Licence refused, how to prove no alcohol for a year?

Convicted Driver Insurance
I have sadly fallen in the category of being labelled alcohol dependant or a alcohol misuser after being convicted of drink driving in February 2019. Because my lower reading was 113, I fall into the HRO category.

I have been dry now for ten months and I have ensured my sobriety has been documented with my GP. My plan is to get over 12 months of not touching any alcohol when I attend my medical which will be around October time.

The way I see it is this - even if you have a thimble of whiskey to nurse a cold during the winter or take a sip of wine during a church communion service, if you declare this on the DVLA form then your licence will be gone quicker than Kelly Holmes!

I had a really bad time with depression & I used alcohol as a crutch prior to my arrest. I never say never where alcohol is concerned - I can't say I will never ever have a glass of ice cold lager on a hot sunny day again or enjoy a glass of red wine with a steak meal ever. My goal is to stay off alcohol until my medical is done then take it from there....

One thing that drink driving has taught me is that I will never ever put myself in this position again. Even if I did fall off the wagon further down the line, I would never even contemplate going anywhere near the car! The thought of being in a police cell for X number of hours is enough to discourage me from ever doing this.

If I ever did find myself having a cheeky drink I would never declare this to the DVLA. I do think the experience of being a drink driver has made me face up to my problems. They say the issue with alcoholism is the person & not the alcohol.

As I have already emphasised - if you have had even one unit of alcohol do not tell the DVLA!!!

CJ
 
pardon my french but holy shit!!!! i am so glad i came back on here to check this, i have been drinking but not badly but i will be telling them now i am 100% abstaining , if i do this on the form but have no medical evidence to back this up what will happen?
 
i honestly can not believe how bad their system is, its putting good people under so much strain they are more likely to have a drink
these calls must be recorded , i was specifically told all i had to do was follow safe drinking guidelines, i know they ask some people to abstain for a further 12 months but i thought it was different case to case, it doesnt say on the letter i relieved when i got it back that i had to carry on abstaining
 
Johnny

The DVLA is a black/white organisation - there are no grey areas or room for allowances/flexibility. It would appear that as a result of the Glasgow bin wagon tragedy in 2014, the DVLA are quite robust towards anyone with any history of alcohol dependency/misuse.

I'm potentially going to be in a cycle now of having to renew my licence every year until the end of 2026 because I am a convicted HRO.

Every year I will have to declare I have not consumed one single of unit of alcohol. I am more than confident that I will attend my first medical in October/November having not touched alcohol for well over a year.

However, there are no guarantees I will have abstained from alcohol by the time I do my second medical in late 2021. I will be putting zeros on any declaration of alcohol consumption indefinitely now.

There is an old saying - honesty can actually do you more harm than good in certain situations. I always look at the bigger picture and consider this - how many people on the UK roads have unreported conditions that the DVLA are aware of?

I have at least five family members who drive but suffer from the following - diabetes caused by obesity, heart problems, a recent hip replacement, poor eye sight & insomnia. All these are notifiable conditions to the DVLA but how many of my family members have actually told the DVLA of their health issues? I don't think I need to answer that one do I?

My point is the following - by not declaring any alcohol consumption, is this no different to what my family members are doing?

CJ
 
oh also i was told they wouldn't ask me to take another CDT test is this correct?

Just to answer this, you can be asked to take another medical at each renewal which will include a CDT test. If your CDT is over 1% or 1.1% you will be refused a renewal if you've been deemed dependent as over these figures indicate alcohol consumption.
 
Grice96

I always look at the worst case scenario & for me it is having to do a medical every year until at least 2026 just to keep my licence!

I will have no issue whatsoever attending a medical and having a blood test - it is unlikely I will ever consume alcohol for the foreseeable future anyway. The point I was making is that none of us can ever say we can never touch alcohol again & I'm sure many convicted HRO's do go back to safe/sensible/controlled drinking and keep their CDT readings low. My original point is that when you are in the six year cycle - you cannot ever disclose to the DVLA having one unit!!!!

CJ
 
Grice96

I always look at the worst case scenario & for me it is having to do a medical every year until at least 2026 just to keep my licence!

I will have no issue whatsoever attending a medical and having a blood test - it is unlikely I will ever consume alcohol for the foreseeable future anyway. The point I was making is that none of us can ever say we can never touch alcohol again & I'm sure many convicted HRO's do go back to safe/sensible/controlled drinking and keep their CDT readings low. My original point is that when you are in the six year cycle - you cannot ever disclose to the DVLA having one unit!!!!

CJ

Completely understand that mate, come August time I'll be 2 years sober. Right up until about 6 months ago I always said the same as yourself, that I could not guarantee that I would never touch a drop again. When I used to think of alcohol my head always went to the good times and the fun I had, can't put my finger on it but something changed about 6 months ago and now when I think about alcohol or catch a whiff of one of my mates beers I instead go straight to thinking about the bad times which has put me off the idea. That been said I can't guarantee that I will never relapse, no one can guarantee that. As they say, you just take it a day at a time.

I'm a worst case scenario thinker too so I'm also prepared for the hurdle of a medical at every renewal. I agree, if you slip up and have 1 beer this shouldn't be grounds to be revoked, you have to play the game with the DVLA.
 
Just use common sense and if you do have a glass of wine with a meal at home or a cold beer on a summers day in the garden during this lock down then say nothing to the DVLA (SIMPLE) If your on a year on the wagon to get your licence back as i am then the only one that will get punished is yourself. This does not mean i am saying to drink but a lapse does not mean you should be punished. DVLA are a nightmare to deal with under any circumstances.
 
