It is an offence to:

• drive, or attempt to drive, a motor vehicle whilst over the permitted limit or whilst unfit through drink or drugs
• be in charge of a vehicle whilst over the permitted limit or
• fail to provide a specimen if you have been stopped by the police because it is reasonably believed that you are under the influence

If you have been charged with any of these offences you should contact keepmedrivingas soon as possible We can provide you with guidance as to the options open to you and help you to make the right choice in dealing with the charges against you – whether that be fighting the charges brought or simply helping you to reduce the level of the penalties to which you are subject.

Remember, even though you may not think that you have a defence that does not mean that you need to give up hope. This is an extremely complex area of the law and it is not unheard of for the police to make mistakes in terms of procedures and the law. This may be enough for the matter either not to proceed to court or, if it is, that it is then thrown out – and in any event it is often worth taking some preliminary steps if only to increase the chances of the penalties being less severe.

If you would like to discuss this with someone then please contact keepmedriving by completing the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, requesting a free, no obligation call-back using the call-back form to the right or phoning us during office hours on 084 4804 4804

Offence of drinking and driving

It is an offence for you to drive – or even attempt to drive – a motor vehicle when you are unfit to do so as a result of consuming drink or drugs. S5 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 specifically provides that you will be guilty of an offence if you either:

• drive or attempts to drive a motor vehicle on a road or other public place, or
• are in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place,

after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in your breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit.

The current limits are:

• 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 ml of breath
• 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 ml of blood
• 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 ml of urine

Providing a specimen of breath

If a police officer reasonably suspects that you are driving with excess alcohol then you can be asked to perform a roadside breath test. If this gives a positive reading, or if you refuse to give a breath specimen, then you will be arrested and taken to a police station where you will be required to take a further test to find out how much alcohol is in your body. Note that you cannot insist upon taking legal advice before you take the test and if you do insist then this in itself may be seen as a refusal to provide a specimen.

The police must follow strict procedures when conducting a breath test and must have two specimens of your breath which, when analysed, exceed 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. In the event that both specimens exceed 50 micrograms of alcohol, it is likely that the police will simply go ahead and charge you with the offence and you will be bailed to attend Court at a later date.

However, if both readings do not indicate that you have more than 50 milligrams of alcohol in your breath then a secondary test will need to take place. In this case the sample of blood or urine will need to be sent off for further tests so you will be bailed to return to the police station at a later date.

Indeed, if the result of the test shows that you have between 40 and 50 micrograms in breath, you can ask for a blood or urine specimen to be taken to check the accuracy of the machine and you will probably be better doing this anyway because the delay which this causes may mean that the level of alcohol in your body will have dropped sufficiently.

Penalty for drink driving

In the event that you are found guilty then you face a minimum of 12 months disqualification and a fine of up to £5000. The maximum penalty is an unlimited ban and/or imprisonment for up to 6 months.

It is vital therefore that you contact keepmedrivingat the first opportunity so that we can start to take the necessary action to examine the procedural steps taken by the police and to ascertain whether we can find reasons for the matter to be withdrawn or so that an appropriate defence or mitigation can be mounted.

Special Reasons

Remember, this is a complex area of the law and you may have a defence or be able to argue special reasons as to why you should not be disqualified.

It is possible for you to avoid being disqualified after pleading guilty to an offence of drink driving and that is for you to argue what is known as special reasons.

Special reasons are those which relate directly to the offence that has been committed and not to you as the offender. Thus it is not possible to argue that a loss of your license will cause hardship to you or others.

However, anything which relates to the offence can be used as a special reason. Reasons which have been held to amount to special reasons include:

1. shortness of distance driven;
2. unintentional commission of the offence (i.e. laced drinks);
3. emergencies.

You should be aware, however, that special reasons are notoriously difficult to establish and the burden of proof is always on you to establish them. The specialist solicitors at keepmedriving can guide you through this difficult process and if the magistrates agree that there was a special reason, they may use their discretion to allow you to retain your driving licence as opposed to imposing a disqualification.

Mitigation

Even if there is no defence which we can run, you may still be able to mount a mitigation which could reduce not only the period of disqualification but also the other penalties which could be imposed and keepmedriving can assist you with this.

If you would like to discuss this with one of our solicitors then please contact keepmedriving either by completing the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, requesting a free call-back using the call-back form to the right or phoning us during office hours on 084 4804 4804

Learn more about Drink Driving at:

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_under_the_influence)

It is just as illegal for you to drive under the influence of drugs – whether they are prescribed drugs or illegal drugs – as it is to drive under the influence of alcohol. Drugs can have an effect on both your mind and your body with the result that you are rendered unsafe to drive.

For this reason, section 4(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 specifically provides that:

“A person who, when driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place, is unfit to drive through drink or drugs is guilty of an offence.”

As with alcohol, the police can carry out roadside tests for drugs to help them decide whether to arrest you if they think you are unfit to drive.

The penalties are the same as for drink driving. You face a minimum one year driving ban, a fine of up to £5,000, and six months jail.

