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Caught drink driving, what will happen?

Posted on: May 31st, 2010 by motoringlawyers

If you are caught drink driving the first thing to realise is that the court has to disqualify you from driving for a minimum of 12 months. They have no discretion.

Don’t listen to the guy in the pub who tells you that he knew someone who avoided a ban for drink driving because it would have meant losing his job. IT’S NOT TRUE. Rather than listening to the bar room lawyer take advice from a specialist motoring solicitor. There is no way to avoid a ban for drink driving on the grounds that you will lose your job or any other consequences, this is regardless of how little you were over the limit.

There are ways to avoid a disqualification for drink driving, these are called special reasons and relate to things such as shortness of distance driven or where you can show that your drinks were spiked with alcohol.

So how long will you be banned for drink driving? That depends on the level of your reading. Assuming that there is nothing that makes the matter more serious such as a crash then the table below shows you what to expect. This is taken from the book that the magistrates will use in court when deciding upon sentence.

Remember these are only guidelines , a good specialist motoring solicitor may be able to reduce the drink driving ban by a couple of months or more. You may feel that it is worth investing in the services of a specialist motoring lawyer, especially if it means losing your job; being able to get back to work 2 months earlier may make a big difference.

Contact Steve Williams on 01623 397200 for free initial advice or click Drink Driving Solicitors for more advice

When can the police stop you for drink driving?

Posted on: May 18th, 2010 by motoringlawyers

Getting advice down the pub (especially for drink driving!) is not a good idea. There are a lot of myths about drink driving, take advice from a specialist drink driving solicitor to be sure of your rights.

The law says that the police cannot just stop you and insist that you give a breath test. The reality is that it is pretty easy for them to stop you at anytime to get a breath test.

There are 2 ways that the police can insist that you give a sample. Firstly by having reasonable grounds to believe that you have committed a moving traffic offence, for example speeding, going through a red light or crossing the white line in the middle of the road. Once they have that belief then they can stop you and ask you to give a breath test, if this is over the limit you will be arrested for drink driving.

The reality is that they don’t need to prove that you have driven badly. They are entitled to stop you at any time, for any reason. Once they have done that then if they suspect that you have been drinking they can ask you to provide a breath sample. The normal way that they suspect you have been drinking is by smelling alcohol on your breath.

Can you argue that they didn’t have reasonable grounds to insist on a breath test? Of course but realistically the police will simply say they smelt alcohol and it is likely that any court will accept this and find you guilty of drink driving.

I get a lot of people who have refused to give a breath test at the roadside or at the police station and argue that they are not guilty because they had not been drinking and can prove it. This doesn’t matter, once charged with failing to provide a specimen it is irrelevant as to whether you have been drinking, you are not charged with drink driving.

If you haven’t been drinking and are asked to give a sample, the advice is simple – give a sample. You can argue about civil liberties later but at least you will still have a licence.

Steve Williams is a specialist motoring solicitor dealing with drink driving, speeding and all other motoring offences, if you wish to seek advice call on 01623 397200 or click Drink Driving Solicitors

Ever been tempted to let someone else ‘take your points’?

Posted on: May 13th, 2010 by motoringlawyers

I get lots of calls from people who have just received a notice of intended prosecution. This is often the first stage of a speeding prosecution. It is basically a request from the police for the registered keeper of the vehicle to name the driver.

On rare occasions I have clients who ask me whether it would be easier for them to just say their wife was driving.

I always warn them that they would be committing a serious crime – perverting the course of justice.

This case from Nottingham shows what can happen if you try to blame someone else for your speeding –

//www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/national/taxi_driver_avoids_jail_over_speeding_lie_1_631511

They were lucky, the case hadn’t gone too far and they got away with a suspended prison sentence, normally it is an immediate prison sentence.

The simple advice – don’t do it. No matter how bad it seems it is not worth the risk, as an experienced motoring solicitor I can normally help. It is rarely as bad as it seems and never worth risking a prison sentence.

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Author Archive

Caught drink driving, what will happen?

When can the police stop you for drink driving?

Ever been tempted to let someone else ‘take your points’?

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