ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1961 - SECT 43

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1961 - SECT 43

43—Duty to stop, give assistance and present to police where person killed or injured

        (1)         The driver of a vehicle involved in an accident in which a person is killed or injured must—

            (a)         immediately after the accident—

                  (i)         stop the vehicle; and

                  (ii)         give all possible assistance; and

            (b)         not more than 90 minutes after the accident, present themself to a police officer at the scene of the accident or at a police station for the purpose of providing particulars of the accident and submitting to any requirement to undergo a test relating to the presence of alcohol or a drug in the driver's blood or oral fluid.

Penalty:

            (a)         imprisonment for 5 years; and

            (b)         disqualification from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for such period, being not less than 1 year, as the court thinks fit.

        (2)         If a court convicts a person of an offence against subsection (1)—

            (a)         the disqualification prescribed by that subsection cannot be reduced or mitigated in any way unless, in the case of a first offence, the court is satisfied that the offence is trifling, in which case it may order a period of disqualification that is less than the prescribed minimum period but not less than one month;

            (b)         if the person is the holder of a driver's licence—the disqualification operates to cancel the licence as from the commencement of the period of disqualification.

        (3)         It is a defence to a charge of an offence against subsection (1) to prove that—

            (a)         the defendant was unaware that the accident had occurred and that the defendant's lack of awareness was reasonable in the circumstances; or

            (b)         in relation only to a failure to comply with subsection (1)(a), the defendant—

                  (i)         genuinely believed on reasonable grounds that compliance with subsection (1)(a) would endanger the defendant's physical safety, or the physical safety of another person; and

                  (ii)         at the earliest opportunity notified police, ambulance or some other authority responsible for providing emergency services of the accident; or

            (c)         in relation only to a failure to comply with subsection (1)(b), the defendant—

                  (i)         had a reasonable excuse for the failure to comply; and

                  (ii)         presented themself to a police officer as soon as possible after the accident.