Negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm
MVK appealed the severity of a Local Court sentence, relating to a charge of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. The charges related to an incident when MVK, on his second week riding a scooter, swerved off the road to avoid being hit by traffic. He then non-fatally collided with a pedestrian. The Local Court suspended MVK’s driver’s licence for 18 months. However, MVK gave our traffic lawyers instructions to appeal against the severity of the sentence.
Outcome of severity appeal
In the appeal hearing, our traffic defence lawyers submitted that MVK drove safely for 10 years, and had no incident prior to his attempt at learning to ride a scooter. We also submitted that the licence disqualification prevented MVK from using both his scooter and his car. This made it difficult for him to get to work and to drive his toddler to preschool.
Given the disproportionate impact on MVK, the appeal judge upheld the appeal and reduced his licence disqualification to the minimum amount.
:contactOBSTraffic:
- Negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, Section 117(1)(B) Road Transport Act 2013
- severity appeal
- minimum disqualification period imposed
