Has anyone used a specialist DD solicitor?

Convicted Driver Insurance

Drew B

Well Known Member
Hello All

My first post here as I am going mental crazy due to DD and have been trawling this great site for some support. First offence in 25 years driving.

8.30am I was involved in a car collision on a country road where the oncoming driver went too fast round a sharp bend and smashed into my car. Both cars badly damaged though fortunately no-one was hurt and the car behind me has it all on dashcam and gave me her details so she could send me the video. The other driver pretty much also admitted responsibility as she kept saying 'I.m sorry'.

Police turn up and I failed the breath test. Following the crash which shook me up badly this completely floored me! They took me to the station and my reading was 47. I had 2.5 glasses of wine the night before, going to bed at about 10.30. All of which I told the police, and felt fine the following morning getting ready for work. I am not a big or regular drinker.

Whilst I was in the cell, a police officer came in an gave me the other driver details. I was not asked to produce my insurance information. Court date set for mid June - the charge is 'exceeded the prescribed limit'.

If I get convicted then i will get a ban, fine, criminal record and lose job, and I will be liable for the damages to my car and be open to the other driver making a case against me as a conviction will void my insurance.

I am seriously freaking out about what could happen.

Has anyone actually used a 'drink drive solicitor'?

There just seems to so many of them out there yet on this forum I have never heard anyone talk about them. Most here either do not have representation or use a duty solicitor.

Any and all replies will be much appreciated.

Drew
 
You can try asking Sean, the solicitor on here. You have to post directly into “ask a solicitor.” I believe he does fixed fee representation but it isn’t cheap.... good quality advice seldom is.
A couple of comments.... what are you looking for from a solicitor. On the face of it you are guilty of drink driving unless the police have messed up with procedure somewhere. The glasses must have been pretty big! A 250ml glass of wine contains 3 units at 12% abv. Your reading at 8.30am was the equivalent of 6.5 units in your body then, so you must have drunk way more than that if you stopped drinking at 10.30pm. A typical person would have got rid of 10 units between 10.30pm and 8.30am so that indicates that you drank more like 2 bottles of wine.

As a long shot, you might have a medical problem that drastically reduces your livers ability to break down alcohol. That could be worth exploring but even if that was true in the eyes of the law you are responsible for what alcohol is in your body. Therefore it could be mitigation to reduce the length of the ban (12-16 months is the range for your reading) but it is NOT a defence.

As to the insurance aspect, if the other driver is at fault then the blame does not shift to you just because you were over the limit. If a claim was to be made by him against your insurance for you being at fault then they are obliged to meet the other parties claim but they could refuse to cover your own car. Some insurance companies then come after you to recover the costs that they paid out to the other driver. This is typically where the Admiral group is concerned.
 
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Hi Price

Thank you for your reply. I have seen many of your comments on this site these few days and as usual, in this instance too, I have learned a lot.

I absolutely hold my hands up to the DD and feeling totally wretched about it. What makes it even worse is that the witnesses attending the scene were lovely to me :( The shame of it is almost unbearable. No idea how to tell my family or my employers about this either.

Yeah, this is definitely the wrong section :) - it was my first post and my mind was all over the place.

There is no way i could drink 2 bottles of wine though, I would be physically sick before then and would pass out. At 5 foot and weighing 6 stone (still taller than my mum) my body wouldn't handle it. It's just that I felt fine in the morning. However you mentioning about a possible medical issue did make me think about something else - not in terms of the DD but family medical history, something that won't be mentioned in Court.

So after a bit of calming down these few days I have a clear mind to face up to it. I was freaking out and looking for an'out'. No excuse.
Over the limit is over the limit.
I still periodically freak out about the consequences of it all though. It's massive. Trying to keep calm and work out to deal with it all.

Thanks Price for replying

Drew
 
You are certainly on the small side! Reading your post again it is not clear if you are male or female. If you are female then a reading of 47 is indicating 4 units of alcohol in your system when you were tested, rather than the 6.5 for a man, but still indicates a total consumption of 14 units. That is based on a standard person, male or female, eliminating alcohol at the rate of 1 unit per hour.
Allowing, however, for your small size you may process less than a unit an hour. Being generous about this would still bring the amount consumed down to 9 units, or a bottle of wine at 12%, so you would still need a medical factor to account for having 4 units in your system at 8.30am. Unless your glasses were quite large?
As I said before, this is mitigation, not a defence, but may help you to be sentenced at the lower end of the 12-16 month bracket that your reading should attract.
 
