In Western Australia, when sentencing for multiple counts of dangerous driving causing death arising from a single act of dangerous driving, total cumulation of identical sentences is impermissible because it results in double punishment for the common element of dangerous driving, contrary to the Pearce principle. The appropriate course is either to reduce subsequent individual sentences to reflect only the additional death, or to impose identical sentences with partial cumulation. The Guilfoyle two-category approach (momentary inattention vs selfish disregard) should no longer be applied as a rigid classification; culpability exists on a continuum.
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