Are Drink Drivers Finally Getting The Message?

With Christmas fast approaching and the party season in full swing, police are once again warning drivers not to take the risk of getting behind the wheel while over the limit.

Specific time slots at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court have been reserved to deal with those caught drink or drug driving, effectively meaning that offenders could lose their licence within 24 hours of being breathalysed.

During last year’s campaign, 1,329 tests were carried out in Suffolk with 142 drivers providing a positive reading.

The annual crackdown comes as figures released by an insurance company appear to show that motorists are getting the message. According to Confused.com, there has been a 42% decrease in people failing breath tests following accidents over the last decade.

The Confused.com study found that drink driving is more prevalent on rural roads, while breath tests carried out in the early hours of Sunday morning were the most likely to be positive. More than a fifth of motorists admitted to driving the morning after drinking.

Meanwhile, figures from the Department for Transport show that the number of people seriously hurt or killed in crashes in which alcohol played a part is at a three-year high.

In England and Wales, the legal limit for drivers is 80 mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, or 35 mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

As a general guide it takes around two hours for a pint of beer to leave your system although stronger brands and ciders will take longer.

A large glass of wine (250ml) is still in the blood for four hours and a single measure of a spirit takes just one hour. You also need to add on an hour for the alcohol to be absorbed into the system, so if you have four pints and stop drinking at midnight, you’re not safe to drive until at least 9am – a bottle of wine and you have to wait until 1pm the next day.

The best way to ensure you’re safe behind the wheel is not to drink at all and, after many years of experience in the criminal courts across the country, that is the advice that Gotelee’s criminal law team give. If despite that advice you, or someone you know, find themselves under investigation for an offence this Christmas then legal assistance and advice is available from Gotelee Solicitors.