FINES and jail time will be doubled for parents caught drink or drug-driving with a child in the car.
The extraordinary new penalties, designed to protect vulnerable children and crack down on irresponsible parents, are part of a suite of tough new road safety laws to be announced today by Acting Premier, Police and Road Safety Minister Liza Harvey.
The laws will come into force if the Liberal-National Government is re-elected in the March State election.
A tough-talking Ms Harvey made no apology for the beefed-up penalties, saying: “As a mother, I just cannot fathom how a parent could get behind the wheel while affected by drugs or alcohol with your child sitting beside you.
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READ NOW“But it does happen, often in fact, and that is why the Liberal-led State Government thinks the penalty available to the courts must reflect how the community feels about this behaviour.
“If parents won’t protect their children, we will do our best to. To put innocent children you are responsible for in such danger needs a severe punishment.
“Under the changes, courts will have double the maximum penalty available to them.”
It means the fine for a first drink-driving offence where the driver records a blood alcohol content of between 0.05 and 0.08 will double from $500 to $1000, while for a second offence the maximum fine will jump from $1000 to $2000 if a child under 16 is a passenger.
At the most serious end of the scale, the fine for a third or subsequent drink-driving offence where the driver records a blood alcohol level of more than 0.15 will jump from $5000 to $10,000 and the prison term will increase from 18 to 36 months with a child in the car.
The number of demerit points and the period of disqualification will remain the same, whether or not a child is in the car.
Ms Harvey vowed there would also be a new offence created for drivers found to be both drink and drug-driving.
The penalty for the new offence will be double the fine or jail time of the drink-driving offence.
Victoria is the only other State to introduce a combination drink and drug-driving offence, which came into force in 2015.
WA police will also be told to drug test every drink-driver instead of only conducting drug tests at random or when a driver appears drug affected.
Perth mother Stacy Dunbar, whose baby boy Nate was killed in 2013 when a drunk- driver crashed into his nursery, said the community has been “screaming out” for tougher penalties.
“If they do what they promise, this will be a big step in the right direction,” she said.
“The community has been screaming out for a really long time now that they’re not happy with the current laws for jail time for drink drivers.”
RAC general manager corporate affairs Will Golsby said harsher penalties should be introduced for all drunk- and drugged drivers, not just some.
He also called for more random drug testing, saying WA was behind other States.
“Motorists driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol with children in the car should face harsh penalties. However, drink or drug-driving is unacceptable, no matter what the circumstances,” he said.
WA’s Road Safely Commission data shows drink-driving played a role in one in five fatal crashes in the past year, while other studies suggest the risk of a fatal crash more than doubles for drivers who have taken a combination of drugs and alcohol.
DRINK DRIVERS WHO HAVE PUT KIDS AT RISK
December 24, 2015
East Fremantle mother Roxanne Gay Bell, 47, was caught drink-driving six times over the legal limit with her three children in the car. Police stopped Ms Bell on Marine Parade, Cottesloe, just after 6pm, recording a blood alcohol reading of 0.3. She was fined $1500 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.
January 20, 2016
A Falcon teenage mother was fined for crashing her car while under the influence of alcohol with her baby on her lap. Nicki Cooper, 18, pleaded guilty to driving with no authority, having a blood alcohol content of 0.08 and failing to have a child under 16 years restrained. Police said she had been drinking and her three-month-old baby was on her lap at the time of the crash. She was fined a total of $1550 and disqualified from driving for eight months.