Drink driving

[castlewright]

I need to know how I stand. After driving home after drinking and parking the car outside my garage I then switch off the engine of my car so that I could open the garage door and then promptly drove my car into the garage. I suspect that the police may have witness me driving my car into my garage. The total distance of travel is 6 metres.
Once I closed the garage door is was called over by the police officer and was asked if I had been drinking for which I replied yes.
The measure of alcohol in my breath read 113.
My question is can I be charged for drink driving as I was not stopped by the police officer whilst I was driving my car into the garage?

 

[merlin]

I need to know how I stand. After driving home after drinking and parking the car outside my garage I then switch off the engine of my car so that I could open the garage door and then promptly drove my car into the garage. I suspect that the police may have witness me driving my car into my garage. The total distance of travel is 6 metres.
Once I closed the garage door is was called over by the police officer and was asked if I had been drinking for which I replied yes.
The measure of alcohol in my breath read 113.
My question is can I be charged for drink driving as I was not stopped by the police officer whilst I was driving my car into the garage?

I dont know if you can actually be charged with drink driving although I presume you can seen as you were actually driving the vehicle and if this can be proved then you were drink driving regardless of whether it was 6 metres or 60. Although Im no expert.

I can remember when I was on the drink driving awareness course, we learned this scenario.

You are in the house having a few drinks after a hard day. You left something in the car which is parked outside. You get your car keys, go out to your car to retrieve it. You put the key into the lock to open the car and retrieve what you left inside. Next minute the police are there, they were parked just down the road. They perhaps thought u were staggering or had some other suspicion they thought they would investigate. They smell alcohol on you, you tell them you werent intending to drive but just retrieving something out of the car. Technically they can charge you with being in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through alcohol even though you had no intention to drive and were just getting something from the boot. Ludicrous? maybe. Highly unlikely also but technically it can happen.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

The Prosecution need to prove that you drove your vehicle whilst over the prescribed limit and if they can do so then you can be convicted of driving with excess alcohol.

If you plead guilty you need to be aware that a ban is mandatory unless you can prove to the Court that special reasons exist that relate to the offence and not to you.


You are likely to be sentenced to a ban of 23 - 28 months from the reading that you have outlined. This presupposes that you intend to plead guilty to the offence with which you are charged. A Community Penalty is also likely to be imposed. However, if the Court considered the offence to be more serious then it could impose a custodial sentence.


The Court can deviate from this suggestion depending on how they view the case as a whole. Therefore it ultimately depends on how your case is presented to the Court. This is where having a Solicitor can minimise the damage to your driving licence and achieve a shorter ban.


Should you require a Solicitor it is important to instruct one as early as possible. Drink Driving law is a highly specialised area of law. As such, you are best to seek the services of an expert motoring lawyer in order to maximise your prospects of success. This is particularly so if a ban would result in you losing your job or would impact on your livelihood. A conviction would also be a criminal one.


Whilst you may be able to use a duty solicitor at Court, their services are not guaranteed. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough to speak to one you may only get 5 - 10 minutes at most and you will have no control over the skill or expertise of the duty solicitor at Court that day.


The police frequently make errors in the procedure, either at the road side or at the police station. We have dealt with situations like yours before with success and are able to offer advice on whether the procedure was followed correctly with a view to persuading the Court to rule you breath sample as inadmissible.


We offer 2 levels of service to people who are considering challenging the case against them:


(1) A written opinion on your prospects of success and the defences that can and should be run in your case. This is often used by people who would like to represent themselves or who would like the benefit of our expertise and intend to use a less experienced and cheaper solicitor.


(2) Full representation to trial. If you were successful you would be entitled to reimbursement of your legal fees paid subject to taxation.
If you wanted to proceed further then we would invite you to contact us in order to discuss matters further.


If you require our assistance please do not hesitate to telephone us.