Dangerous Driving Occasioning Grievous Bodily Harm or Death

Our expert criminal lawyers for a dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm or death offence can help you:

• Obtain bail.
• Be found not guilty.
• Receive a lenient sentence, like no conviction and no prison.

You will be represented by a team of award-winning criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, who offer fixed fees and free first consultations.

You can read our reviews here.

Dangerous Driving Occasioning Grievous Bodily Harm or Death Offence

Dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm or death is an extremely serious offence for which penalties of full-time imprisonment are often imposed if a person is found or pleads guilty.

Our criminal lawyers have been successful in defending this offence by arguing that the driving was not dangerous and that the injury did not amount to grievous bodily harm. We have been able to have the charge reduced to negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm or death in some cases. We have also been able to convince courts to not to send our clients to prison after they have pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death.

Pleading not guilty

You will be found not guilty if the police cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. Death or grievous bodily harm (really serious harm) was occasioned to any person;
2. The vehicle you were driving was involved in an impact (collision), including where it is proven that your vehicle caused an impact involving another vehicle/s;
3. At the time you drove the vehicle you:
   1. Were under the influence of intoxicating liquor; or
   2. Under the influence of a drug; or
   3. Driving at a speed dangerous to another person or persons; or
   4. Driving in a manner dangerous to another person or persons.

The offence of Dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm or death will be aggravated if:

1. A prescribed concentration of alcohol greater than 0.15 was present in your blood;
2. You were driving the vehicle concerned on a road at a speed that exceeded, by more than 45 kilometres per hour, the speed limit;
3. You drove the vehicle to escape pursuit by a police officer; or
4. You drove under the influence of a drug (other than intoxicating liquor) or a combination of drugs, which thereby very substantially impaired his/her ability to drive.

It is a defence to this charge if the death or grievous bodily harm occasioned by the impact was not in any way attributable:

1. To the fact that the person charged was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or of a drug or a combination of drugs, or
2. To the speed at which the vehicle was driven, or
3. To the manner in which the vehicle was driven.

You can read more information about pleading not guilty here.

Pleading guilty

If you agree that you have committed the offence (and the police are able to prove so), it is best to plead guilty, as you will normally receive a discount on your sentence, and it will demonstrate remorse and contrition. Alternatively, one of our experienced solicitors may be able to negotiate with the prosecutors to have you plead guilty to less serious facts or even a less serious charge.

The maximum penalty for the offence of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm is two years imprisonment in the Local Court.

In the District Court, the maximum penalty is seven years’ imprisonment, and if the offence is aggravated, the maximum penalty is 11 years’ imprisonment.

The maximum penalty for the offence of Dangerous driving causing death is 10 years imprisonment. If the offence is aggravated, the maximum penalty is 14 years’ jail.

You can read more about pleading guilty here.

Do I need references?

We believe references are an extremely important part of a plea of guilty in court. Read about court processes and how to write a good character reference.

Contact Australian Criminal Law Group

Our criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, can beat a dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm or death charge or obtain a lenient sentence for you if you plead guilty.

Call us on (02) 8815 8167 for your free first conference or submit a website enquiry.

Case study

Our lawyer represented a man charged with Dangerous driving occasioning death. He had been driving a car, under the influence of alcohol, when a passenger and his best friend began to car surf on the roof of the car. Tragically, his friend fell to his death. In front of a judge, the tragic circumstances of the case were put forward, and the mother of his deceased friend gave evidence of her forgiveness and love for our client. At the end of the emotional sentencing proceedings, the judge did not send our client to jail and instead gave him an Intensive Correction Order.