Drunk driving (United Kingdom)
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Drink driving law in the United Kingdom governs the ability to drive under the influence of alcohol and other intoxicating substances.
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[edit] Offences
There are three main types of drink driving offences:
- Driving or attempting to drive a vehicle over the permitted limit or whilst unfit through drink or drugs.
- Being in charge of a vehicle over the permitted limit.
- Failing to provide a roadside test or an evidential specimen.
If the police stop a driver and they suspect that they may have been drinking, they will be asked to take a screening roadside test. If this is positive or if they fail, for whatever reason, to give one, they will be arrested and taken to a police station where they will be required to provide a sample of breath to find out the precise amount of alcohol in their system. Persons asked to provide a breath sample have no entitlement to legal advice before they provide evidential specimens; any delay can be taken as a refusal. They may be allowed a telephone call to a solicitor of their choice, or a duty solicitor, at the discretion of the custody sergeant.
The legal limit in breath is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, although a person will not be prosecuted unless they reach 40 or more. The limit for blood is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. If a breath sample contains between 40 and 50 micrograms per 100ml, they are entitled to ask for a blood or urine specimen to be taken to check the accuracy of the machine.
If the evidential breath specimen is over the legal limit, the driver is charged and bailed to attend court. Alternatively, if an analysis of the blood or urine sample is necessary, then the sample will be sent off and they will be bailed to go back to the police station at a later date.
For lower readings, the driver will normally receive a fine with a minimum disqualification of 12 months. If they are over 85 micrograms in breath, the magistrates will actively consider a community order which could involve unpaid work, supervision, curfew, or treatment if they suffer from an alcohol problem. If the reading is over 115 micrograms, or if they have a history of drink driving, then the Court will actively consider prison as an option. If the court is persuaded that they are a suitable candidate for a drink drive awareness course, then their disqualification may be discounted by up to 25%.
For a reading twice the legal limit, a ban of 18 months is the norm. In addition, the offender will have a criminal conviction and their motor insurance will become more expensive.[citation needed]
There are special provisions that relate to repeat offenders and/or those with very high readings with the court being required to impose minimum bans of three years and/or revoking their licence until they have passed a medical and/or a driving test.
[edit] Statistics
On average, 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in drink-drive collisions in Great Britain. Nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit.[citation needed]
Drinking and driving occurs across a wide range of age groups but particularly among young men aged 17-29 in both casualties and positive breath tests following a collision. When the Government first published statistics in 1979, 1,640 people were killed in drink-related crashes. Figures, from 2003, show that some 560 people were killed in crashes in which a driver was over the legal limit.[citation needed] The latest figures from 2007 show that out of a total of 2946 people killed on the UKs roads , 460 (16%) were as a result of drink driving.[1]
[edit] Being 'in charge' of a vehicle
There are various charges relating to being in charge of a vehicle, but not driving or attempting to drive it. Being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle is covered by the Road Traffic Act 1988.[2] The law states that a person is deemed to be responsible for the vehicle if they are in possession of the key to the said vehicle. These offences do not carry mandatory disqualification, although the penalties can still be severe. The onus is on the suspect to prove that they had no intention of driving. The car does not have to be in motion and they don't have to be sat at the wheel. Whether a person is in charge is a matter of fact and degree, but there are two distinct classes of cases:
- If the defendant was the owner or lawful possessor and had recently driven the vehicle, he would be in charge and the question would be whether he was still in charge or had relinquished his charge.
- If the defendant was not the owner, lawful possessor or recent driver, but was sitting in the vehicle or otherwise involved with it, the question was whether he had assumed being in charge.
The police often take a very broad view of attempting to drive. For example, if a suspect's car is parked in the street, they are committing an offence if they touch it while over the drink-drive limit. They should certainly not, for example, help to push it away from blocking a driveway[3]
[edit] Police procedure
After the initial roadside test, a suspect arrested on suspicion of driving whilst drunk will be conveyed to a police station where the custody sergeant will ask the suspect a number of questions. They will be given the option of providing a sample of blood or urine in place of a breath sample. If they elect to provide a further sample of breath, this will be done on an Evidential Breath Machine (EBM) which will give a numeric reading. Two samples will be taken of which the lower reading will be counted. If this is in excess of 40 micrograms, the suspect will be charged (if intoxicated, it is likely the suspect will be kept in custody for several hours and charged when sober) and either bailed to attend court or remanded in custody until the court hearing.
If the suspect is to be charged, they will have the charges of driving whilst over the prescribed limit, and driving with no valid insurance read out to them and they will be cautioned about saying anything which may later be used in evidence (the charge of no insurance is also made as car insurance policies in the UK have clauses stating they will not indemnify a drunk driver). They will usually then be bailed to attend at court on a specified date. Offenders are not usually be allowed to drive from the station (as they would most likely be committing another offence), but they are free to drive until the date of the hearing, when any ban that may be imposed would then come into immediate effect.[citation needed]
To stop intoxicated drivers from driving again while still over the limit, the police may keep them at the police station for some time. In some cases this can mean a night in police custody. Once the suspect has been released from the police station, they will be expected to make their own way home at their own expense, and also to retrieve their vehicle.
[edit] Magistrates sentencing guidelines
When drink drive offenders appear before a Magistrates Court, the Magistrates have guidelines they refer too before they decide on a suitable sentence to give the offender. These guidelines are issued by the Sentencing Guidelines Council [4] and cover offences for which sentence is frequently imposed in a magistrates’ court when dealing with adult offenders.
Offences can either be tried summarily which means they can only be heard in the magistrates court or they can be either way offences which means magistrates may find their sentencing powers are insufficient and indict the case to crown court. The majority of drink driving offences are summary only offences which can only be tried in a magistrates court. Only the most serious offences such as where there is evidence of dangerous driving or there is a death involved are indicted to crown court.[citation needed] The maximum sentence magistrates can usually impose is a £5,000 fine and/or a six month prison sentence.
