Just got caught on Saturday

Convicted Driver Insurance

eggyfried

New Member
Hi i was leaving a party in the morning thinking i was ok when i blew a tyre. I phoned the RAC who then contacted the police suggesting i was under the influence. When i returned home the police were waiting and i was over the limit on the breathalyzer and taken off to the station. Im in Scotland, I blew 72 and the limit is 22 which seems bad to me but 1 beer puts you over the limit these days so i dont know what type of fine/community sentence/ban/imprisonment to expect.

Please help me, i suffer from Paranoid Schizophrenia and this isnt helping my mental state.
 
There are no actual guidelines for the Judge to follow in Scotland as to the length of the ban to impose although the minimum, like England, is 12 months.
when the legal limit was reduced in Scotland they did not reduce the minimum ban.
In England you would expect a ban of 17-22 months for a reading of 72.
The ban can be reduced by up to 25% if you are offered, and accept, the opportunity to attend a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course during your ban. You have to pay for this but the opportunity of driving earlier usually far outweighs this cost.
There will be a fine to pay as well, which will be based on your income.
You are unlikely to get Community Service for a reading of 72, and definitely not a custodial sentence.
 
Hi i was leaving a party in the morning thinking i was ok when i blew a tyre. I phoned the RAC who then contacted the police suggesting i was under the influence. When i returned home the police were waiting and i was over the limit on the breathalyzer and taken off to the station. Im in Scotland, I blew 72 and the limit is 22 which seems bad to me but 1 beer puts you over the limit these days so i dont know what type of fine/community sentence/ban/imprisonment to expect.

Please help me, i suffer from Paranoid Schizophrenia and this isnt helping my mental state.

I think the system here is unfair. In Republic of Ireland the breath limit is 20 like in Scotland but if your under 35 mg its only a fine and penalty points and discretionary ban.
If you're between 35 and 60 mg its a fine, points and 6 month ban. In Ireland You have to be over 60mg to be summoned to court, get a driving ban, fine and criminal record.

The problem in Scotland and the rest of UK is people are being criminalised whilst not much over the limit which affects employment opportunities, working with children and travel to the US. I think court appearance should be only over 60 mg.
 
I am not sure how this helps the poster of this thread, because with a reading of 72 he is above what you suggest as the threshold for a court appearance anyway.
The figures that have been quoted for Ireland are not correct, there is a link below that shows what the actual limits and punishments are. I was part of the early discussions in advising the Irish government on the best way to proceed with reviewing their drink drive laws.
They quote blood readings, but in breath it is equivalent to a reading of 22-35 resulting in a fine and 3 points, 35-44 resulting in a 6 month ban and above 44 resulting in a court appearance and a 1 year ban, 44-67 is a 2 year ban and above that a 3 year ban.
The option of points is only available once in a 3 year period, and the readings and punishments are greater for new drivers in their first 2 years. So, yes, Ireland is a bit softer but not by much, and at the higher end they give out greater punishments than in the UK.

It seems inevitable that we will also reduce our legal limit to 50 in blood, (22 in breath) and there will be a debate as to the suitable punishment for breaking the new lower limit. On a personal note, I feel that the current minimum 12 months ban is too harsh for the lower limit because the risk to other motorists is lower than at the current limit, but I think that the Government will follow the Scottish model and leave the 12 month ban in place for the lower limit. There is no chance that the legal limit will come down, but the threashold for court will be raised to 60.

http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/16883/
 
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