The simple matter is, it is illegal to drive whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
There is currently a drink driving limit which allows a person to intake a certain amount of alcohol before you are ‘over the limit’ to drive. This amount differs from male to female, the male bloodstream being able to tolerate slightly more alcohol than the female.
Protesters are trying to get this limit changed to a zero consumption allowance due to the increasing number of deaths in the United Kingdom that are drink related cases.
There are too many accidents caused by drink driving, once an accident happens, it is the crime scene investigators job is to investigate what happened at the scene of the accident, they have to gather as much evidence as possible. They have to interview the drivers and any witnesses as possible to get a full picture.
Once they have as much evidence as they can get, they investigate the surrounding areas for more clues to try to put a full story behind what actually happened. Every scene is different, sometimes the driver pleads not guilty to drink driving where as other times they plead guilty and own up to their crime.
Should the case go to court, then legal defence is necessity. This is where both the defence and the prosecution get all the facts of the crime scene and any evidence gathered to win the case. In the past, it has been proven that although breath detector tests have provided a positive result, have actually been defective and incorrect. To prove this however takes a good defence lawyer and a lot of forensic evidence to prove this. Normally without this evidence, the prosecution have an excellent case that was gathered at the scene of the crime.
To avoid causing harm and possible death, not only to yourself but to others around you, the safest way is to not drink and drive at all. This way, should you be pulled over by the police and given a breath test, then this should be good and you will be allowed to carry on with your day to day business. Should this fail, then you will be arrested and taken to the nearest police station where you will be charges with drink driving, this is where you would plead your innocence or admit to your crime.
The safest way to protect yourself and others is don’t drink and drive.
Ben Mead writes on behalf of Forensic Equity Ltd