Drink Driving
Where the police will have little sympathy for you is if you are caught drink driving. If you’re blood alcohol content is above the legal limit then you are “strictly liable”. This means that there is no defence. A police officer isn’t going to let you off if you’re charming or they feel sorry for you. If you’re caught drink driving then you will be punished for it.
If you are stopped the police will consider whether or not you are fit to drive. You’ll be deemed unfit if you have:
- over 80 milligrams (mg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of blood
- over 35 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of breath
- over 107 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of urine
There are calculators
(http://www.drinkdriving.org/drink_driving_information_bloodalcoholcontentcalculator.php ) and phone apps which help work out your blood alcohol content but if you’re in doubt then the simple solution is not to drive.
Anyone can be stopped and breathalysed by the police at any time. It is illegal to refuse to give a sample and if you do refuse you’ll be arrested. If you blow positive then you’ll be arrested and taken to the police station for further more accurate tests.
The consequences of drink driving can be a ban of at least 12 months, a fine of £5,000 and even 6 months in prison. If you are convicted of other offences or cause injury or death when drunk then the consequences can be far more severe.
You can also be arrested for being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. This means you can be arrested if you are not driving or even in the car. It can be enough if you have the keys in your pocket and the car is nearby. If you decide to spend the night in your car sleeping it off then you are putting yourself at risk of being arrested likewise if you decide to supervise someone else who might only have a provisional license and who has offered to drive you home.