Dangerous driving causing death or serious injury.

It is the burden for the prosecution to prove to the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt that an accused person has driven a motor vehicle where evidence proves that:

1. The accused was driving a motor vehicle;
2. That the accused drove dangerously; and that as a result of the dangerous act;
3. The dangerous driving caused the death or serious injury of another human being.

In these often very traumatic cases, unfortunately, people may be accused of committing this offence by police even when there are no dangerous features of driving. It is our experience that the prosecution may stray into case theory in Court that relates to what a person ought to have done with the benefit of hindsight rather than observing a strict and clinical assessment of the evidence of what actually happened and whether the act(s) were dangerous in all of the circumstances.

It can be of some comfort that if you have been charged with this offence and there is no clear evidence of a dangerous act, you may more than likely be able to successfully defend your actions in Court. Case law is very clear that there must be some feature of danger over and above the normal risks associated with driving for this offence to be made out. A motor vehicle collision of its own does not make out a dangerous act automatically. Even features of less than perfect driving, or negligent driving will not amount to a dangerous act. Evidence of a departure from the driving standard needs to be more remarkable.

If the dangerous act becomes highly contentious between the parties, we may assist our clients with obtaining an independent expert report that can assist the Jury with their fact finding task.