Advice needed - Urgent

Convicted Driver Insurance

Krisz

Member
Hi,

My story is a little complicated.. couple days before new years I went away to see family.

I've had half a glass of white and double vodka coke an hour or two before leaving to go back home. The roads were in the pitch dark countryside, with narrow lanes and blind corners. Around a relatively long bend doing no more then 35mph (in a 60 zone) my car slipped on mud and ice and went off road quite deep into a ditch. - Luckily I was the only one in the car and got out with minor scratches after having to climb out the passenger side & called emergency services to help me. I panicked, had no idea what was going on or even if I was alive I was so scared.

I had a Russian vodka in the car and by the state of the accident I knew that car was not coming out anytime soon and I chugged vodka that was in my car. - Yup I didn't even think I would get breathalyzed as I literally had no idea what to do (my mum died in a car crash when I was a baby and I genuinely thought I was dead) and I've just finished a long counselling program because of this.. - I blew around 83, then around 86/85 at the station, maybe the other way around.

I told them from the start I had a double vodka coke, half a glass of wine (I did not see either being poured) and that I necked vodka in my car after the crash.

I'm not pleading guilty as I know I will certainly loose my license but the same time I will have to represent myself as I simply can't afford legal help being young living without parents. - No clue how I'm going to pay for court and trial costs either.

I've spoken to plenty motoring solicitors and literally every single one of them have said I have a very good chance / case of keeping my license but this will cost me between £2,500 and £10,000 (based on about 6 independent solicitors).

Any advice is deeply appreciated. - I will post an update on the outcome tomorrow & a later trial date.
 
Hi Krisz way out of my depth but Price (good calculator)and others will hopefully be along

But to help can you confirm the half glass wine and Vodka n coke was either 1 or two hours before driving(better if Pacific)
Also after crash any idea how much Vodka you chugged
 
Approx half of a Redbull can. It was between 1-2 hours :/ not sure of exacts. Probably closer to one
 
Wether you have a solicitor or not, to succeed with what is called the “hip flask defence” as it is known, you will have to present evidence to the court that you consumed alcohol after driving AND that it made the difference to you being over the limit or not. That is because the law presumes that what was in your system when you were breath tested WAS what was in your system when you drove. You could call it guilty unless you prove your innocence, but that is the way it is.

To do that you will have to commission a technical expert to prepare a report for you to submit to the prosecution. This will cost about £300.
The expert will want to know your height, weight, when you last ate food, what you had to drink before the accident and what you claim to have drunk afterwards, including strength and quantity. He will then compare that with your reading in breath to see if it is credible. Note this does not show you are innocent, because it depends on your word only as to what you drank post accident. (Unless there were witness with you in the car?)
It is open to the prosecution to accept the report and discontinue the case, or perhaps more likely to commission their own expert to examine your claim. (Did the police ask you questions about weight, food and drink as per the above when you were in custody.)
there may well then be a trial where each respective expert witness attends court. This puts the costs up to about £800 for each one. If you win, you can not claim your expert costs back. If you lose then the prosecution will claim costs of £620 physio their experts costs. (On top of any fine and victim surcharge)
For a guilty plea the costs are £85 plus the victim surcharge. If you are found guilty you are facing a ban of 17-22 months if your reading was 86/85. You will get a fine according to your means or a community penalty.

I am not saying what you should do, just pointing out the outcome of a not guilty plea, together with the cost of it, against a guilty plea. If you had only drunk what you say before you drove, you would probably not have been over the limit, let alone being almost two and a half times the limit, but can you convince the court of this, and can you afford the financial implications that are involved if you do not convince them and are found guilty?
 
Thank you so much, police asked about height and I told them I’m not too much of a drinker. I had no intention to drink drive as I do it for a living, I felt perfectly fine. - I never saw the drink beeing poured for me either.

No witnesses in the car, just me heading home
 
So the argument from the prosecution would be: “if you didn’t see it poured, how do you know it was only a double? Followed by: “How come if you are not much of a drinker, you climbed in the car to get alcohol and then you stood by the car drinking vodka neat - over a quarter of a bottle!”
 
