TRAFFIC LAWYER
Traffic lawyer Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Sunshine Coast.
Traffic offences can seem minor at the time, however they can lead to the loss of your driver licence, the loss of your job and for some offences potential jail time. Some traffic offences are actually criminal offences which can lead to a criminal record. You can find further information on the laws surrounding traffic offences in the Transport (Road Use Management) Act 1995.
The loss of your driver licence can impact many aspects of your life whether it be the inability to get to and from work, medical appointments, driving the kids to school and it can put enormous stress on other members of your family, friends or colleagues.
Another concern with traffic offences is the recording of a conviction. This can cause problems with current or future employment, prevent you from travelling to certain countries and cause you to lose your weapons licence.
If the traffic offence is serious or you are a repeat offender jail is a real possibility.
There can be ways around losing your licence, having a conviction recorded or going to jail. It is important that you do not treat a traffic offence lightly as you may be in for a rude awakening when you realise you have lost your licence for a long time, sometimes years or completely.
It is in your best interests to contact our firm for a FREE CONSULTATION if you have been charged or going to lose your licence. We have helped many clients avoid losing their licence as well as ensure no conviction is recorded or jail sentence ordered.
Please read the 10 Reasons to Choose Watling Roche Lawyers below to see why we are not your typical law firm and why clients trust our firm to handle their cases. If you need to apply for a work licence we offer a No Work Licence No Fee Guarantee – this means if your work licence is not granted we will refund your work licence application.
CALL, SMS or send your free online enquiry whenever you need us, we are available 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Free Enquiry. Ask a Lawyer!
Drink Driving
Offence of driving etc. while under the influence of alcohol (high range)
Offence of driving etc. while over middle alcohol limit but not over high alcohol limit (mid range)
Offence of driving etc. while over general alcohol limit but not over middle alcohol limit (low range)
Offence of driving etc. while over no alcohol limit but not over general alcohol limit if particular type of driver or licence (learner, probationary, provisional, no licence)
Fail to provide specimen of breath
Drug Driving
Offence of driving etc. while under the influence of a drug (high range)
Offence of driving etc. while relevant drug is present in blood or saliva (low range)
Fail to provide specimen of saliva
Careless/Dangerous Driving
Drive without due care and attention (careless driving)
Dangerous driving
Dangerous driving while adversely affected; while excessively speeding; where previously convicted
Dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm or death
WE DELIVER BETTER RESULTS
Watling Roche Lawyers has a proven track record of achieving outstanding results for our clients.
We work day and night to find the best legal path forward for each individual case. We will come up with a strategy that works for you and work tirelessly to have your charges dropped or downgraded. If there is a loop-hole we will find it!
Our firm is closely aligned with the best barristers in Queensland who have outstanding track record of winning cases in the Magistrates, District and Supreme Courts.
If any of our clients choose to plead guilty we regularly achieve results of no conviction recorded and not further punished.
We are not in the business of racking up expensive legal fees and surprising our clients at the end of their case. Too often law firms do not disclose the full costs involved of their representation and their clients get a rude awakening when it comes to the end of their case and a legal bill that is well beyond what they expected or could afford.
We understand that legal representation is expensive so it is our priority to be up front about the costs involved and fix a fee that you can afford. At Watling Roche Lawyers there will be no hidden fees and no nasty surprises when it comes to paying your legal fees.
A lot of law firms will not answer any of your questions until you have put money in their bank account. They will charge you just to find out whether you need legal representation.
For all matters we offer a free first consultation with a lawyer before you commit to anything. You do not need to spend a thing before deciding whether to engage a lawyer to represent you.
From Gympie down to the Gold Coast, a lawyer will attend most courts in Queensland.
We work around the clock to ensure our clients are happy with our services. For our firm, making money is all well and good but if it comes at the expense of client satisfaction we do not want a bar of it.
Watling Roche Lawyers is dedicated to our clients first and foremost. If you are not happy we are not happy. We genuinely care about you as our client and will bend over backwards until you are satisfied with our representation.
Not many firms are willing to go the extra distance and commit to their clients 24 hours, 7 days a week. We understand that your legal questions need urgent answers and that is why you can contact our firm at any time day or night.
Our principal lawyer, Ryan Roche has developed and established relationships with all of the right people when it comes to handling court matters. No matter what the case is, at the end of the day it is people we are dealing with, whether it be the police, prosecutors, barristers, magistrates or judges. It is vital that you engage a lawyer that is familiar with the people involved in your type of matter i.e. has established relationships with the best barristers to defend you, the prosecutors who will be against you and the magistrates or judges that will decide your fate.
