Crimes Amendment (Police Pursuits) Bill 2010
I make a brief contribution to debate on the Crimes Amendment (Police Pursuits) Bill 2010 on behalf of Family First. The object of this bill is to create a new indictable offence of failing to stop a vehicle and driving the vehicle recklessly, or at a speed or in a manner dangerous to others, after becoming aware that police officers are in pursuit of the vehicle. The bill also makes other consequential amendments, including licence disqualification. Discussion of the bill was prompted by circumstances surrounding the unfortunate death of Skye Sassine, who was killed when motorists fleeing a police pursuit struck the car in which she was travelling.
Since 1994, 60 people have died in police pursuits, including 19-month-old Skye Sassine. The bill creates a new offence under section 51B of the Crimes Act 1900 to target those who participate in police pursuits while driving in a reckless or dangerous manner. Existing offences for people who flee from police, including dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm or death, carry maximum penalties of between 11 and 14 years.
At the most serious end of the offences spectrum, a driver who kills another person during a police pursuit can be charged with manslaughter or murder. This new offence is designed for circumstances when an individual flees a police pursuit in a vehicle but no-one is injured or killed.
Specifically, the new offence will involve three elements: first, a person knows that police are in pursuit of their vehicle and that they are required to stop; secondly, they do not stop the vehicle; and, thirdly, they drive the vehicle recklessly or at a speed or in a manner dangerous to others. The maximum penalties for this offence are three years imprisonment for the first offence and five years for second or subsequent offences.
The new offence also introduces automatic driver licence disqualification for three years for a first offence and five years for a second or subsequent offences. However, I concur with the concerns raised by the Leader of the Opposition in relation to schedule 1B, “Police Pursuits”, which refers to:
The driver of a vehicle who knows that police officers are in pursuit of the vehicle and that the driver is required to stop the vehicle.
The Leader of the Opposition outlined in detail his proposed amendment, the Government’s rejection of it through the Minister for Police and now the Attorney General’s cooperation in accepting that amendment. The original bill was not workable while it contained a loophole requiring police to prove a driver knew that he or she was being pursued and required to stop. That loophole would have provided an opportunity for offenders to escape prosecution.
The law must be changed that places the onus on the driver to prove that he was unable to obey the police direction to stop, or else there were good circumstances to suspect that he knew he was being pursued. I thank the Government for introducing this bill. I commend the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council for his initiative. I commend the bill to the House.