EDITORIAL: There needs to be greater penalties for drivers involved in police pursuits because the current system is not working and it’s putting innocent lives at risk. For some it’s already too late.

Last weekend’s pursuit in Gunnedah – the second in the area this month – involved a driver leading police on chase on a major highway before crashing into tree.

In a separate incident two weeks earlier, another man drove at speed on rural roads around Gunnedah while being pursued by police.

This incident occurred after school on a Friday afternoon.

These offences were not committed by children or ‘wayward youth’ as many would have you believe. These were offences committed by grown adults – aged 32 and 29, respectively. Not the behaviour most would expect from people whose age dictates they should have known better.

In July, another man – this time aged 25 – led police on a dangerous highway pursuit which started near Gunnedah. The incident ended only when road spikes were successfully used near Bective.

In January, there was the fatal crash in Gunnedah involving motorcyclist, Daniel McNamara, who was hit and killed by an allegedly stolen car.

Just a bloke going about his life, on a leisurely ride through Gunnedah, when the tragic incident occurred. It could have been any one of us.

Several teenage boys, all aged 14, have since been charged with manslaughter as well as multiple other offences.

These are just some of the police pursuits which we’ve reported on in the Gunnedah area nine months into 2025 – let alone others in surrounding towns.

A few years earlier we reported on the coronial inquest into a fatal police pursuit on Wandobah Road, Gunnedah – only this time it was the alleged offender who died.

I remember as a court reporter in Queensland when the government introduced higher penalties for drivers involved in police pursuits.

It was in response to a rising number of incidents across the state at the time.

Magistrates served up mandatory fines in the thousands of dollars for first time offenders and double that for subsequent offences.

The consequence of their actions was swift and immediate.

It’s unclear whether the fines had any effect on deterrence but at least the communities involved, the other road users who witnessed these dangerous acts, felt vindicated that at least some penalty had prevailed for the offender involved.

It is one thing for someone to have little regard for their own life through such behaviour on the road but it’s another thing to risk the lives of innocent bystanders and families as well.

In NSW, Skye’s Law is designed to govern this with maximum penalties up three years imprisonment for first offences in police pursuits but is it working?

A petition to parliament this year titled ‘Time for Change’ – which included more than 22,000 signatures, called for tougher actions against perpetrators of crimes such as police pursuits.

Among its demands was a call to review the judicial system to prioritise community safety.

It is anyone’s guess what the solution is, but the current template needs to change on police pursuit. If there is a problem or something’s not working, you adapt and change because doing nothing is not a solution.