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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)

39: Aggravated careless use of vehicle causing injury or death

You could also call this:

“Careless driving that hurts or kills someone is against the law”

You commit an offence if you carelessly use a motor vehicle and cause someone to be injured or die. This happens when you’re driving faster than the speed limit or breaking rules about how to overtake other vehicles or which part of the road to drive on.

If you’re found guilty of this offence, you could go to prison for up to 3 years or be fined up to $10,000. The court will also take away your driver licence for at least 1 year.

Sometimes, this offence might be connected to another offence involving alcohol. If that happens, there are special rules about how long you’ll lose your licence for.

In some cases, if there are special reasons, the court might decide not to take away your licence. But this doesn’t happen very often.

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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=DLM434662.

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"Breaking the law by driving carelessly and hurting or killing someone"

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40: Contravention of ordinary rules, or

"Breaking ordinary rules can be against the law and lead to punishment"

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)

39Aggravated careless use of vehicle causing injury or death

  1. A person commits an offence if the person causes bodily injury to or the death of a person by carelessly using a motor vehicle while—

  2. driving the motor vehicle at a speed exceeding the applicable speed limit; or
    1. driving the motor vehicle in such a manner as to commit an offence against the regulations or the rules concerning the manner in which a driver may overtake another vehicle or concerning the part of the road on which a driver may drive his or her motor vehicle.

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

      2. the maximum penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or a fine not exceeding $10,000; and
        1. the court must order the person to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence for 1 year or more.

          1. If an offence against subsection (1) 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 39(1): amended, on , by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).
          • Section 39(2A): inserted, on , by section 13(1) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).
          • Section 39(3): replaced, on , by section 13(2) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).