Advice on Drink Driving Allegations

If you have been caught drink driving, you may fear that there are no options available to you. However, the sooner you speak to a solicitor about the allegations made against you, the sooner we will be able to mount a defence against the charges. The expert solicitors at JMW have outstanding knowledge on the legislation regarding drink driving law.

To get in touch with our specialists, call 0345 872 6666 or complete our online enquiry form and let us know a suitable time to get in touch with you.

If you want to get an idea of what penalty you could be facing for a drink driving offence, use our Drink Driving Penalty Calculator.

About Drink Driving Limits

Section 5 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it a criminal offence to drive or attempt to drive a motor vehicle on a road or other public place after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in a person’s breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit.

In the UK, the current prescribed drink drive limit is:

• 35mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath
• 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood
• 107mg of alcohol in 100ml of urine

To give you an idea of the penalty you could be facing for a drink driving offence, use the calculator below:

Obtaining a Conviction

A police officer may ask anyone to take a preliminary breath test at the roadside if they have reasonable cause to suspect that they are under the influence of alcohol and have committed a motoring traffic offence, have been in an accident or are the person driving, attempting to drive or in charge of the vehicle on the road or in a public place, such as a car park.

If a person is suspected of drink driving and/or fails the preliminary roadside breath test, they will be placed under arrest and transferred to a police station where they will be required to provide two evidential breath specimens for analysis.

Once two satisfactory breath specimens have been obtained and both show readings of above 50mg, the police will normally charge a person with the offence of drink driving and bail them to appear at their local Magistrates’ Court at a later date. There can sometimes be a matter of only a few days between the arrest date and the first court hearing, so it is imperative that you contact a lawyer as soon as possible following an accusation of drink driving.

The police will always require a person to provide two evidential specimens of breath for analysis, unless one of the following exceptions applies:

• The breath testing machine is unavailable, not working or unreliable
• The accused has been involved in an accident and has been taken to hospital
• The officer suspects that the accused has a medical reason as to why they are unable to provide a specimen of breath

Under these circumstances, the officer may require a person to provide a sample of either blood or urine.

If one or more of the breath readings obtained is 50mg or below, but in excess of the legal limit of 35mg, procedure dictates that the officer must provide a person with the option to replace their breath specimens with either a sample of blood or urine.

Why Choose JMW?

JMW’s motoring offence solicitors are experts in drink driving law and are able to provide legal advice and representation in respect of any offences. We understand the impact a motoring conviction can have on your life and will do our utmost to reduce the outcome of your case so you can continue working and caring for your family.