Drink Driving - The Law

Southend Office
Tel: 01702 610071
Braintree Office
Tel: 01376 329457
24 Hour Emergency Number: 07717 713631

02/03/2019
- General

Drink Driving – The Law

It is an offence to drive a vehicle on a road whilst over the legal alcohol limit. The legal alcohol limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath; or 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood; or 107 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine.

Special Reasons

A person charged with Drink Driving can raise a special reason to try and persuade the Court that they should not impose a disqualification and / or penalty for the offence. A special reason is something which does not amount to a Defence in law but is a matter which the Court ought to take into consideration when imposing a sentence. Common examples of a special reason include driving after having a drink spiked or in response to an emergency.

Sentence

The level of alcohol in your system will reflect the likely sentence you will receive. The lower the level of alcohol, the more likely you are to receive a financial penalty to a low level community order and the higher the level of alcohol, the more likely you are to receive a high level community order to a custodial sentence (of up to 6 months). The Court will also take into consideration any mitigating or aggravating factors.

Disqualification

The Court must endorse your driving licence and disqualify for a minimum term of 12 months. This minimum term is automatically increased if you have like previous convictions and disqualifications. The level of alcohol in your system will also have an effect on the disqualification period.

For your first drink driving offences, the Court may offer you the chance to take part in a ‘Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme’. This is a driving course which if completed to a satisfactory level will reduce the period of your disqualification by up to 25%.

Breath	Blood	Urine	Starting Point	Range	Disqualification	Disqual. 2^nd offence in 10 years
120-150 and above	276-345 and above	367-459 and above	12 weeks’ custody	High level Community Order – 26 weeks’ custody	29 – 36 months (Extended if immediate custody is imposed)	36 – 60 months
90 – 119	207 – 275	275 – 366	Medium level Community Order	Low level Community Order – High level Community Order	23 – 28 months	36 – 52 months
60 – 89	138 – 206	184 – 274	Band C Fine	Band C Fine – Low level Community Order	17 – 22 months	36 – 46 months
36 – 59	81 – 137	108 – 183	Band C Fine	Band B Fine – Band C Fine	12 – 16 months	36 – 40 months

How can we help?

If you have been charged with the above offence or if you have any questions about this in general then please contact us on 01268 820111. Our highly experienced team are available to provide you with the best legal advice.

Comment from a recent client represented in drink driving case:

“I just wanted to say Thank You so much for representing me yesterday and getting the best possible outcome from a very bad situation, it was very much appreciated.”