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Land Transport Act 1998

Driving offences involving drink or drugs, and penalties and procedures - Offences and penalties

57D: Penalties for offences against sections 57A(1), 57B(1), and 57C(1)

You could also call this:

“Punishments for driving after taking drugs”

If you break the law by driving after taking drugs, you can get in trouble. The punishment depends on how many times you’ve done it before and which law you broke.

If it’s your first or second time breaking section 57A(1), you could go to jail for up to 3 months or pay a fine of up to $4,500. You also won’t be allowed to drive for at least 6 months.

If it’s your first or second time breaking section 57B(1) or 57C(1), you could go to jail for up to 6 months or pay a fine of up to $4,500. You won’t be allowed to drive for at least 9 months.

If you break any of these laws for the third time or more, you could go to jail for up to 2 years or pay a fine of up to $6,000. You won’t be allowed to drive for more than a year.

Sometimes, the court might not stop you from driving if you’ve broken certain laws at the same time. There are also special rules if you’ve broken similar laws in the past or if there are special reasons related to your offence.

The court can decide not to stop you from driving in some cases, but they have to follow specific rules when making this decision.

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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=LMS822218.

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57C: Driving while blood or breath contains alcohol and blood contains evidence of, or oral fluid indicates, use of 1 qualifying drug, or

"Driving with alcohol and one drug in your system is not allowed"

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58: Contravention of section 12, or

"Driving while drunk or on drugs is against the law"

Part 6 Driving offences involving drink or drugs, and penalties and procedures
Offences and penalties

57DPenalties for offences against sections 57A(1), 57B(1), and 57C(1)

  1. If a person is convicted of a first or second offence against section 57A(1),—

  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 for 6 months or more from holding or obtaining a driver licence.

      1. If a person is convicted of a first or second offence against section 57B(1) or 57C(1),—

      2. the maximum penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding $4,500; and
        1. the court must order the person to be disqualified for 9 months or more from holding or obtaining a driver licence.

          1. If a person is convicted of a third or subsequent offence against any of sections 56(1), 56(2), 57A(1), 57B(1), 57C(1), 58(1), 60(1), 61(1), or 61(2) (whether or not that offence is of the same kind as the person's first or second offence against any of those provisions),—

          2. the maximum penalty is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine not exceeding $6,000; and
            1. the court must order the person to be disqualified for more than 1 year from holding or obtaining a driver licence.

              1. If an offence against section 57A(1) or 57B(1) is a concurrent offence in relation to a qualifying offence for an alcohol interlock sentence, then the mandatory disqualification in subsection (1)(b), (2)(b), or (3)(b) does not apply and section 65AH(3)(b) applies.

              2. Subsection (3)(b) does not apply if an order is made under section 65.

              3. For the purposes of this section, a conviction against a provision of the Transport Act 1962 corresponding to an offence specified in subsection (3) is to be treated as a conviction for an offence specified in that subsection.

              4. 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).

              Notes
              • Section 57D: inserted, on , by section 10 of the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment Act 2022 (2022 No 5).