are we ignoring the dangers of driving drunk?
The number of drink-drive arrests in the first five days of
Thames Valley Police's festive campaign has almost doubled from the
same period last year. A total of 52 people have been
arrested since
the campaign
began on 1
December. There were 27 arrests in the same period in
2009. According to Thames
Valley Police 45 of
the people arrested were men and seven were women. They
have ranged in age from 17 to 70 years old.
The Police are understandably very
concerned about these figures. For the first time for many
years there will not be a drink drive awareness campaign on
television.
It is still very important that motorists
know their limits. At this
time of year, when thoughts turn to parties and celebrations, it is
easy to lose sight of how much alcohol has been consumed and how
this equates to the legal drink-drive limit.
We imagine that the vast majority of
drivers are not scientists and do not therefore appreciate how much
they have had to drink in terms of units, let alone how those units
relate to the legal drink-drive limit. It is even harder, to
know one's elimination rate, ie the rate at which an
individual loses alcohol from their bloodstream. The legal
limit is 35mg/100ml of breath.
As a rough guide, one unit of alcohol
is the equivalent of 8 mg in breath. However this will vary
depending on a persons age, sex, build and drinking
habits. One unit of alcohol is the equivalent of a
small 125ml glass of standard strength wine or half a pint of
regular strength lager. We would therefore advise extreme
caution when consuming
alcohol.
The better and safer course of action
is to avoid alcohol altogether if driving is being
contemplated. Motorists should be aware that drinks are
stronger now than in years gone by and larger measures are
widely available. This increases the amount of alcohol that a
motorist has actually consumed. It is also important for
motorists to remember that even though they may have taken a taxi
home the night before, they could still be over the limit the
following morning (see elimination rates above). Once again we
would advise extreme caution.
The Motoring
Offences team at Blake Lapthorn has represented many
individuals in Magistrates courts throughout England and Wales who
actually made provision to get alternative transport home after a
night out and thought that they would be safe to drive below the
legal limit the following morning or later the following
day. Their miscalculation has resulted in arrest, detention at
the police station and an appearance before the Magistrates.
The consequences are serious. The
offence of drink driving carries a mandatory ban from driving for
at least 12 months, a fine or community penalty or in the worst
case a custodial penalty. A criminal record makes for a very
unwelcome Christmas present - we imagine that this would be the
last thing anybody would want for Christmas.
Motorists should be aware that the
punishment will in many cases continue even after leaving
court. How many of us require our driving licences in order
to work and how many of us would lose that same job were we to be
disqualified from driving for more than a year? Sadly the
firm's Motoring Offences team
has represented many individuals for whom this is a
reality. If the worst should happen though then it is
important to seek professional advice about what to do next.
In many of cases a powerful letter from the motorist's employer has
made a real difference to the length of disqualification
imposed. However the safer course of action for all concerned
is to exercise great caution and avoid drinking alcohol
altogether in the days following the festivities in
question.
View further information on drink
driving offences.
