Drink Drivers cont…

23Apr08

As drink driving seems to be in the news quite a bit at the minute with regards to lowering the drink drive limit so that only 1 drink could put you over I thought I would continue on from my last post.

I ranted on at the end of my last post about whether drink drivers should have the option of going Not Guilty when all the facts didn’t really give them much choice. Another offence which can result in a drink driving conviction is Failing to Provide. Most people caught driving will provide a specimen of breath at the station but in the majority of the cases that I have dealt with for Fail to Provide a variation of the following scenario has occurred:

A member of the public phones in to say that they are following a car that is weaving all over the road or someone rings in to say that a chap has been in the pub all afternoon and is about to drive home after sinking numerous pints whilst watching the match. Police attended the location but the vehicle has already left the pub or the officers cannot get behind it quick enough. Some bobbies will just leave it at that if they can’t find the car.

I however will find out the registered keepers address and attend the location. If the vehicle is on the driveway or parked nearby I will knock the door. Normally the driver will answer, smelling strongly of intoxicants and I will tell them why I am there pointing out that they have been witnessed driving after drinking. The usual response I get it that they have just had 4 cans since they got home and that is why they are now drunk. This is known as the “Hip Flask Defense” as in I’ve just had a sip from my hip flask officer… In situations like this I have a power to request a breath test but if they are obviously leathered I don’t bother. I can arrest them under Section 4 of the Road Traffic Act for driving whilst impaired through drink or drugs.

Because they know they have not been seen driving they vigourously deny the fact that they have. Quite understandably they can be quite aggressive in their mannerisms when I slap the cuffs on them and escort them from their house into my waiting police car. These are the type of drivers that usually fail to provide as they seem to think that they are above the law. Hence the reason that they have driven home pissed in the first place knowing full well that the rest of the pub knew what they were doing.

Once at the police station they will continue to protest their innocence and will either refuse to go into the Intoxyliser room or will go in there but then refuse to co-operate with the station procedure. This is where I rub my hands together knowing full well that they have just shafted themselves good and proper. Up until that point it was going to be down to me to prove that they had in-fact driven. Usually the witness who phoned in the original job refuses to give their details or didn’t actually see them get into their car and drive away from the pub so I cannot get a statement from them to prove the driving.

However once you fail to provide a specimen of breath that becomes the offence and not the driving with excess alcohol in your system. Therefore I no longer have to prove that you have driven, just that you failed without reasonable excuse to provide a specimen of breath for analysis. So by being a cocky or arrogant idiot thinking you were above the law you have actually just done your own legs when you probably would have got off. Even if you had blown over the limit, if I couldn’t prove beyond all reasonable doubt that you had driven you would not have had a case to answer. Being too drunk or unfit to supply the necessary breath specimen is NOT a reasonable excuse. A medical condition which prevents you from supplying enough breath for the machine to sample may be a sufficient excuse. If you have such a condition you must advise the police at the time.

If you fail to provide after driving or attempting to drive the penalty can be a fine up to Level 5 (£5,000) and/or 6 months imprisonment. A mandatory disqualification for at least 12 months for first offence (18 months tends to be the norm as you are considered to have been trying to avoid being found guilty) and a mandatory disqualification for at least 3 years for second offence within 10 years

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