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Land Transport Act 1998

Offences relating to driving (other than alcohol- and drug-related offences) and penalties - Offences relating to driving (other than offences involving alcohol or drugs)

38: Contravention of section 8 causing injury or death

You could also call this:

“Breaking the law by driving carelessly and hurting or killing someone”

If you drive a vehicle on the road without being careful or without thinking about other people using the road, and you hurt or kill someone because of this, you are breaking the law. This is also true if you make someone else drive a vehicle carelessly and it results in someone getting hurt or dying.

If you are found guilty of doing this, you could go to jail for up to 3 months or have to pay up to $4,500. The court will also take away your driver’s licence for at least 6 months.

Sometimes, this offence might be connected to another offence involving alcohol. If this happens, the time you’re not allowed to drive might be different.

In some special cases, the court might decide not to take away your driver’s licence. This depends on the specific details of what happened.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM434659.

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37: Contravention of section 8, or

"Breaking the law by driving carelessly or not thinking of others on the road"

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39: Aggravated careless use of vehicle causing injury or death, or

"Careless driving that hurts or kills someone is against the law"

Part 5 Offences relating to driving (other than alcohol- and drug-related offences) and penalties
Offences relating to driving (other than offences involving alcohol or drugs)

38Contravention of section 8 causing injury or death

  1. A person commits an offence if the person operates a vehicle on a road carelessly or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road, and by that act or omission causes an injury to or the death of another person.

  2. A person commits an offence if—

  3. the person drives a motor vehicle, or causes a motor vehicle to be driven, carelessly; and
    1. by that act or omission, causes an injury to or the death of another person.

      1. If a person is convicted of an offence against subsection (1) or subsection (1A),—

      2. the maximum penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding $4,500; and
        1. the court must order the person to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence for 6 months or more.

          1. If an offence against subsection (1) or (1A) is a concurrent offence in relation to a qualifying offence for an alcohol interlock sentence, then the mandatory disqualification in subsection (2)(b) is the period of disqualification for the purposes of section 65AE(d) (see section 65AH(3)(a)).

          2. The imposition of a mandatory disqualification under this section is subject to section 81 (which allows a court not to order disqualification for special reasons relating to the offence).

          Compare
          Notes
          • Section 38(1A): inserted, on , by section 25(1) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77).
          • Section 38(2): amended, on , by section 25(2) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77).
          • Section 38(2A): inserted, on , by section 12(1) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).
          • Section 38(3): replaced, on , by section 12(2) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).