The thing is I know what I have and haven’t done... but I’m genuinely going to loose my license for post drink Driving purely because I don’t understand law. - thank you Price I see your point. There is literally nothing I can do because I can’t afford a solicitor..
 
I am not judging you, just giving you a realistic outlook on how cases like yours pan out in court.
At least you didn’t blow 88 or more, because then you have to do a medical, and at 90 the ban range is 23-28months so you scrape in below both those aggravations.
 
I do appreciate it, but it does suck as I’m genuinely telling the truth. - Well that’s a little assuring at least
 
Let us know how you get on in court.
If you are not offered a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course then ask for one in court.
Most courts offer them but occasionally they forget. The offer cannot be made after the court case has finished.
You get up to 25% off your ban by completing one, but having accepted the offer you can change your mind and see out your ban, it isn’t compulsory......
 
Certainly, court is tomorrow @ 10:00am. I’ll update you all with the outcome and decision! Thanks all again
 
Glad to help. I saw you had posted before, but that was on the “ask a solicitor” side and Sean does not provide answers every day. To be fair, he did answer several questions Sunday afternoon, which is pretty amazing for a solicitor!
 
price1367 said:
To be fair, he did answer several questions Sunday afternoon, which is pretty amazing for a solicitor!
Click to expand...

I noticed that too about Sean, :)
Have to say, this forum is a life-line for support for those of us who find ourselves in a scary predicament after making a huge mistake. Ive never felt judged at all in my time here, only received words of wisdom and practical advice.
Good luck for tomorrow Krisz, keep us posted.
 
Not many drink drivers are experts in the subject, because even the repeat ones have only been through the process 3 or 4 times and each circumstance might have been different.
It is “horses for courses”. If you have lived and breathed the subject, and used the breath test machines for decades, then there are not many questions or circumstances you have not come across unless the law changes and brings up new circumstances. This has not happened for quite a while, except for the introduction - or should I say the relatively new enforcement - of drug driving laws.
It is sad, but if I ever was on Mastermind my specialist subject would be “the British breathalyser, 1967 to the present day.” I would do very well, but fail miserably on the general knowledge part!
 
Yup, I was suggested by a group member that only solicitors can respond. I’ll most probably plea guilty after considering everything and simply can’t really pay for the trail fees etc. I’ll see what the duty solicitor has to say and get back to you as soon as I come out. Tbh being young I’ve already learnt my lesson and my insurance near tripled so regardless of the outcome, I’ll be sticking to public transport for a while! Update coming soon..! :’)
 
If you wanted to mount a defence you could ask the court for an adjournment to instruct an expert. No guarantee they will grant it but don't ask, don't get.

It isnt cheap for the reasons @price1367 outlined but if you drive for a living it may be cheaper on the long term. At least (and I am very sorry to hear about your Mum) you have a much better reason for drinking after an accident than many.
 
Update - I arrived to court around 9:30, some very bizarre chareaters haha. All jokes aside, we went in around 11:45, the judge was very considerate based on the factors and I was credited with the earliest opportunity of guilty plea. They also taken into consideration I’ll loose my job basically immediately. The Reading was 86 not 85 as I previously though.

My sentence: 18month ban and I’ve accepted the opportunity to take the course to reduce this by 25%. A £235 Fine overall for court fees (which is way below the bracket). I think this is probably the best possible outcome I could have got from my situation.

Thanks everyone for your helps and I’ll be back on the road March 2020 so just over a year. I can live with that.
 
You got almost the lowest ban in that bracket for almost the highest reading in that bracket so that must be a good result for you. You could easily have been given a community penalty as well so you have a decent outcome.
Thanks for letting us know the outcome.
 
Thank you all for support and help for once again! - Please do delete the same post from 'ask a solicitor' section as it has all been resolved.

Lesson learnt, NEVER even drinking 24hr before driving. Have a great day all :')
 
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