Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 No 20
Current version for 1 July 2012 to date (accessed 20 May 2013 at 05:23)

43   Menacing driving

(cf Traffic Act, s 4AA)

(1) Offence—intent to menace
A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a road or road related area in a manner that menaces another person with the intention of menacing that other person.

Maximum penalty: 30 penalty units or imprisonment for 18 months or both (in the case of a first offence) or 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years or both (in the case of a second or subsequent offence).

(2) Offence—possibility of menace
A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a road or road related area in a manner that menaces another person if the person ought to have known that the other person might be menaced.

Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months or both (in the case of a first offence) or 30 penalty units or imprisonment for 18 months or both (in the case of a second or subsequent offence).

(3) Application of section
This section applies:
(a)  whether the other person is menaced by a threat of personal injury or by a threat of damage to property, and
(b)  whether or not that person or that property is on a road or road related area.
(4) Defence
A person is not guilty of an offence under this section if the person could not, in the circumstances, reasonably avoid menacing the other person.
(5) Double jeopardy
A person is not liable to be convicted of:
(a)  both an offence under subsection (1) and an offence under subsection (2), or
(b)  both an offence under this section and an offence under section 42,
      arising out of a single incident.
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