The offence of failing to stop after an accident under s 61(3) of the Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic) generally warrants a term of imprisonment, even where panic is the explanation for leaving the scene. Parliament's fivefold increase in the maximum penalty to 10 years demonstrates the importance of general deterrence for this offence. A sentencing judge's statement that imprisonment is generally warranted for such offences does not, without more, constitute an impermissible fetter on the sentencing discretion or a departure from instinctive synthesis.
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