Is Drink Driving a Criminal Offence?

January 16, 2023

Drinking whilst driving significantly impacts the number of road accidents every day. Checks are increasing exponentially to curb this offence and reduce the mortality rate worldwide. 

So, is drink driving a criminal offence? What are the best strategies to use to defend yourself? You’ll learn all about these topics as you read on.

What Exactly Is Drink Driving?

Drink driving is when the alcohol content in your body exceeds the legal limit. You are then considered intoxicated and unable to drive vehicles safely. This legal rule is implemented with great attention to reduce the number of road accidents due to drunk drivers.

The offence is determined by asking the offender to blow on the breath testing device, which measures the alcohol content in your body. This is compared to the prescribed concentration of alcohol or PCA to see if it’s above or below to consider it an offence.

How Can the Offence be Defended?

Is drink driving a criminal offence? Yes, it is a criminal offence and will need proper defences to resolve. Defending yourself against a drink driving offence requires competent lawyers and sound strategies. Among the popular defences for this offence are:

• The alcohol content in your body isn’t above the PCA.
• You are not driving the vehicle.
• The breath testing device is not used or malfunctioned

Choosing the proper defence can entirely change how the case pans out and how severe the consequences are. It is crucial to hire skilled lawyers with ample expertise in the field.

What Should Be Your Defence Strategy?

Four main strategies can be used to defend a drink driving offence, depending on the specifics of your situation and the evidence available. 

• Claiming an honest mistake

One method to present the court will be to convince the judges about the honest nature of your mistake. Reasonable arguments presented to the court with the error regarding the fact and not the actual law are an excellent route to take.

If you choose to pursue this, you will have to convince the judge about your intentions and how you mistook the alcohol content in your drinks when being aware that you would drive. Arguments should be precise and extremely convincing for complete resolution. More often than not, honesty is valued, and lower punishments are given for such claims. You can discuss this option with your lawyer to find a good solution.

• Defending the PCA limits

The most significant factor which makes this a good defence is that the alcohol content in your body whilst driving the vehicle is not always the same as the time of checking by authorities.

You can use this claim to bring in qualified nutritional experts to determine accurately if the alcohol content is below the PCA or not. Furthermore, the alcohol levels can vary and increase whilst testing, which makes the determination faulty. You can claim a lower level to incur more minor punishments for low-grade breaches, unlike a very high alcohol content which can lead to more severe actions.

• Claiming you weren’t driving

Proving that you were not in the driver’s seat or even in the seat with the intention of driving is the best method to be free of all repercussions of the offence. This method can be utilised when there is no concrete proof of you driving the vehicle. It’s used when the evidence presented is a witness with no pictures or further proof. This can also be used even when officers claim to have seen you in a group with at least one sober person. In that situation, it is easy to claim that you weren’t behind the wheel and the officer was mistaken seeing you drive.

• Mistakes in the procedure used by authorities

You can capitalise on any minor incorrect procedure followed by the officials whilst determining your offence. Mistakes in the authority’s approach can be excellent ammunition in court. Any minor fault from authorities can outweigh your offence when your defence lawyer capitalises on the issue correctly and presents them well to the judge. With your lawyer’s advice, you should carefully analyse all the actions the officials took to take this mode of defence in court.

Mardini Defence Lawyers: Defending You

With ample experience with drink driving cases, Mardini Defence Lawyers can help you with your drink driving offence case. Our experienced professionals who know how to study your case thoroughly and argue in your favour. 

For more details about our services, contact us today.