What is High Range Drink Driving?
Driving with a high-range prescribed concentration of alcohol is where you drive a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.150.
If the court convicts you of the offence, it must also disqualify you from driving.
It may also order that you comply with the alcohol interlock program, which means to install a device into your vehicle which you must blow into before your car will start, for a period of time after you have served the minimum applicable period of disqualification.
However, the court also has the option of dealing with your case under a ‘section 10 dismissal or conditional release order‘ (no conviction), which means you will not receive a criminal conviction, disqualification or a fine.
1st Offence
If high-range drink driving is your first major traffic offence within the past 5 years, the maximum penalties are:
- Up to 18 months in prison
- 9 month driver licence disqualification which can be reduced to 6 months, followed by
- 24 months during which you must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and
- Fine of $3,300
Alternatively, the court can ‘exempt’ you from the interlock requirement and impose maximum penalties of:
- Up to 18 months in prison
- 3 year licence disqualification which can be reduced to 12 months, and
- Fine of $3,300.
2nd or Subsequent Offence
If it is your second or more major traffic offence in the past 5 years the maximum penalties are:
- Up to 2 years in prison
- 12 month licence disqualification which can be reduced to 9 months, followed by
- 48 months during which you must have an interlock device installed to your vehicle, and
- Fine of $5,500
Alternatively, the court can ‘exempt’ you from the interlock requirement and impose maximum penalties of:
- Up to 2 years in prison
- 5 year licence disqualification which can be reduced to 2 years, and
- Fine of $5,500
But whether it is your first, or second or more, major traffic offence within the past 5 years, there will be no criminal record, licence disqualification or fine where the court deals with you by way of a section 10(1)(a) dismissal, or conditional release order without a conviction – which you may seek unless you have received a non-conviction order for a major traffic offence in the previous 5 years.
Sentencing Statistics
The following are official sentencing statistics for High Range Drink Driving NSW.
They are published by the Judicial Commission of NSW.
Number of Cases | 15,447 |
Section 10 Dismissal | 0% |
Section 10 bond (Now Conditional Release Order without Conviction) | 2% |
Section 10A (+ disqualification) | 0% |
Fine (+ disqualification) | 41% |
Section 9 bond (now a community correction order) | 29% |
Community Service Order (now part of intensive correction orders) | 11% |
Suspended Sentence (replaced by intensive correction orders) | 2% |
Periodic Detention (no longer applicable) | 2% |
Home Detention (now part of intensive correction orders) | 1% |
Prison (+ disqualification) | 5% |
Recent Success Stories
- No Criminal Record, Licence Disqualification or Fine for High Range Drink Driving
- Not Guilty of High Range Drink Driving and Police Ordered to Pay Costs
- No Conviction or Disqualification for High Range Drink Driving
- Driver Avoids Conviction after case reduced from High Range to Low Range PCA
- High Range PCA and DUI Charges Dropped
- No Conviction for High Range PCA
- No Conviction for High Range Drink Driving
- No Conviction/Disqualification for 2nd Drink Driving offence within 5 years
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