If you would like to discuss this with one of our solicitors then please contact keepmedriving either by completing the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, requesting a free call-back using the call-back form to the right or phoning us during office hours on 084 4804 4804

The offence of drunk in charge of a vehicle

Sections 4(2) and 5(1b) Road Traffic Act 1998 deal with the position of being drunk in charge of a vehicle.

Section 4(2) provides that it is an offence for a person to be in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public place when unfit to drive through drink or drugs, whilst section 5(1b) states that “If a person …. is in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place, after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit he is guilty of an offence”

Defence

You should note that so far as section 4(2) is concerned, a person is not regarded as being in charge of the vehicle if he or she can prove that, at the material time, the circumstances were such that there was no likelihood of them driving the vehicle for so long as they remained unfit to drive through drink or drugs. However, in order to use this as a defence, you will have to show the court that factors existed which would point to this conclusion being drawn. Thus for example, if the keys were in the ignition or the engine was running it will be more difficult to prove this than if the person had, for example, given the keys to someone else to look after and was simply sitting in the car.

It is worth bearing in mind that the vehicle does not have to be moving for this offence to have taken place. It is enough that the person was about to drive or had been driving the vehicle.

What does “in charge” of a vehicle mean

Whilst there is no precise legal definition of “in charge” usually the court will view you as being “in charge” if you were the owner of the vehicle, or it was in your possession or you had recently driven it. If someone else was driving the vehicle or you were some distance from the vehicle at the appropriate time then you would generally not be regarded as being in charge. However, if the person driving the vehicle held only a provisional licence then you would be regarded as being “in charge”.

Often it is not clear whether or not you were “in charge” at the relevant time – for example if you were sitting in the car but had no intention of driving it. If this is the case, the experienced solicitors at keepmedriving can help you to prepare a defence to the allegations of being in charge.

Penalties

The penalty which you are likely to incur on being found guilty depend upon the precise nature of the conviction and the circumstances surrounding the matter.

The maximum penalty is a 3 months prison sentence and a fine of either £2,500 or £5,000 depending upon the offence charged. However, if you are convicted you can expect to receive a minimum of 10 Penalty Points with the possibiity of a discretionary driving ban of between 12 and 36 months. It is vital, therefore, that you contact keepmedriving as a matter of urgency so that we can advise you fully as to your options and as to how we might be able to assist you in reducing the severity of the penalty.

To contact keepmedriving either complete the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, request a free call-back using the call-back form to the right or phone us during office hours on 084 4804 4804

There are two types of offence in relation to failure to provide a specimen. These are:

• failing to provide a road side specimen of breath, and
• failing to provide an evidential specimen for analysis. This again will usually be a breath sample and is normally provided at the police station. If a blood sample is required there will need to be a doctor present.

Sections 4 & 5 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 provides that if without reasonable excuse you fail to provide a specimen of breath when required to do so you will be guilty of an offence and a constable may arrest you without warrant if he or she has reasonable cause to suspect that you have alcohol in your body. In most cases you will be tested (hence the description “roadside breath test”) although it is not uncommon for the test to be carried out at or near the place where you were stopped.

You should note, however, that unless you have been involved in an accident, then section 1 of the Road Traffic Act requires that the constable have “reasonable cause to suspect” that:

• you are “driving or attempting to drive or in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place” and that you have alcohol in your body, or you have committed a traffic offence whilst the vehicle was in motion, or
• you have been driving or attempting to drive or been in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place with alcohol in your body and you still have alcohol in his body, or
• you have been driving or attempting to drive or been in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place and have committed a traffic offence whilst the vehicle was in motion,

Irrespective of any other penalty which you may or may not incur, the penalty for refusing a road side test is 4 penalty points or a discretionary disqualification and a fine of up to £1000. If you fail to provide a sample at the police station, this also carries a fine and disqualification for a period of 24 months and the possibility of either a community order or imoprisonment for a period of up to 6 months. This minimum period for disqualification will rise to 3 years if you have been convicted of an alcohol related offence within the last 10 years.

However, you may be able to avoid a conviction if you are able to show that you had a “reasonable excuse” for failing to provide a specimen or breath test. This could be for medical reasons such as asthma or breathing difficulties which prevent you from blowing into the machine or it may be a phobia abouit needles which prevent you from supplying a sample of your blood for testing. The fact that you had not been drinking will not be regarded as a reasonable excuse.

You should also be aware that you can be guilty of the offence even if you were not driving. The only test the prosecution will need to pass in court is that the officer had reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person had driven – although the fact that a person was not driving could amount to a special reason not to disqualify.

If you have been charged with failing to produce a breath test, or if you would like to discuss this with one of our solicitors, then please contact keepmedriving either by completing the appropriate online information form which you will find in the Getting Help section, requesting a free, no obligation call-back using the call-back form to the right or phoning us during office hours on 084 4804 4804

You should also note the provisions in relation to failure to provide a sample of blood or urine.