New Zealand Legislation: Bills

6 New section 57A inserted

• The following section is inserted after section 57:

  “57A Driving while impaired and with blood that contains evidence of use of controlled drug or prescription medicine

  • “(1) A person who drives or attempts to drive a motor vehicle on a road commits an offence if—

    • “(a) the person does not complete a compulsory impairment test in a manner satisfactory to an enforcement officer, who is trained to give the test, when required to do so by an enforcement officer under section 71A; and

    • “(b) the person’s blood, as ascertained from an analysis of a blood specimen subsequently taken under section 72 or 73, contains evidence of the use of—

      • “(i) a controlled drug; or

      • “(ii) any prescription medicine.

    “(2) If a person is convicted of a first or second offence against subsection (1),—

    • “(a) the maximum penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding $4,500; and

    • “(b) the Court must order the person to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence for 6 months or more.

    “(3) If a person commits a third or subsequent offence against subsection (1) or any of sections 56(1), 56(2), 58(1), 60(1), 61(1), and 61(2) (whether or not that offence is of the same kind as the person’s first or second offence against any of those provisions), the person commits an indictable offence and on conviction—

    • “(a) the maximum penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine not exceeding $6,000; and

    • “(b) the Court must order the person to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence for more than 1 year.

    “(4) Subsection (3)(b) does not apply if an order is made under section 65.

    “(5) For the purposes of this section, a conviction for an offence against a provision of the Transport Act 1962 that corresponds to an offence specified in subsection (3) is to be treated as a conviction for an offence specified in that subsection.

    “(6) The imposition of a mandatory disqualification under this section is subject to section 81.”