As of 5th December 2014 the drink Drive limit has now been lowered in Scotland. The current amount of alcohol you are allowed to have in your system whilst driving is as follows:
– 22mg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath
– 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood
– or 67 mg of alcohol in 100ml of urine.
This change in the law means that it is now possible to be over the limit simply by drinking a glass of wine or a pint of beer.
- FAILING TO PROVIDE A SPECIMEN
- HIP FLASK DEFENCE
- DRUNK IN CHARGE OF A VEHICLE
- UNFIT THROUGH DRINK OR DRUGS
- DRINK DRIVERS REHABILITATION PROGRAMME
IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT YOU ARE LEGALLY OBLIGED TO PROVIDE THIS SPECIMEN OF BREATH, BLOOD OR URINE WHEN REQUIRED BY THE POLICE OFFICERS. REFUSAL EITHER AT THE ROADSIDE OR THE POLICE STATION WITHOUT REASONABLE EXCUSE IS AN OFFENCE FOR WHICH YOU CAN BE FINED, DISQUALIFIED FROM DRIVING AND DEPENDING ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND ANY PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS YOU HAVE ALREADY YOU COULD FACE A PRISON SENTENCE.
If you are unable to provide the sample requested by the police you should make this clear to the police at the time. For example if you have a medical condition that prevents you from providing the sample. It is a defence to a charge of failing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine that you had a reasonable excuse for doing so. Again for this reason if you are charged with failing to provide a specimen you should seek advice immediately. This way any relevant evidence that would be needed for your defence can be secured.
Whilst on most occasions you will be stopped and breathlysed at the side of the road, the situation sometimes occurs whereby you are approached by the police and required to provide a specimen of breath sometime after it is alleged you have been driving.
For example, a couple are walking along the street at 8 pm. They see you exit a pub go into your car and drive off. Your demeanour leads them to suspect that you may have been drinking. They note your registration number and call the police. The police run a check on your vehicle and trace it to your address. They make a requirement of you to name the driver at the time the vehicle was driven. Having confirmed you were the driver they ask you to provide a specimen of breath. By this time it is 9.30pm. If this is positive the same procedure above will be carried out and you will most likely be charged with drink driving. By law, the volume of alcohol in your system at the time you were driving is deemed to have been at least that which it is when you are breathlysed.
Now it may be the case that you were drinking soft drinks in the pub, or only had a small amount of alcohol whilst you were there. Not enough to put you over the limit. You then drove home and having parked up for the night started to have a drink in the house.
If this is the case or you find yourself in a similar position you may have a defence of post incident drinking or the “hip flask” defence. It is for the defence to establish this and if it is to be established it will require a detailed analysis by a toxicologist.
THEREFORE IF YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THIS POSITION YOU MUST AT THE TIME MAKE A NOTE OF YOUR HEIGHT AND WEIGHT, ANYTHING YOU HAD TO EAT OR DRINK BEFORE YOU DROVE FOR AT LEAST A 24 HOUR PERIOD IF POSSIBLE AND ANY ALCOHOL YOU HAD TO DRINK, WHEN YOU HAD IT IN WHAT MEASURE AND WHAT STRENGTH IT WAS.
As stated earlier you can be charged with driving or attempting to drive a vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol. You can also however, be charged with being in charge of a vehicle whilst drunk. This offence again carries penalties ranging from a fine and 10 points on your licence to a discretionary disqualification and potentially up to 3 month in prison. This charge usually occurs when you are found within a stationary vehicle under the influence.
It is a defence to this charge that there was no likelihood of you driving the vehicle before you were under the limit again. Again it is for the defence to establish this and in most cases a toxicologist will have to be instructed to give evidence.
If you are disqualified from driving your ban can be reduced if the court allows you to take part in the Drink Driver Rehabilitation programme. It is at the discretion of the court whether they allow you to take part in this and if so, how much of a discount you will receive on your ban. It can however be as much as a third off.
Drink Driving procedure is a very complex matter with very specific and detailed procedure that must be followed by the police. It is not always the case that if you are charged with drink driving a conviction is inevitable. The Prosecution must be able to prove the case against you and this is not always as simple as it may seem.