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

Tags: Avoiding a ban for drink driving, drink driving legal aid, drink driving solicitors