What are the different drink and drug driving offences?

Drink driving - failure to provide a specimen

Stopped by the police? Unable to provide a specimen? Did they charge you anyway? In this case you're facing a driving ban of around 24 months minimum, with a mandatory ban of 12 months. However, with expert drink driving legal advice from one of our solicitors this may not be the case.

These types of drink driving offences usually occur when someone who's suspected of drink driving, is arrested but refuses/fails to provide a specimen to allow the police to prove that they're over the prescribed alcohol limit.

However, defences can arise if the procedure isn't properly conducted or if the defendant had a reasonable excuse for failing to provide a specimen.

Drink driving offence - drunk in charge

Drunk in charge is a totally different offence to the drink driving offence and is usually charged in circumstances where the police cannot prove the actual 'driving' element of the offence. Urgent expert legal advice is essential from a drink driving solicitor.

You could face a discretionary disqualification of six months or more. There's potential to avoid a disqualification if dealt with carefully.

Drink driving offence - excess alcohol

It's an offence to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle, on a public road or a place to which the public have access, whilst in excess of the prescribed alcohol limit.

The procedures for arrest and for the taking of a specimen of either breath, blood or urine for evidence are very specific and unique; and, if not properly complied with can amount to a defence, sometimes in shocking circumstances. If convicted a 12-month driving disqualification is mandatory.

Drink driving - special reasons

Do you think the facts of your drink driving offence are unfair? There are certain circumstances where our drink driving solicitors can apply to the Court asking it to not impose the standard 12 month driving ban even if you're convicted or plead guilty.

These circumstances are called ‘special reasons’. Special reasons are most often applied in drink driving cases where there may be an excuse for committing a driving offence.

Examples could be the shortness of the distance driven, or when the defendant’s drinks were laced and he/she was unaware of this. This list is non-exhaustive and all such applications are specific to their facts.

Drug driving offence - driving whilst unfit

Drug driving offences are similar to drink driving offences although ‘impairment’ must be proven by the police and CPS in a very different way. Furthermore, the alleged impairment may be due to illegal drugs, legal medication or other factors. If you're charged with this it may be totally unfair.

Our drug driving solicitors can advise you, gather evidence in your defence and possibly save your driving licence.

Call us for a free initial consultation or for immediate legal representation for a drug driving offence in England or Wales.

How can we assist you with a drink driving offence?

We can complete the plea and mitigation form for you, analyse the evidence against you and represent your case in court. Slater and Gordon have successfully defended all types of drink driving offences.

Why work with a solicitor?

In drink driving offence cases, your defence has to be carefully built around your case. Our specialist knowledge enables us to assess the best strategy with a view to successfully defending your offence or securing reduced punishment.

Costs of a drink driving defence

Our fees are fixed and start at £500 + VAT for a review of the papers you've received and formal advice as to how best to proceed with your case. Depending on the complexity of your case and how you choose to proceed we’ll advise you on the best option for you and the associated fees.

How long will my case take?

It’ll largely depend on the offence and if the case is a guilty plea or is going to trial. The usual timescale for a motoring offence case from when we’re instructed is three to six months. We’re able to give a more accurate timescale on individual cases when we’ve more details.

I drive for a living. Can you help me keep my license?

If you’re a professional driver and you’ve been charged with a drink driving offence outside of work, we can build your guilty plea around your financial dependence on your license.

How to prepare for your call with us

We often have to ask for detailed information when providing initial advice.  Dates are particularly relevant, so it helps enormously to have a chronology of events to hand and also a copy of any documents that you intend to refer to during the call.

Please do ensure that you've any court hearing dates to hand together with all details of the offences alleged.

If you need support from our team of drink and drug driving offence solicitors, request a call back or contact us online.