Low-range drink drivers will now be hit with an on-the-spot fine and lose their licence at the roadside under new laws passed by the NSW Government today.

The new drink driving reforms, which come into effect at the end of the year, will see offenders slapped with a $561 fine and immediately lose their license for three months.

However, lawyers have criticised the new laws saying offenders need the embarrassment of having to front court for the seriousness of the situation to have an impact.

NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey tells Deborah Knight, “I know the lawyers were worried about that aspect of the law, but I was more worried that 56 per cent of people with low range drink driving first offences were getting off on a Section 10”.

“So there was no record of that on their license… that they’d been caught for low-range drink driving.”

Ms Pavey says under the new laws offenders can still “go to court and challenge it but the reality is we get better results when people are punished immediately after doing the wrong thing”.

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

The on-the-spot penalty will also apply to first-time drug presence offences detected on the roadside.

And under the new laws, first-time mid-range drink driving offenders will also need to have an alcohol interlock device installed in their car.