What factors will the court take into account in a drink driving charge?

Drink driving offences are committed when a person has over the legal limit of alcohol in their system and they are driving, attempting to drive or in charge of a vehicle. The drink driving penalties imposed vary depending on the type of offence. The current drink driving limit is:

•    35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath
•    80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood
•    107 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine.
Find also some info about drink driving court. There are a number of drink driving offences a person can be charged with if they have more alcohol in their system than allowed under the criminal law.  These offences include:

•    Causing death by careless driving under the influence of drink or drugs
•    Driving or attempting to drive with excess alcohol or while unfit through drink or drugs
•    In charge of a vehicle with excess of alcohol or while unfit through drink or drugs
•    Failing to cooperate with the preliminary roadside breath test
•    Failing to provide a specimen
•    Refusing laboratory test

Drink driving penalties obviously vary depending on the severity and circumstances of the offence. The drink driving penalties for these drink driving offences vary from 14 years in prison to four penalty points on the driver’s licence. Any person charged with a drink driving offence is advised to obtain legal advice from a specialist criminal law solicitor as soon as possible. A solicitor can provide them with information on their charge and the likely drink driving penalties the court will hand down.

A criminal law solicitor will be responsible for putting forward arguments for the court to take into account when deciding the driver’s punishment. The court may take into consideration the good record of the offender, the severity of the penalty, the cooperation and good behaviour of the offender, and an early plea. If a person is convicted of failing a road side test because they refused to take one and the subsequent test at the police station showed they were under the legal limit, the court may consider this as a good reason to not impose a driving ban.

However, the prosecution may have arguments to present to the court that could mean more severe drink driving penalties for the offender. These include the length of the ban on driving, the lack of cooperation by the offender, any previous drink-related offences, if there were children in the vehicle at the time, and if the offender was involved in an accident.

For further legal advice on drink driving offences and the associate drink driving penalties, a person can contact a specialist lawyer today.