A key government advisory group reporting on dangerous driving has recommended against increased maximum penalties for existing offences and against a specific vehicular manslaughter offence, despite a previous ACT Assembly committee urging these be considered.
In delivering its first major report, the ACT's law reform and sentencing advisory council - chaired by retired magistrate Beth Campbell - has made 35 recommendations to government and ruled out a legislated system of guideline judgements or sentencing principles for courts to follow.
"While there is a need to improve public understanding in relation to sentencing, the council does not recommend the creation of a statutory list of mitigating and/or aggravating factors that apply to sentencing in cases of serious driving offences," the report said.
The council also left open the question of whether separate legislation should be created to deal with the most serious road crime, such as predatory driving and collusive culpable driving causing death or serious injury.
The advisory group was announced almost two years ago, funded by the Confiscated Assets Trust. Members include corrections, ACT Law Society, police, human rights, the public prosecution office, and a First Nations representative.
It came after a prolonged period in which several innocent people - including Matthew McLuckie, killed in May 2022 by a driver in a stolen car on the wrong side of Hindmarsh Drive - lost their lives or were badly injured by through the dangerous driving of recidivist offenders, ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury tasked the group with examining the issue.
The ACT Assembly had previously held its own and separate committee inquiry, with a report published in April last year.
One of the recommendations from that inquiry was that the government "consider changing the name of the offence 'culpable driving causing death' to 'vehicular manslaughter' and examine the appropriate penalty in line with the existing penalty for manslaughter".
The same Assembly committee also recommended a review of dangerous driving sentences "to determine if there is a downward trend towards lighter sentences and if so, consider if guideline judgments are appropriate."
In its later response, the government said that it had undertaken analysis of sentencing trends and had not found evidence of a trend towards leniency in sentences in general.
In her comments within the report, former magistrate Campbell said that "scrutiny of the courts and informed criticism of the judiciary is healthy for a democratic society".
But she added that "sentencing is certainly a complex and sometimes challenging exercise" and "there have been numerous research papers which suggest that public criticism of sentencing practices of courts is not always soundly based".
Amendments to road transport legislation have aligned some ACT laws with the much tougher stances taken in Victoria and NSW, including automatic disqualification for offending drivers, including those affected by drugs or alcohol or exceeding the speed limit by 45kmh, and seizing vehicles.
In its findings, the council described the use of the word "dangerous" as "confusing" under the Road Transport Act, and that the government should "consider revising this definition".
"A new offence or offences (perhaps called reckless or careless driving) could be enacted to criminalise dangerous, risky, or careless driving that causes harm to another (including death), with a maximum penalty that sits between the current penalties for culpable driving and negligent driving offences," the council found.
It said that this would provide "a more tailored or nuanced charging option for driving conduct that is objectively more serious than negligent driving" but "at a lower level of conduct" than culpable driving.
