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First offenders will receive infringement notices and the penalties are fines and demerit points. Subsequent offenders will receive stiff penalties and face a possible criminal conviction. It is actually difficult to contest the accuracy of the BAC because the alcoholmeters used by the police are quite reliable. Still, it is possible to dispute the BAC because what is punishable by law is the excess limit of alcohol while driving.
Drink driving penalties
BAC | Licence Type | Fine | Licence Action/Points |
Less than .95 | Zero BAC Licence (e.g. professional drivers, P licence, L permit) | 2.5 penalty units | 10 demerit points |
.05 to less than .07 | Zero BAC Licence (e.g. professional drivers, P licence, L permit) and full licence (under 25 years) | 3 penalty units | Cancellation of licence/permit and disqualification for 6 months |
.05 to less than .07 | Full licence (26 years or older) | 3 penalty units | 10 demerit points |
.07 to less than .15 | All drivers | 3 to 4.25 penalty units | Cancellation of licence/permit and disqualification for 6-14 months depending on BAC |
.15 or above, or for a subsequence offence | All drivers | Traffic infringement notices are not issued for BAC of .15 or above. Charges are laid for the offence and the matter is dealt with at court. | Attend Magistrates’ Court |
Police authorities must be able to prove that is the case in order to sustain the imposition of the penalties.
Another defense the accused, who is a full license holder, may raise is honest mistake. The accused could have had no way of knowing that his BAC was already beyond the limit. This defense cannot be raised by learners because they are absolutely prohibited from drinking alcohol and then driving.