Dangerous driving review results 'will do little to address reoffending'

The review into the sentencing of dangerous drivers has been handed to the ACT Government and while it has made 35 recommendations, the results have been slammed as “very disappointing”.

The ACT Law Reform and Sentencing Advisory Council, an independent expert body tasked with providing high-level advice to the government, released its final report on Thursday (12 September) after examining sentencing practices for dangerous driving offenders.

The council found most offenders convicted of culpable driving causing death or grievous bodily harm were not on conditional release, such as bail or a suspended sentence, at the time of their offence.

Also, it found that most culpable driving offenders did not go on to commit further significant traffic offences after their sentence, and none committed other culpable driving offences.

During its research, the council analysed the 35 ACT Supreme Court sentencing decisions from the past decade for the offences of culpable driving causing death and grievous bodily harm.

“Nearly every other traffic offence captured by the term ‘dangerous driving’ has been subject to recent legislative changes,” a council spokesperson said.

“Higher penalties and automatic disqualification periods for licences have been introduced and greater use of alcohol interlock devices and immediate suspension notices adopted.”

The council made 35 recommendations for the ACT Government, including changes to current legislation and the implementation of new intervention programs for dangerous driving offenders.

It did not recommend the creation of a vehicular manslaughter offence nor increasing maximum penalties for existing serious driving offences.

The council had received 12 submissions from a range of people, organisations and agencies, including several responses from families of victims killed in motor vehicle crashes.

“I acknowledge the grieving family members who have lost loved ones because of the conduct of another,” the council’s chair, Lisbeth Campbell, said.

“I cannot overstate the importance of understanding their experience of the justice process and on behalf of the council, I thank them for their contribution to this discussion.”

One of the people who made a submission for the report was Tom McLuckie, the founder of ACTNOWforSaferRoads, whose 20-year-old son Matthew died after a head-on collision on 19 May, 2022.

The alleged driver charged over this crash remains before the courts.

Mr McLuckie, who has seen the report, said it was “very disappointing and I fear will do little to address reoffending in the ACT, or treating homicides through negligent driving with the seriousness they deserve”.

He said he believed the current maximum sentences were sufficient if they were actually applied as a yardstick and the midpoint for objective seriousness and moral culpability was around a seven-year head sentence.

However, he claimed that even in recent cases where objective seriousness and moral culpability had been high, there had been head sentences of two to five years.

“It was always my concern that the Law Reform and Sentencing Advisory Council would be a mechanism for the ACT Government and the Attorney-General to be seen to be doing something, but with no obligation to do anything,” Mr McLuckie said.

“I am not critical of the endeavours or their dedication, but all the report has confirmed is that we need a full and independent review of the criminal justice system in the ACT, including sentencing and bail. This is something the government is desperate to avoid.”

The council has provided its advice to Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury.

“As the government has entered the caretaker period, decisions in relation to the recommendations in the report will be a matter for the incoming government,” an ACT Government spokesperson said.

The dangerous driving report can be viewed by clicking here.

The council will next begin its review into the ACT’s bail legislation, which is due in June 2025.