< Go Back Drink driving | Have you been caught Posted: Jan 29, 2021In the United Kingdom, drink driving is one of the most serious motoring offences one can commit. The law requires anyone driving a vehicle on the highways to be under the prescribed alcohol limit which is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath, except in Scotland where it is 22 micrograms per 100 millilitres.
What can you expect if you get caught drink driving? A police officer can request that you provide a breath test, but certain conditions must be met for this to happen. The officer firstly must have reasonable cause to suspect that you have committed or are committing a moving traffic offence. Once they have pulled you over they must then have reasonable cause to believe that you have consumed alcohol, or have reasonable cause to believe that you were involved in an accident and were in charge of the vehicle at the time.
Because of these conditions, the police cannot randomly request a breath specimen from you. However, they can randomly pull you over, and if they then believe you may have been drinking they can then request the specimen. Refusal to provide a specimen when asked is an offence and is treated the same as if you provide a positive result, which will result in arrest, a court case, a minimum twelve-month driving ban, and substantial fine as well as a possible serious prison sentence.
Because the punishments can be so severe for drinking and driving you must enlist the help of a motoring lawyer. While you may think that if you are guilty that’s it, the court will treat you the same whether you have a lawyer or not, this is not always the case.
There are several different ways that a lawyer may help your case, including making sure that the process was followed correctly from the moment you were stopped to being charged and that the equipment used was calibrated correctly. The case of Cracknell vs Willis in 1988 allowed for defence lawyers to contest the evidence from breathalyser machines, and many law firms maintain relationships with expert witnesses who they can call upon them to testify at your case in this instance. They can also vigorously scrutinise the process if you were asked to provide a blood or urine sample instead of just a breath test as this will require more people to be involved, such as a doctor or nurse making the process much more complicated which means that a step can be missed.
The prosecution must be able to prove things such as having your consent to take blood or urine, where it was stored, was the process clearly explained to you, and so on. If all of these conditions have not been met a good motoring lawyer will be able to find the issue and this may mean that you are acquitted in court.
Contact Us If you would like to find out more about how we can help you, get in touch today on0116 262 0290or head over to our contact page for more details.
