Driving under the influence of alcohol impairs your ability to safely control a vehicle. Australian law requires drivers to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) below 0.05 when driving or operating a vehicle on the roads. Andrews Legal are your first-choice lawyers in Perth for drink driving and DUI offences.
Drink Driving Offences and Penalties
The regime for drink driving offences across Perth and WA is as follows:
0.05 – 0.08 BAC Penalties
For a first offence you may be dealt with by way of a fine and demerit points.
For a second offence, you will receive a court summons, however as it is a first court conviction, the offence does not carry any minimum period of disqualification. For a third offence, which is treated as a second conviction, the minimum penalty is 6 months disqualification and a $600 fine.
The penalties are set out in the tables below:
First Offence
| BAC (G/100M L) | FINE | MAX. COURT PENALTY | DEMERIT POINTS |
| = 0.05 but less than 0.06 | $400 | $500 | 3 |
| = 0.06 but less than 0.07 | $400 | $500 | 4 |
| = 0.07 but less than 0.08 | $400 | $500 | 5 |
Second or Subsequent Offences
| BAC (G/100ML) | SECOND OFFENCE | SUBSEQUENT OFFENCE | |
| = 0.05 but less than 0.07 | Min
Max Disq |
$500
$1000 6 months |
$500
$1000 8 months |
| = 0.07 but less than 0.08 | Min
Max Disq |
$600
$1000 8 months |
$600
$1000 10 months |
DUI Penalties
>0.15 (Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol)
If your blood alcohol reading is equal to or exceeds 0.15, the offence is deemed ‘driving under the influence of alcohol’. For a first offence, the minimum period of disqualification is 10 months and a fine of not less than $900. The minimum penalty for a second offence is 30 months disqualification and a fine of not less than $2100. For a third offence, the court must impose a lifetime disqualification. You are eligible to have a lifetime disqualification lifted after 10 years, provided that you do not reoffend.
Drink Driving on a Provisional Licence
If you hold a provisional licence, it is an offence to drive with a blood alcohol between 0.02 – 0.05. The offence carries a minimum of 3 months disqualification and a fine of not less than $150.
Refusal to Cooperate
Police are empowered to require anybody who has driven on a road or is reasonably believed to have driven on a road to submit to a blood alcohol test. It is an offence to refuse to provide a “roadside’ preliminary sample of breath for analysis. The offence carries a minimum of 3 months disqualification. If you refuse to provide a sample of breath, or the result of the “roadside” test is positive, police can require you to accompany them to a police station or other place for the purpose of providing a further breath test.
It is an offence to refuse to accompany police or to refuse to provide a further sample of breath for analysis. The penalty for refusing to provide a sample of breath is equivalent to the penalty for DUI, in other words, the penalty is equivalent to a high-end drink driving offence. If you have consumed alcohol before driving, in many instances you will be better off providing a sample of breath rather than refusing, because the penalties for low-mid range drink driving are significantly less than the penalty for refusing to provide a sample of breath.
If you’re looking for expert drink driving (DUI) lawyers in the Perth, look no further than Mark Andrews Legal. Contact our team today on (08) 9551 7608. We are highly experienced in drink driving matters and can help ensure that disqualifications and fines are kept to a minimum.