Drink Driving Charges in NSW

Charged with drink driving in NSW

What you are facing, and what to do first

A drink driving charge in New South Wales is dealt with under the Road Transport Act 2013. The offence you are charged with depends on your blood alcohol reading and on the licence you hold — the law sets out separate novice, special, low, mid and high range offences, and they are treated very differently by the courts.

Two things matter more than anything else at this stage: what you do in the next few days, and whether the court hears the full picture about you rather than only the police facts.

The first 48 hours

• Read every document the police gave you. Note the court date, the court location, and whether your licence has already been suspended.
• Do not simply plead guilty by post to get it over with. That forfeits the chance to put your circumstances before the court, and licence loss often costs far more than the fine.
• Do not drive if you have been suspended. Driving while suspended is a separate and more serious problem.
• Get advice before the first mention. Early advice shapes the outcome; late advice manages the damage.

Outcomes

What the court can do

Penalties are set by law and applied by the court to the facts of your case. Depending on the offence and your history, the range of outcomes can include a fine, a licence disqualification, a conditional release order, an alcohol interlock order, and in the most serious cases a sentence of imprisonment. For some offences the court may deal with the matter without recording a conviction, which is often the outcome that matters most to people whose work depends on a licence.

We have deliberately not published fine amounts or disqualification periods on this page. They depend on the offence charged, your record and the law as it stands when your matter is heard — and a number read on a website is a poor substitute for advice on your own facts. Call us and we will tell you what range genuinely applies to you.