Savage v Police

The appeal in Savage v Police arose from a conviction in the Magistrates Court of South Australia, where the appellant had pleaded guilty to using a mobile phone while driving. The appellant contended that he was merely checking the time and not engaging in calling or texting, arguing that this did not constitute 'use' under the Australian Road Rules. The case reached the Supreme Court of South Australia, which was tasked with determining whether the Magistrate had correctly exercised their discretion under the Motor Vehicles Act.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Magistrate had erred in their exercise of discretion when declining to find the offence trifling and reduce the demerit points pursuant to section 98B(4) of the Motor Vehicles Act. Additionally, the court needed to assess whether the Magistrate had erred in recording a conviction, considering the nature and context of the appellant's actions. The court had to interpret what constitutes a 'trifling' offence and whether the appellant's use of the mobile phone, though not for calling or texting, was sufficiently atypical to warrant a different outcome.

The Supreme Court found that the Magistrate had not erred in their decision-making process. The court noted that using a mobile phone for purposes other than calling or texting, such as checking the time, was not an atypical behaviour and thus did not merit the exercise of discretion to find the offence trifling. The court emphasised that the decision to record a conviction or not is largely within the Magistrate's discretion, and the appellant had not demonstrated any error in the Magistrate's exercise of that discretion. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed.

In conclusion, the Supreme Court upheld the Magistrate's decision, affirming that the appellant's use of a mobile phone while driving, even for checking the time, constituted an offence under the Australian Road Rules. The court found no grounds to interfere with the Magistrate's discretion and dismissed the appeal, thereby upholding the conviction and sentence as originally imposed by the Magistrates Court.