Drink driving and defences to drink driving

Drink driving ruins lives. There is no safe limit of alcohol, because each person’s tolerance depends on a range of factors such as metabolism, stress levels and weight. If you have been drinking, then take a taxi, stay the night, walk or take public transport.

Some 560 people are killed each year by drivers who are over the limit. One in five drivers found to be over the limit are caught ‘the morning after’. It takes time to sober up, and no amount of coffee can help.

The law has set a limit on the amount of alcohol you are allowed to consume before driving a motor vehicle. The law surrounding drink driving is complex, and there are specialist lawyers who work in this area.

The facts

It is a criminal offence to drive a motor vehicle on a road or other public place when your alcohol levels exceed the limit prescribed by the Road Traffic Act 1988.

Currently, the excess alcohol limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 ml of breath; 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood; or 107 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of urine.

Where a police officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person is driving with excess alcohol, he or she can breathalyse the driver. If the officer’s suspicions are borne out by the results of the test, then the driver will be arrested and taken to the station.

What you risk

Drink driving can have devastating consequences, and is taken seriously by the courts.

Convicted drink drivers face a fine of up to £5,000, and a minimum period of a year of mandatory disqualification.

The maximum penalty is an unlimited ban and a prison sentence of up to six months.

If the offender has been convicted of an alcohol-related offence in the previous ten years, then they will be disqualified for a minimum of three years.

Persons convicted of causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs face up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine, two years’ disqualification from driving and a mandatory extended driving test.

Being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit can lead to three months in prison, a fine of up to £2,500 and disqualification from driving at the judge’s discretion.

Should a person refuse to provide a specimen, then they could be looking at six months in prison, a fine of up to £5,000 and 12 months’ disqualification.

These are the penalties, set out in law. There are, however, further potential consequences of drink driving, including: losing your job; huge increases in insurance premiums when you are able to drive again; visa restrictions; and a criminal record, with the conviction listed on your licence for 11 years.

Defences to drink driving

Some solicitors are specialists in drink driving and are very skilled in this area.

If you are caught driving over the limit, then there are some lines of defence available to you.

• ‘Post offence consumption of alcohol or drugs’ is an excuse that the police hear quite often, but it is difficult to prove. In order for this defence (the ‘hip flask defence’) to succeed, the defendant must prove he consumed alcohol after he had stopped driving but before a specimen was provided, and had alcohol not been consumed, he would have been below the limit. The onus is on the defendant to prove this, usually by comparing different levels of alcohol in the breath, urine and blood tests.
• Spiked drink is another defence. Again, the onus is on the defendant to prove they would have been below the limit if the drink had not been spiked, and they had no knowledge the drink was spiked. Even if the defendant proves this, the court can still convict.
• Driving in order to escape a threat of serious physical injury is a potential defence. The threat may be real or perceived. It must be an immediate danger. It is up to the defendant to show the threat existed and that a sober person in similar circumstances would have reacted the same way. The court will pay particular attention to the distance driven.
• That the police did not follow the correct procedures is another potential defence. It could be that the officer failed to correctly inform the defendant of his or her rights and obligations, defective equipment, or some other procedural error. Whether or not this defence works depends on how serious the error is, and what action was taken to resolve it.
• Some defendants argue that the distance driven was so short that there should be no conviction. However, this is unlikely to succeed because the offence has still been committed. Putting this defence forward to the court, however, could help prevent the driver being disqualified.
• That the offence occurred on private land is a potential defence. However, there must be no public access to the area.
• Where people drive in an emergency, such as a medical emergency, the court will often still decide to convict.

The law on drink driving is broadly similar throughout the UK.

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