drink driving collision

Convicted Driver Insurance

simu123

New Member
i crashed into the back of a car and police arrived and done a roadside breathalyser test which was at 65 and i was arrested and taken to hospital where i had a blood test 7 hours after my last drink
will the alcohol be out of my blood cos it took so long
wil i have to pay for the damages since i was drunk drving
 
Hey simu123,

You said you had a blood test 7 hours after your last drink. How long after the roadside breathalyser reading of 65 did you have the blood test? It's hard to even guess if we don't know that information.

You could have had your last drink 6 hours before you drove, been breathalysed at 65, taken to hospital and had bloods taken 30 minutes later. Which would be massively different if you had your last drnk 2 minutes before you got in your car, was breathalysed and then spent 6+ hours in hospital before they took bloods. Of course all this could mean nothing if they decide to do back calculations...

Also, you say you're a new driver (on the other thread). How long have you held your licence?
 
my blood test was done around 4 hours after my breathalyser and the breathalyser was done around 3 hours after my last drink and i’ve only had my licence nearly 2 months
 
simu123 said:
aviva
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Check your policy documents but from the one I can find online, it states -

“Any accident, injury, loss or damage which happened whilst you or any persons insured to drive your vehicle as named on your certificate of motor insurance was driving your vehicle and was arrested and charged with:
  • being over the legal limit for alcohol or drugs
  • driving whilst unfit through alcohol or drugs, whether prescribed or otherwise
  • failing to provide a sample of breath, blood or urine when required to do so, without lawful reason

If convicted of any of these offences, our liability under Section 2, will be restricted to meeting obligations under the Road Traffic Acts. In those circumstances we will recover from you and/or the person insured driving your vehicle all sums paid in respect of any claim arising from the accident.”

It’s worth pointing out here that you will not have any cover for your own vehicle - if it’s been damaged you will have to pay to fix it yourself. And to answer your question - yes, the policy states you will have to pay for all costs and damages related to the incident.

How badly damaged was the car you hit? Were there any people in the car who might be pursuing personal injury claims? Were you the policyholder or a named driver?

You mention you’ve only had your licence a few months so I assume you are quite young. I was a teenager when convicted for several offences and had a very bad crash with my insurers coming after me. After 6 years they went away and I never paid a thing. Every case is different and you certainly can’t rely on the same outcome as myself or on it being an easy ride, however, try not to panic as nothing is going to suddenly happen over night or in any dramatic fashion.

[Edit]
 
i hit the back of there car but i don’t think the damage was that bad on their car compared to my own but im not the policy holder or owner of the car im juss a additional driver. but the problem is i dont have enough money to pay for the damages of their car let alone my own
 
simu123 said:
i hit the back of there car but i don’t think the damage was that bad on their car compared to my own but im not the policy holder or owner of the car im juss a additional driver. but the problem is i dont have enough money to pay for the damages of their car let alone my own
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I assume it’s a family member/parent’s car and insurance policy?

That’s good the damage on their car isn’t that bad. It means it’s unlikely to be an expensive claim. It’s worth noting the insurer will pay this so you don’t need to scramble expecting to have to pay this in the immediate days/weeks. You, as well as whoever is the policyholder, are likely to receive correspondence from Aviva requesting payment once the claim is settled.

I haven’t heard much about Aviva re claiming costs back from drink drivers and expect them to be less militant about it in comparison to other insurers but that’s just an assumption on my part. There’s other threads on this forum which give good advice for challenging costs and dealing with these types of things. It’s worth waiting to see the final cost and taking things from there once you get the letter rather than panicking now.

In terms of the damage to the vehicle you were driving it’s going to have to be something you sort out with the owner unfortunately. I empathise with you as I wrote my dad’s car off. It is a very unpleasant experience to be living through but it does get significantly better and is often not as bad as what you initially think it will be.
 
Sorry I got distracted by the insurance aspect and completely forgot to add this in and caveat everything I’ve said above - there is a good chance you will not end up being charged at all. Given the amount of time elapsed between the accident and your bloods being taken you may very well be under. If you aren’t charged you obviously will not have any liability in terms of costs.

If bloods are under the police are usually reluctant to order back calculations to prove you were over the limit at the time of the offence due to the fact they are so costly, especially when the incident is fairly minor and nobody has been injured.
 
Bad_karma said:
Sorry I got distracted by the insurance aspect and completely forgot to add this in and caveat everything I’ve said above - there is a good chance you will not end up being charged at all. Given the amount of time elapsed between the accident and your bloods being taken you may very well be under. If you aren’t charged you obviously will not have any liability in terms of costs.

If bloods are under the police are usually reluctant to order back calculations to prove you were over the limit at the time of the offence due to the fact they are so costly, especially when the incident is fairly minor and nobody has been injured.
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do u reckon it could be under if i done my bloods 4 hours after my breathalyser which was at 65
 
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