CRIMINAL AND TRAFFIC LAW EXPERTS
ALL COURTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Chris Kalpage, Solicitor and Founder
Over 37 years experience & has practised extensively in criminal and traffic law.
His particular fields of expertise are in criminal, traffic & employment law. He appears in all courts in NSW & has a practical and pragmatic approach. He understands the stress clients suffer in court cases & with his personal approach tries to alleviate that stress as much as possible to get the best result for his clients.
Chris Kalpage is a keen performance car and motorbike enthusiast who understands the problems faced by his clients. Chris specialises in providing legal advice and aid, and has extensive experience acting in the following matters:
Our main objective is to assist our clients in defending the charges that they face with skill, precision and most importantly, an understanding of the stress that they are under.
Evan.P. Sydney
Have you been charged with a drink driving offence or driving under the influence of drugs? Then, you should contact us for the best advice and minimise the legal problems that can follow. Kalpage and Co Solicitors are an experienced firm of drink driving lawyers who will help you get the best results. Chris Kalpage has over 37 years of experience in dealing with these matters.
We have attained excellent outcomes for clients. If you want to obtain the best outcomes and avoid or minimise your disqualification period then you should talk to Chris Kalpage.
We value your time and also in this highly competitive market, give personalized attention to all our clients.
There are many ways one can lose a drivers licence some examples are;
Suspension by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) formerly the RMS for a number of reasons some of them are:
It is imperative to seek legal advice as soon as any driving offence occurs to minimise this risk. Our principal Chris Kalpage has over 37 years of experience fighting for clients to prevent or minimise licence loss and travels to courts all over New South Wales to represent clients. We are highly experienced and compassionate and are committed to offering complete guidance to clients who are looking for speedy resolutions to their matters.
SEE CHRIS'S ARTICLES FOR MORE INFORMATION
The offence of driving in a manner or speed dangerous is a criminal offence and is considered seriously by courts and which is reflected in the penalties. Often Police will charge a person who has been alleged to be speeding over 45 km/h with Drive Speed Dangerous.
PENALTIES
The maximum penalty is a fine of $2,200 and /or imprisonment for 9 months. If the offence is a second or subsequent offence, the maximum penalties increase to a fine of $3,300 and/or imprisonment for 12 months. A second or subsequent offence means that you have either been convicted of a previous offence of driving in a manner dangerous within the past 5 years or another earlier “major offence”, for example, drink driving, in the past 5 years.
Upon a conviction for this offence an automatic period of disqualification of 3 Years with a potential of a minimum of 1 year will follow unless a conviction is avoided.
SEE CHRIS'S ARTICLES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Refused Bail
These are often combined with Charges of Assault pursuant to the Crimes Act, and Stalk Intimidate pursuant to section 13 (1) Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007. If you are in a situation where you have an argument that escalates to a threat of physical violence or actual physical violence, these charges may flow with the AVO.
If arrested and charged for the above, bail may be granted, and often the bail conditions are the same as the AVO terms. The Police will often make a provisional order. The Court, in turn, can grant Interim Orders pending a final determination.
In situations where you have been arrested and refused bail by the police, you will often be put before the court at the earliest opportunity as you are being held in custody. Often on this appearance, you can make a bail application. Due to ever-changing and strict bail laws, you should seek legal advice and have a properly prepared bail application, for if rejected, you may not have a right to make another application. Depending on the facts of the alleged offences and your personal matters relevant to a bail application, your lawyer may suggest you not making a bail application on the first appearance and may want time to get as many relevant matters addressed before making a bail application to the court.
Today in the ever-increasing stress of traffic congestion and rush, events of aggression between drivers' of vehicles are more common. With the prevalence of mobile phone cameras and dashboard cameras, there is a high probability that either the participants in the altercation or bystanders will video the event. Accordingly, there are more charges arising from these incidents.
Even if the police decide not to lay charges of predatory driving, they can lay other charges such as Drive Manner Dangerous, Negligent Driving, or various assault charges.
Such matters may proceed under the charge of predatory driving and, in addition to a fine, has a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment.
The types of driving caught by this legislation can include extremely aggressive driving, tailgating and road rage.
Dangerous Driving Cause Death/Grievous Bodily Harm
Over the years I have had on many occasions to defend drivers and riders charged with street racing. But often objectively when the evidence is challenged there is little to support the charge. Often it is based on subjective elements that police say they observe, like the revving of engines, and the riders or drivers apparently looking at one another. The reality of the cases I have defended, have resulted from innocuous facts contrary to what you may have seen on TV and movies.
The legislation governing the range of offences are essentially contained in s115 Road Transport Act 2013, which states:
115 Races, attempts on speed records and other speed trials
(cf STM Act, s 40)
(1) A person must not organise, promote or take part in:
(a) any race between vehicles on a road, or
(b) any attempt to break any vehicle speed record on a road, or
(c) any trial of the speed of a vehicle on a road, or
(d) Maximum penalty: 30 penalty units (in the case of a first offence) or 30 penalty units or imprisonment for 9 months or both (in the case of a second or subsequent offence).
SEE CHRIS'S ARTICLES FOR CASE STUDIES
Dangerous driving occasioning death is satisfied if the vehicle driven by the driver is involved in an impact occasioning the death of another and the driver was, at the time of the impact, driving the vehicle:
(a) under the influence of intoxicating liquor or of a drug, or
(b) at a speed dangerous to another person.
(c) in a manner dangerous to another person.
A conviction for this offence could result in imprisonment for 10 years.
Aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death is satisfied if a person commits the offence of dangerous driving occasioning death in circumstances of aggravation.
A conviction for an offence under this subsection could result in imprisonment for 14 years.
Chris has extensive experience in investigating and defending serious accident cases.
SEE CHRIS'S ARTICLES FOR MORE INFORMATION ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO RIGHT TO SILENCE
Commencing from 1 February 2015, there were amendments made to the act, which replaced the discretionary interlock program with a mandatory one and applies to all drink driving offences committed after 1 February 2015.
Under the new scheme, those on the program will be expected to have a zero (0) blood alcohol level while driving (previously .02)
WHO IS CAUGHT UNDER THE SCHEME:
All High Range PCA, Mid Range, Refuse or fail to provide breath analysis or fail to provide a blood sample.
Any second or subsequent offence of Novice PCA, Special PCA, Low Range PCA, and Drive Under the Influence ( DUI ).
Dismissal and conditional discharge.
Pursuant to s10 Crimes Sentencing Procedure Act, the court can find the offence proven but not proceed to conviction and the matter can be dismissed with or without conditions Bond, Pursuant to s9 Crimes Sentencing Procedure Act the court can impose a good behaviour bond for a period of time. If the bond is breached during the period it can be called up and the court can sentence on that matter.
"Great strategic advice, great attention to the psychology of the court, an
excellent outcome"
Sydney
"Chris was ultra professional, obtained the best possible result for the right price, was available 24/7, and was totally supportive and transparent through the entire process. I couldn’t recommend him highly enough to anyone!"
Sydney
“I had a somewhat serious traffic matter which Chris handled extremely well and resulted with me being able to keep my licence. He is very well versed in Traffic Law"
Sydney