Tom McLuckie among voices calling for harsher sentences for dangerous driving in ACT

An ACT Assembly inquiry has also urged the territory government to review dangerous driving sentences to determine whether there is a downward trend towards lighter sentences.

There should also be a government review of leniency for discounts to sentences of serious crimes and repeat offenders.

The parliamentary inquiry came after three Canberra families who experienced losing a blameless child on the road combined to call for a review of the way repeat road offenders were sentenced in the territory.

The families of Matthew McLuckie, 20, Lachlan Seary, 19, and Blake Corney, 4, all gave evidence to the inquiry.

Tom McLuckie, whose son Matthew was killed in a head-on collision with a stolen car on Hindmarsh Drive last May, was so compelled by the "manifestly inadequate sentencing" he had seen against recidivist driving offenders in the ACT that he mounted his own online social media campaign, called ACTnowforsaferroads.

Mr McLuckie said he was pleased with the general thrust of the committee recommendations, but was cautious in his expectations of how the government would respond to them.

"The Attorney-General has made it very clear that he sees nothing wrong at the procedural level nor with the courts, that needs to be fixed," he said.

"However, I think there is a belief in the community that the head sentence has to reflect the severity and seriousness of the crime, and that's absent from the current process."

He cited the specific case involving 29-year-old Peter Loeschnauer, who was drunk, on drugs and speeding in his father's Honda Civic when he rear-ended 19-year-old Lachlan Seary's Toyota Corolla at 149km/h in Hume, causing the victim's vehicle to roll and hit a tree.

Loeschnauer's decision on March 8, 2021, to drive while drugged and intoxicated was described by the judge as "entirely self-interested, reckless and irresponsible".

"The family's victim impact statements over the loss of their talented, deeply loved son, were heart-breaking."

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"In this case, a potential manslaughter charge was downgraded to culpable driving causing death and then he [Loeschnauer] got a further discount on his sentence which means he ends up only two years and 11 months in prison for what should have been an aggravated homicide," Mr McLuckie said.

The Legislative Assembly's standing committee on justice and community safety handed down a report from its inquiry into dangerous driving, prompted by calls for sentencing reform in the territory.

Given far-reaching terms of reference, the committee made 28 recommendations around criminal punishments, greater transparency in the justice system and support provided to victims.

Greater wrap-around support for victims were welcomed by Mr McLuckie.

"They [the ACT government] have only just gone out to market for the two roles to provide support for victims of crime and vehicle accidents," he said. "Supportlink got their funding cut but it was never replaced. So you literally get the police at the door telling you of the tragic event, and then you are left to your own devices."

The committee noted sentences were unlikely to reach the maximum penalty level "even for deaths by the most serious dangerous driving and that no amount of sentencing will undo suffering for victims".

"Nevertheless, the committee noted that recent sentencing decisions used as precedents for dangerous driving causing death are significantly below the maximum penalty of 14 years leaving victims and families feeling like their loss has not been taken into account in determining the actual sentence," the report states.

The tripartisan committee also said it considered culpable driving causing death to be the same thing as manslaughter and the government should consider bringing sentences in line with this.

The maximum penalty for culpable driving causing death is 14 years or 16 years for an aggravated offence. For manslaughter, the maximum penalty is 20 years or 28 years for an aggravated offence.

"The name of the offence should be then changed to 'vehicular manslaughter' to better reflect what it is," the report said.

The government has also been urged to review and streamline ACT legislation governing road safety and dangerous driving. There should also be penalties implemented for passengers who leave the scene of an accident, as this currently only applies to drivers.

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