We have 100% success rate with work licence and special hardship order applications. If we apply for a work licence or special hardship order on your behalf and you are not successful we will refund you in full!
There are lawyers who will take on your case even though they know your chances of winning are extremely low. For them, you are just a number with a $ sign in front of it.
We pride ourselves on our honesty and we will do our very best to keep your costs down. If your chances of winning are low we will tell you so that you do not waste money with false hope. We are here to change the stigma on lawyers who we know have a reputation for being money-hungry vultures. That is not how we operate and it is about time people can find a lawyer they can trust.
It is never too late to contact our firm. We are prepared to drop everything to make sure you are well advised before finalising your court matter. Even if it is the day before or the day of court do not hesitate to contact us as we are here for you whenever you need us.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
There are certain traffic offences where the court must cancel your licence for example:
- Drink driving
- Drug driving
- Unlicensed driving (except simpliciter)
- Disqualified driving
- Dangerous driving
For other offences such as unlicensed driving (simplicitor – no suspension/disqualification at time of the offence) the Magistrate will decide in court whether or not to disqualify you from holding or obtaining a licence and prohibit you from driving.
Yes, police can breathalyse you anywhere under the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995.
Police can also breathalyse you at home after you have been driving if they reasonably suspect that during the previous 3 hours you were driving / attempting to drive / or in charge of a vehicle, if it was involved in an accident resulting in injury, death or damage to property.
If your licence is suspended but you need to keep driving, such as for work, you may be eligible to apply for a special hardship order.
To be eligible for a special hardship order, you must hold a Queensland provisional or open driver licence that has been suspended because you either:
- gained 2 or more demerit points while driving under a period of good driving behaviour for 1 year
- committed a high speed driving offence (more than 40km/h over the speed limit).
You must be able to prove:
- extreme hardship to you or your family by depriving you of your means of earning a living
- severe and unusual hardship to you or your family, other than by depriving you of your means of earning a living.
You are not eligible to apply for a special hardship order if, within the 5 years before your driver licence was suspended:
- your Queensland driver licence was cancelled or suspended, including if you were granted a special hardship order
- you were disqualified from holding or obtaining a Queensland driver licence
- your authority to drive in Queensland on a non-Queensland driver licence was suspended
- you were made ineligible to apply for a Queensland driver licence because you either
- incurred excessive demerit points
- were convicted of driving more than 40km/h over the speed limit while unlicensed
- you were convicted of operating a vehicle dangerously.
There are further considerations and exceptions to the above information. You only get one chance at applying for a special hardship order and if you make any mistakes or leave out important information your application will fail. If in doubt, make sure you contact a lawyer before going to court.
You may be eligible for a work licence if:
- you have been charged with drink driving, fail to provide a sample of breath at the roadside, or driving with a relevant drug in the blood or saliva (but not driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or fail to provide a specimen of breath at the police station) and
- you are going to plead guilty and are going to lose your driver licence and
- you need your driver licence for work.
You must be going to plead guilty to one of the following offences:
- drink driving
- being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit
- driving with cannabis, ecstasy or ice (these are referred to as a “relevant drug” in the legislation) in your saliva or blood
- being in charge of a vehicle with a relevant drug in your saliva or blood
- failing to supply a breath or saliva sample at the roadside (not at the police station).
To apply for a work licence you must also be able to tick all the boxes below:
- You held a current Queensland open driver licence for the vehicle you were driving when you were caught for one of the above offences.
- You had a blood alcohol concentration level of less than 0.15 percent when you were caught for one of the offences listed above.
- You weren’t driving for your job or already under a work licence when you were caught for one of the offences listed listed above.
- You weren’t driving under a licence that required your blood alcohol concentration to be zero when you were caught for one of the offences listed above, eg a learner licence or provisional licence.
- You hold a current Queensland open driver licence when you apply for the work licence.
- You haven’t been convicted anywhere of drink driving or a similar offence in the last five years.
- You haven’t been convicted in Queensland of dangerous driving in the last five years.
- You haven’t had your licence disqualified, suspended or cancelled in the last five years. (There are some exceptions to this, eg if the State Penalties Enforcement Registry suspended your licence because you didn’t pay your fine, or your licence was suspended for 24 hours after you were charged).