Recent (May 2026) research from the law department at RMIT University based in Melbourne, Australia makes for interesting reading. Beyond the Charge: Understanding support needs of women prosecuted for driving offences is authored by Lisanne Adam and Elena Pappas.
The report presents a comprehensive analysis of 104 de-identified case files from a local law centre (Law and Advocacy Centre for Women (‘LACW’), all involving at least one driving offence charge.
Across the files analysed, nearly half of the women reported current or historical family violence. In some cases, this violence directly contributed to alleged offending behaviour, including coercion to drive while unlicensed, fleeing unsafe homes, or relying on a vehicle as emergency accommodation.
Source: Women’s driving offences often linked to domestic abuse – Russell Webster