How to get off a Drink Driving Charge?

We are often asked how we successfully help motorists to keep their driving licence. Below are situations where individuals have successfully defended a drink driving or drug driving charge:

There are many occasions where clients approach us after having been charged with drink driving or drug driving and it is clear that they, or the circumstances of the incident, fall into a category where individuals should either not receive the mandatory 12 month minimum driving disqualification, or be convicted at all.

Here are 5 such examples:

1. Falling asleep in a parked car – This is a situation that we see often. A client is arrested and charged after a night out.  They find their way back to their vehicle after consuming too much alcohol to drive, then, deciding that they have no alternative, sleep in their car until it is safe or possible to make their way home by alternative means.  Even where the keys remain in their pocket or they sleep in the back seat of their car, people will often be charged with the offence of being drunk in charge of their vehicle.  The argument here is frequently that there was no likelihood of them driving at all.  For example, they would have been collected by a family member at a later time and driven home by that person.  In this situation it can be argued that a conviction should not follow.
2. The legal standpoint – The proportion of alcohol in a specimen of blood or breath is evidenced by either a statement or certificate from an approved testing device or a laboratory. Either way, consent is required as is a warning that failing to provide an evidential specimen will render that individual liable to prosecution.  In practice it is absolutely necessary that all of above is adhered to and that if the specimen is one of blood, a medical practitioner must sign to say that consent was provided.  The legislation is strict in respect of how evidential samples are obtained and analysed in all cases, with good reason.  Any failures in respect of how such samples are dealt with, are open to scrutiny.
3. Warning of prosecution is key: the majority of people taken into Police custody after being arrested for drink or drug related offences are not familiar with the processes after arrest.  Legislation and guidelines provide strict instruction to ensure that there is parity in all such cases and that best practice is applied.  A person detained in Police custody should be made aware that failure to comply with the requirement made by a constable to provide an evidential specimen will have direct consequences and lead to prosecution, unless there is a real reason for refusing.  Consequently, failure to apply the legislation or skirt the guidelines will render the procedure and ultimately, the Crown’s ability to secure a conviction,  open to argument.
4. Emergency – If the circumstances are such that, after exploring every available alternative, driving after consuming alcohol is the only option to prevent harm, when there is a clear and compelling emergency, a person may not be disqualified from driving. It is in the absence of an alternative, where the person would not have otherwise driven, that such circumstances can constitute a special reason not to disqualify.
5. Shortness of distance driven – Another example of where the circumstances of an incident could attract a favourable outcome from the Court, relates to the distance driven by a driver who is found to be over the prescribed limit. An individual who had drunk alcohol in excess of the drink drive limit, negotiated a tricky reversing manoeuvre in a car park, which their partner was reluctant to attempt and who subsequently reversed the car a few metres, avoided disqualification in view of the lack of probability of causing danger to other road users.  The shortness of distance driven is key here: had they driven much further or in the vicinity of other road users, it is highly likely that the argument would not have succeeded.