A woman charged with drink driving was told that she narrowly avoided being sentenced under new legislation for mid-range offences that now require the mandatory installation of an alcohol interlock device.
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Chelsea Louise Reeves, aged 29, of Dickson Court, Mudgee, was fined $660 and disqualified for five months when she appeared in Mudgee Local Court in December.
Reeves tested positive to a random breath test at about 11.36pm on Thursday, November 1, 2018, in Inglis Street, Mudgee. She was taken to the police station where a breath analysis of 0.119 was recorded.
In early December the alcohol interlock program - which already applied to high-range and repeat offenders – was expanded to also include all mid-range drink drivers [a reading of 0.08 to less than 0.15].
However, a check in court revealed this was only applicable to offences committed after the change to the legislation.
“Which is a shame, because Ms Reeves would’ve benefited from the interlock program,” Magistrate David Day commented.
His Honour went onto say that even though the sentencing procedure has been tweaked recently, there’s no excuse for not being aware of the illegality of drink-driving itself.
“There’s been two generations of people since PCA [Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol] laws were introduced,” he said.
The electronic, breath testing interlock device is fitted to the ignition of a vehicle and prevents it from starting if alcohol is detected. An interlock period follows a disqualification period.
