Very worried- first offence- accident caused

[pauljames]

It was my first offence, I drank quite a lot the night before but felt fine when I drove the next day (12) hours later. I had booked the day off work but my boss called about 11 am and asked me to pop into work. I set off to work and had a collision with someone on the way. They were not hurt at all and didn't attend hospital but I was hurt and was in hospital, they did a blood test about 5 hours after the crash. I know I will probably be over the limit but I am really worried about going to prison. I drive for a living and have a clean license, I would never do this intentionally. I have mental health issues at the moment too and have been referred back to the psych ward, I had a panic attack at the wheel and lost control. I can't afford a solicitor and just want people's advice/reassurance, I know I did wrong and will accept my punishment. (I don't have blood test results back yet, I gave my consent to test them 3 weeks ago)

 

[Forum Moderator]

It was my first offence, I drank quite a lot the night before but felt fine when I drove the next day (12) hours later. I had booked the day off work but my boss called about 11 am and asked me to pop into work. I set off to work and had a collision with someone on the way. They were not hurt at all and didn't attend hospital but I was hurt and was in hospital, they did a blood test about 5 hours after the crash. I know I will probably be over the limit but I am really worried about going to prison. I drive for a living and have a clean license, I would never do this intentionally. I have mental health issues at the moment too and have been referred back to the psych ward, I had a panic attack at the wheel and lost control. I can't afford a solicitor and just want people's advice/reassurance, I know I did wrong and will accept my punishment. (I don't have blood test results back yet, I gave my consent to test them 3 weeks ago)

The sentence you receive upon conviction of driving with excess alcohol, if your blood test result proves that you were over the legal limit, will be largely dependent on the level of alcohol in your system at the time of the alleged offence. You can view the sentencing guidelines here.

Magistrates will take into account any mitigating and aggravating factors surrounding the case before passing sentence. As you were involved in an accident, this will be seen as an aggravating factor which can only go towards increasing any sentence imposed. If no serious injury was caused to anyone, the accident was relatively minor and the level of alcohol in your system, according to your blood test results did not exceed 276 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (the level at which Magistrates consider custody) then it is highly unlikely you will receive a custodial sentence.

Let us know how you get on and the outcome of your blood test results.

 

[JammyGit]

How much did you have to drink? You can work out the units and then estimate how much you might have had left in your system after 17 hours. 80% of people convicted are caught the next morning because they don't feel like they're over the limit.