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Land Transport Act 1998

Driving offences involving drink or drugs, and penalties and procedures - Mandatory disqualification and assessment for repeat offences

65: Mandatory disqualification and assessment for repeat offences

You could also call this:

“Repeat driving offenders must get checked and lose their licence”

If you break certain driving laws more than once, the court has to make you go to an assessment centre and stop you from having a driver’s licence for a while. This happens if you commit a second offence within 5 years of your first one.

The court can only do this if at least one of your offences was very serious. This means you either had a lot of alcohol in your breath or blood, or you didn’t follow the rules about breath and blood tests.

If you commit a third offence within 5 years, the court has to send you to an assessment centre and take away your licence again.

Sometimes, instead of stopping you from driving completely, the court might order you to use an alcohol interlock. This is a device that checks if you’ve been drinking before you can start your car.

The court treats breaking old driving laws the same as breaking current ones when counting your offences.

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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=DLM434820.

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64: Defences, or

"Situations where you can defend yourself if accused of breaking driving rules about alcohol and drugs"

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65A: Alcohol interlock requirements for repeat offences or certain first time offences involving use of alcohol, or

"Rules about special devices for repeat drunk drivers no longer apply"

Part 6 Driving offences involving drink or drugs, and penalties and procedures
Mandatory disqualification and assessment for repeat offences

65Mandatory disqualification and assessment for repeat offences

  1. This section applies to offences against any of sections 56 to 62.

  2. A court must make an order requiring a person to attend an assessment centre and disqualifying the person from holding or obtaining a driver licence until the Director removes that disqualification under section 100 if—

  3. the court convicts that person of a second or subsequent offence against any of sections 56 to 62; and
    1. the previous offence was committed within 5 years of the date of the commission of the offence being dealt with by the court.

      1. Despite subsection (2), the court may not make an order referred to in subsection (2) unless at least 1 of the offences was—

      2. an offence to which this section applies where either—
        1. the proportion of alcohol in the person's breath, as ascertained by an evidential breath test, exceeded 1 000 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath; or
          1. the proportion of alcohol in the person's blood, as ascertained from an analysis of a blood specimen, exceeded 200 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood; or
          2. an offence against section 59 or section 60 (which relate to failing to remain or to accompany or to permit a blood specimen to be taken for the purposes of the administration of breath tests and blood tests).

            1. The mandatory disqualification in subsection (2) is replaced by any alcohol interlock sentence ordered under section 65AC(1) (whether or not the alcohol interlock sentence is ordered at the same time as, or after, the order made under subsection (2)).

            2. The court must make an order that requires a person to attend an assessment centre and that disqualifies that person from holding or obtaining a driver licence until the Director removes that disqualification under section 100 if—

            3. the court convicts that person of a third or subsequent offence to which this section applies; and
              1. the 2 or more previous offences were committed within 5 years of the date of the commission of the offence being dealt with by the court.

                1. The mandatory disqualification in subsection (4) is replaced by any alcohol interlock sentence ordered under section 65AC(1) (whether or not the alcohol interlock sentence is ordered at the same time as, or after, the order made under subsection (4)).

                2. For the purposes of this section, a conviction for an offence against a provision of the Transport Act 1962 corresponding to an offence to which this section applies is to be treated as a conviction for an offence specified in subsection (1).

                Compare
                Notes
                • Section 65 heading: replaced, on , by section 25(1) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).
                • Section 65(2): substituted, on , by section 29(2) of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 13).
                • Section 65(2): amended, on , by section 61 of the Land Transport (NZTA) Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 48).
                • Section 65(3): amended, on , by section 29(3) of the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 13).
                • Section 65(3A): inserted, on , by section 25(2) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).
                • Section 65(4): substituted, on , by section 36 of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 77).
                • Section 65(4): amended, on , by section 61 of the Land Transport (NZTA) Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (2020 No 48).
                • Section 65(4A): inserted, on , by section 25(3) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 34).