CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 19AC

CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 19AC

19AC—Dangerous driving to escape police pursuit etc

        (1)         A person who, intending to—

            (a)         escape pursuit by a police officer; or

            (b)         cause a police officer to engage in a pursuit,

drives a motor vehicle in a culpably negligent manner, recklessly, or at a speed or in a manner dangerous to any person is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

            (a)         for a basic offence—imprisonment for 3 years;

            (b)         for an aggravated offence—imprisonment for 5 years.

        (2)         Where a court convicts a person of an offence against subsection (1) the following provisions apply:

            (a)         the court must order that the person be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for such period, being not less than 2 years, as the court thinks fit;

            (b)         the disqualification prescribed by paragraph (a) may not be reduced or mitigated in any way or be substituted by any other penalty or sentence;

            (c)         the disqualification operates to cancel any driver's licence held by the convicted person as at the commencement of the period of disqualification.

        (3)         If a person is tried on a charge of an offence against section 29—

            (a)         the person may not be convicted of both the offence against section 29 and an offence against subsection (1) if the charge under subsection (1) arises out of the same set of circumstances that gave rise to the charge under section 29; and

            (b)         an offence against subsection (1) is not available as an alternative verdict to the charge under section 29 unless the offence against subsection (1) was specified in the instrument of charge as an alternative offence.