Christmas is not far off. Dark nights and icy weather are a bad mix. You may even be tempted to go out straight after work, stay out late and drive to work the next day. Lots of people fail breathalyser tests on their way to work on a morning. Not drinking alcohol before driving and not driving to work after being over the limit the night before is the safest course of action, both for you and other road users.
So what happens if you are stopped by the police?
We are often asked ” Can the Police stop you randomly, for no good reason?”
The answer is “yes”.
“Can they then insist that I take a breath test?”
The answer is - Only if the police officer has reasonable cause to suspect that you have committed, or are currently committing a moving traffic offence; or, having stopped you, the officer has cause to suspect that you have consumed alcohol or the officer believes that you were involved in an accident.
A Police Officer can ask all occupants of a vehicle to give a breath test if he suspects that a passenger may have actually been the driver.
You cannot be forced to take the road-side test – but, unless you have a very good reason, for example you have a relevant medical condition such as asthma or emphysema, then you can only make matters worse for yourself by refusing. In any event, at the Police Station, (for it is almost inevitable that you would be arrested if you refuse to give a road-side breath test) you can be asked to give a sample of blood or urine. Failing to give a sample of breath or an alternative sample is likely to result in a charge and an appearance at Court.
So, the best advice is to go through the process peaceably and offer full co-operation and then seek legal advice.
Emmersons solicitors Michael Robinson and Duncan Emmerson collectively have more than 40 years’ of experience in this area of law. They have vast experience in representing business owners and employees where driving is an essential part of their working lives eg. Engineers who need to go out on site or key sales representatives.
It’s worth pointing out that there are no loopholes as such, but there are ways to apply and interpret the law which can help minimise ban periods and there are defences that can be put forward.
For example, shortness of distance driven; if you drove to a pub, parked the car on the roadside, had too much to drink then decided to move the car off the road into a nearby car park but got caught exceeding the legal drink drive limit, then it is possible that shortness of distance could be used as a defence.
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