Someone said that 0.0% CDT was not possible.

Please find a scientific study attached that looks at the increase in CDT with a controlled level of alcohol. Please note that some of the volunteers started at a level of 0.0%

If you have any medical or scientific evidence stating that 0.0% is not achievable, please do share it to this thread. Thanks
 

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Someone said that 0.0% CDT was not possible.

Please find a scientific study attached that looks at the increase in CDT with a controlled level of alcohol. Please note that some of the volunteers started at a level of 0.0%

If you have any medical or scientific evidence stating that 0.0% is not achievable, please do share it to this thread. Thanks
Get a grip buddy as that makes no difference to the Dvla what so ever. Below 0.9 and your safe end of story.
 
Its all over this forum and some of the guys who have given you the advise are in the legal DD side and also addiction side so make a living (good) so they know what is what. I have been though what you are going through also. A reading below 0.9 is way below the required reading.Look around the forum
 
Its all over this forum and some of the guys who have given you the advise are in the legal DD side and also addiction side so make a living (good) so they know what is what. I have been though what you are going through also. A reading below 0.9 is way below the required reading.Look around the forum
Thanks for the link, I have read that page before. I'm aware of the traffic light system.

But there are areas that are not clear. You said 0.9%. Someone else has said 1% and 1.1 %.

So, where are these different numbers coming from? Is one of these numbers expected as a result (or below) after you have told DVLA that you have abstained for 1yr?

I'm not a HRO.
I failed my 3 year disability licence due to excess alcohol in my system. My concern is how low the number they expect after 1yr abstinence. Andy
 
I use 0.9 because i was 1.9 on my last one hence the year off the booze. Fact you failed due to excess alcohol would put you in that bracket. Aim for 1.1 and below and your fine. There is sections on here somewhere in more details but not got the time to look just now. Honestman or grice will know without even looking
 
Thanks for the link, I have read that page before. I'm aware of the traffic light system.

But there are areas that are not clear. You said 0.9%. Someone else has said 1% and 1.1 %.

So, where are these different numbers coming from? Is one of these numbers expected as a result (or below) after you have told DVLA that you have abstained for 1yr?

I'm not a HRO.
I failed my 3 year disability licence due to excess alcohol in my system. My concern is how low the number they expect after 1yr abstinence. Andy
I think you are worrying unnecessarily, you abstain for a year, have a test and get the result. It isn’t anything you can train for, like practising the high jump to achieve the Olympic standard, after a year of abstinence there is nothing else you can have done to affect the CDT result..... it is what it is. Don’t forget to have regular check with your GP through the year as well, this all builds the picture that you have Been abstaining.
you have shown the test results from a research project that showed a couple of the participants at a baseline of 0% CDT.
That research was from 1994, and since then the analysis has become far more accurate so I doubt that would be replicated. Based on experience of drink drivers through courses and on here, I cannot recall anyone reporting having a result of less that 0.7%.
 
I think you are worrying unnecessarily, you abstain for a year, have a test and get the result. It isn’t anything you can train for, like practising the high jump to achieve the Olympic standard, after a year of abstinence there is nothing else you can have done to affect the CDT result..... it is what it is. Don’t forget to have regular check with your GP through the year as well, this all builds the picture that you have Been abstaining.
you have shown the test results from a research project that showed a couple of the participants at a baseline of 0% CDT.
That research was from 1994, and since then the analysis has become far more accurate so I doubt that would be replicated. Based on experience of drink drivers through courses and on here, I cannot recall anyone reporting having a result of less that 0.7%.
Thanks for info. For your records, I did achieve a 0.6% March 2019.

I guess I'm just surprised by DVLA.
If they ask an individual to abstain for 1 year and they then produce a CDT of 0.7% that they would issue a licence!
 
I think you are worrying unnecessarily, you abstain for a year, have a test and get the result. It isn’t anything you can train for, like practising the high jump to achieve the Olympic standard, after a year of abstinence there is nothing else you can have done to affect the CDT result..... it is what it is. Don’t forget to have regular check with your GP through the year as well, this all builds the picture that you have Been abstaining.
you have shown the test results from a research project that showed a couple of the participants at a baseline of 0% CDT.
That research was from 1994, and since then the analysis has become far more accurate so I doubt that would be replicated. Based on experience of drink drivers through courses and on here, I cannot recall anyone reporting having a result of less that 0.7%.
P
price what is the lower levels they like to see under ?? I came in at 1.8 i think it was but past history so there contacted my doctor
 
Weavand is right when he says that there are different % CDT figures with DVLA.
The official stance is that for HRO, 3% or above is a fail
2.3-2.9% is refer for further information
Under that is OK.
(Incidentally, when research assessments are being carried out on alcohol dependent people who claim be abstaining, they use the cut off point at 1.6% to indicate that they are back on the waggon to some extent.)

BUT of late they have changed the goalposts . For HRO they generally do write to your GP regardless of your CDT result.
If there is any history of alcohol misuse on your files, they want to see abstinence for 6 months if it is called misuse, or 12 months abstinence if it is called dependence or you have been in detox.
Then they want to see test results for LFT at regular intervals through your GP, and then DVLA get you to have a CDT test where they look for the result to be..... well I have seen it described as a maximum of 1%, or under 1% - which is why I tend to say 0/9%. Above that, or in Weavands case, an admission of drinking alcohol, means that you fail.
 
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