Independent Law Reform Commission call for submissions – a chance for real change

Friday, 9^th December 2022. Road Trauma Support Group NSW (RTSGNSW) welcomes the review by the independent NSW Law Reform Commission (LRC) of the laws governing serious road crime, announced by the NSW Government, and goes further by requesting a firm end-date before the March NSW election.

The LRC inquiry is in addition to the NSW Government’s commitment in November to establish a parliamentary injury in the next term of government to consider whether the Road Transport Act 2013 can be improved, particularly when it comes to dangerous drivers.

The RTSGNSW remains steadfast in its belief that immediate action is necessary, despite another government studying the details of sentencing standards for road offences, while uncovering legal nuances for NSW legislators to consider.

Tom Daher, RTSGNSW representative said: “The Independent Law Reform Commission’s call for submissions into its review of serious road crimes is a necessary process. But let’s make this an opportunity for progress which result in change and immediate action.

Moreover, the Parliamentary inquiry should start now with a clear indication on when the final report will be tabled. The longer we wait, the more people will die on our roads. This is sadly the stark reality of case statistics and is played out in the lived experience of our members, their families and extended community.

With 329 lives already lost on NSW roads his year, we know more lives will be lost and families destroyed during the course of this review. The government has now set a challenge for itself to move from review to action for substantive reform.

We will be submitting clear and simple strategies we have been advocating, which will help governments create a better-connected system for the NSW community:”

1.      Singular legislation:

The legal system would react quite differently to these crimes if they had been committed with any other weapon, hence there needs to be a singular legislation that addresses these gaps.

2.      Evidence for change irrefutable:

RTSGNSW has commissioned and launched comprehensive research that speaks to the need for real action on the human impact of road crimes – and the profound disparity between the legal system’s response to death incurred by any other form of homicide other than vehicular.

3.      No excuses for thorough and rapid change:

While RTSGNSW welcomes any progress in reforming the stark inequalities applied to road-specific crimes, the people of NSW should not be beholden to a political cycle or legal debate. The NSW Government knows how to implement rapid reform in such legal areas, as evidenced by recent protests and gun laws.

RTSGNSW member Duncan Wakes-Miller said, “If we must be beholden to this review, it must be before the March 2023 NSW election. Our killed family members are victims of vehicular homicide – not ‘accidents’.

The idea that because someone has been killed by a car instead if a gun somehow makes it a lesser crime must stop.

The reality is that we will start to see meaningful behavioural change and innocent lives saved once a perpetrator recognises that killing someone while intoxicated or speeding is not merely ‘a bad decision,’ but viewed the same in the eyes of the law as taking a life with a gun or a knife.

With several family members living the horrors of the inadequacies of the system, it is important that we see urgent changes and a commitment from the Government that will resonate with the community and their expectations.”