Dangerous Driving
The Law - Section 64(1) of the Road Traffic Act Chapter 276
states:
"If any person drives a motor vehicle on a road recklessly, or at a
speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public, having
regard to all the circumstances of the case , including the nature,
condition and use of the road, and the amount of traffic which is
actually at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be,
on the road, he shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and
shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $3,000 or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, and in
the case of a second or subsequent conviction to a fine not
exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2
years or to both."
Section 64(2) of the Road Traffic Act states:
"On the second or subsequent conviction under this section, the
convicting court shall exercise the power conferred by section 42
of ordering that the offender shall be disqualified from holding or
obtaining a driving licence unless the court, having regard to the
lapse of time since the date of the previous or last previous
conviction or for any other special reason, thinks fit to order
otherwise, but this provision shall not be construed as affecting
the right of the court to exercise the power aforesaid on a first
conviction."
Section 64(4) of the Road Traffic Act states:
"Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person
committing an offence under this section."
Examples of Dangerous Driving
Failure to conform to the Pedestrian Crossing Rules resulting in
pedestrians taking evasive action by stopping abruptly in their
tracks or 'jumping back' to avoid being collided into;
Sped (exceeding speed limit by 20 kph) through a junction against
the traffic red light signal resulting in other vehicles having to
take evasive action to avoid a collision or a near collision;
(1) Cutting across double white lines, or
(2) Overtaking in the face of on-coming traffic,
and forcing on-coming vehicles to take evasive action to avoid a
collision or a near collision;
Switching lanes repeatedly at speed well exceeding speed limit by
40 kph without signal or driving in a zigzagged manner at speed
exceeding limit by 40 kph, and by so doing encroached into the path
of vehicles resulting near collision with these vehicles.
..
Wow TP sure is fierce with him. The reason why he is charged with
dangerous driving is because he caused injury. I never considered
this because he wasn't speeding nor driving recklessly; he failed
to see a traffic light and drove right through. But geez, since TP
is taking this stance ... the stakes are much higher now.
WAIT WAIT, sorry I'm tired, just re read your post and wrote the
facts down and analysed this properly; I realised why TP is
charging him under this.
The red light signal was on when your friend drove through. It does
not matter that up till that point in time he was driving within
the speed limit. When he drove through the junction, he was going
>20km/h. He cause injury to a fellow motorist who had right of
way.
You and your friends should stop asking questions online and seek
counsel immediately. They will be able to give much clearer advice
for which I am not prepared nor equipped to provide.
EDIT: This is not that straightforward or simple; there are many
other factors that have to be accounted for. I'm just roughly and
briefly explaining what has happened, and what will likely happen.
I think that now that TP has charged him with DD, he'll be lucky to
get off without a jail term. As I said, he does have alot of things
going in his favour - helping motorist, P plater, young etc.
