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Motorists Demand Tougher Penalties For Drink Driving

A POLL by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) shows that 80% of motorists are in favour of repeated drink drivers having their vehicles seized and sold or scrapped.

They were also in favour of the drink driving limit being reduced, with 28% of people favouring a zero tolerance policy.

IAM chief executive, Simon Best, said: “The support is there for tougher treatment of drink drivers.

“Not only do the majority want a lower limit – they also want tougher punishment for those that break the law, especially the worst offenders who present the greatest danger to other road users, their passengers and themselves.

“Our poll shows a desire to see more effective drink drive levels as well as much greater consistency of enforcement, prosecution, and sentencing, which reflects the level of danger associated with drinking drivers.”

Full story from the IAM here.

Drink Drive Summer Blitz in South Yorkshire

SOUTH Yorkshire Police arrested over 160 motorists last month for being over the drink driving limit during a summer crackdown.

Police targeted known hotspots and breathalysed 2,763 drivers in total in June 2012.

The Chief Inspector for Roads Policing, Stuart Walne, said that officers would continue to use intelligence to target common drink driving areas.

The full story of the drink driving summer blitz in South Yorkshire offers an interview with Stuart Walne.

The story does, however, raise questions for motorists.

Are the police able to simply stop and breathalyse a motorist?

The police do not have to have, or provide, a reason for stopping you.  They will often provide a reason, but they can stop you without a reason.

They do, however, have to have a reason to request a breath sample; namely, they must have some reason to believe that you may be over the limit.

This could be due to some issue with your driving; driving slowly is a common issue that alerts them to a possible drunk driver.  Alternatively, they may smell alcohol on your breath.

If you are stopped by the police and asked to provide a breath sample, our advice would always be to comply with the police request.

If you refuse to provide a breath sample and have no medical grounds for doing so, you will be charged with Failing to Provide a Breath Sample.

John Terry Is In Good Company With Court Gaff

A light hearted post for a change.

John Terry is all over Twitter again tonight; this time not connected to a team mate’s wife or for using foul language. In fact very much the opposite; he is ridiculed for being too polite.

He was asked to confirm how many times he has been sent off. His reply of four was too softly spoken for the court to hear so his barrister asked him to “say please, four times”.

“Please, please, please, please” was his response!

You couldn’t make it up! One wonders why he thought he was being asked to do this and what else his barrister could have made him say?

In fairness, the courtroom can be a very intimidating place if you aren’t used to it and it’s easy to slip up.

In my time I have come across some funny gaffs…

Like when I asked my client why he agreed with everything the prosecutor asked him in cross examination. “I thought he was on our side because you called him ‘my friend’.”

Or the time that a witness was recounting a nasty verbal abuse against him. He told the court that the defendant called him a ‘specky, four eyed, Irish, Catholic, c**t’.  The chairman of the bench looked up at him and said, “were you wearing you glasses at the time?”

A colleague representing two clients was asked to explain why one of them hadn’t turned up. He turned to ask the defendant who had turned up why his friend hadn’t. Upon hearing the muttered answer he told the magistrates that his client had nits. ‘Nits?’ asked the magistrates. Feeling a tug on his jacket he turned back to the helpful friend who repeated the answer. “Ahh, he ummm, has, erm, gastric problems!”

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