I am female Price. When I eventually got home after the arrest I checked the wine bottle and it was 13.5%. I am learning so much about units now, after the event. However, it makes no odds. I will go to court and face it and see if I can get a duty solicitor. It's everything that happens afterwards, and feeling ashamed, that is causing me so much anxiety. It helps reading and communicating on the posts here though.
 
Drew, let us know how you get on. You may be surprised how supportive a family can be, after they have got over the initial reaction.
The upcoming court case is clearly causing you a lot of anxiety and you need all the support you can get.
The feeling of shame is good, you may not think so, but it helps the learning process......
 
Ask for some Propanalol from the Doc it's non addictive and will help a little# if things are really bad especially leading up to the events also ask for 5-7 sleeping pills(not a course)
Also like Price said most people are not as Judgemental as you alone think! In fact once you understand the units per hour equation it's very easy to see why so many drivers are red flagged especially in morning# duty Solicitor is fine as long as he's avail in court(no gaurentee) I personally paid 200 pnds for my own and believe it was the correct decision # ps am just back on road this week after 1 year out! Never ever again!!
 
Thank you both...

My parents have been fantastic, I am so grateful to them. It is work that is really worrying me. I am in a fairly responsible role with the company and have no idea how to approach telling them. It's a medium sized company and everyone pretty much gets on ok, but the dread and fear of telling them is overwhelming as I know it will become common knowledge. It will anyway when I lose my licence as I live an hours drive away. That's why I posted another question, which I probably should have titled 'HOW did you tell your employer?'
Will definitely be going to the docs though
 
If your role is not directly involved with driving it's highly unlikely to have an effect on your employment# however a company can dismiss you on grounds of bringing the company into disrepute! Again this is very very unlikely to happen,
Best ask your manager for a quick word don't make a huge drama out of It! Simply explain the situation and show a bit of remorse(no need for more) again how devastated you are but are going to pick yourself up hopefully take a drink drivers awareness course and assure him it will have no impact on the company or your job# make sure he's the first then as soon as your out face to face with as many individuals as you can on the same day starting with home you like the Best & trust# again no drama or excuses just say how it is!
Again you have told the boss and it's out the bag# to prepare for a bit of ridicule and accept It! But atleast you will eliminate the whispers and the group meeting under hushed tones at the coffee machine! That's not to say might offer you a brandy from the coffee machine but refuse because you only take doubles!! ))
 
Craig, I wish it were that simple... last year I had a note put on my personnel file regarding drinking. It was noticed that I had smelt of alcohol on a few occasions. I didn't deny it. At that time I had an aggravated burglary at home which meant I had to take a week off week for hospital appointments. It was horrible. I began self medicating with alcohol trying to put a brave face on.
When I was taken into the directors (glass-walled, facing the entire open-planned office!) room, they said they will be putting it on my file and that one of them would escort me home as they had a duty of care. I felt fine, but given what I know now I may well have been over the limit. It was so humiliating but a big wake up call. I stopped with the 'self medicating', threw myself back into work and started evening classes. I have been with this company over 7 years.
So going to them with THIS is what is causing me so much anxiety, shame, fear, helplessness... you name it, I am feeling it :(
 
It won't be easy but if your open an honest then they will support you am sure, but it will probably bring the spot light on you going fwd ie any indications of hangover or drink at work will bring there attention*

Am in no way indicating you have an alcohol problem but if your anything like I was then pop along to SR(sober recovery) introduction forum' I was similar situation and cutting down the booze has helped me emensely to cope
 
Firstly, thank you sooo much for not being judgmental. It means a lot.

Secondly I am tempted to just hand in my notice and say I have 'family' commitments since I have no idea how I could possibly get to work anyway without a licence let alone my car which is still in recovery. Not to mention it has been quite a strained environment at work, not just because of what happened to me last year but a whole host of other factors which has not made it pleasant. I will check out SR though, I am getting tired of putting on a brave face

Thank you Craig, you are a diamond
 
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