument. The applications that succeed are the ones that show, specifically, why public transport does not work for this applicant. Shift starts before the first service. A route that requires two changes and ninety minutes each way. A vehicle that carries tools or stock. Client sites at Wacol, Narangba or Yatala that are nowhere near a station. Care responsibilities on the way to work.

The applications that fail are the ones that say the applicant needs a car and stop there. If you live in Toowong and work in the CBD, be realistic about what a magistrate is going to make of it.

Where Brisbane charges are laid

Brisbane traffic enforcement clusters around the river crossings, the tunnels and the motorway network.

• The Riverside Expressway, the Story Bridge and the Captain Cook Bridge. Heavy commuter enforcement, speed and lane offences.
• Clem7, Legacy Way and Airport Link. Tunnels with fixed speed enforcement and no room for error.
• The Gateway, Logan, Ipswich and Centenary Motorways. High speed and dangerous driving matters, and the source of a lot of Richlands and Ipswich listings.
• Fortitude Valley, Caxton Street and the CBD. Late night random breath testing near the entertainment precincts, which feeds straight into the drink driving list at 363 George Street.
• Camera detected offences. Queensland runs mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras alongside speed cameras. These arrive as infringement notices and can suspend a licence on accumulated demerit points without you ever seeing a courtroom.

The charges, and what is actually in dispute

Drink driving

Section 79 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld). Disqualification is mandatory on conviction, with minimums of one to nine months for a reading over the general alcohol limit but under 0.10, three to twelve months from 0.10 to under 0.15, and at least six months with no upper limit from 0.15. A court cannot go under the minimum.

Drug driving

Driving with a relevant drug present in saliva or blood does not require the prosecution to prove impairment. The realistic issues are usually the sample and certificate, the sentence and the disqualification length rather than liability.

Disqualified and unlicensed driving

Driving while disqualified by a court is materially more serious than driving unlicensed, and it carries a further mandatory disqualification. This is where a bad decision during a first disqualification turns a twelve month problem into a multi year one.

Dangerous operation of a vehicle

Section 328A of the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld). This is a criminal charge, not a simple traffic matter, and where it involves death or grievous bodily harm it goes to the Brisbane District Court rather than staying at 363 George Street.

Suspensions that happen before court

Two things can take your licence before a magistrate has looked at anything. An immediate suspension can apply to high range and repeat drink driving. Accumulated demerit points can trigger a suspension administered by Transport and Main Roads.

The remedies are different and so are the deadlines. A special hardship order applies to a demerit point or high speed suspension and has a short statutory window to apply. A work licence is applied for at the time you are sentenced, not afterwards. If you have received a notice, check the date on it today, not next week. See special hardship orders for the time limit.

How we run a Brisbane traffic matter

Our Brisbane office at Level 10, 95 North Quay is minutes from 363 George Street, and we appear at the suburban courts as a matter of course.

The work on most files is unglamorous and it is where the outcome is decided: getting the traffic history and checking it is accurate, assessing eligibility for a licence application honestly before you plead, preparing affidavit material that a magistrate can actually rely on, and putting a sentence submission that addresses the disqualification length instead of just the fine.

Fixed fee, quoted in writing, before we start. First appointment free.