Does drunk in charge count as a relevant previous offence in the last 10 years?

Convicted Driver Insurance

antihawk

Member
Hi all

Like many of you here I have regrettably been caught for drink driving. My breath reading was 46 (so relatively low) but my car was crashed into some trees on the side of an A road at 4am.

I have a previous drunk in charge conviction with a 126ug reading (so very high) from June 2018. I got a two month ban and an eight week curfew.

I am aware that for drink driving offences there are previous relevant offence that if committed in the last years will shunt your mandatory ban up to 36 months.

Is drunk in charge a relevant previous conviction? I don't see it on the list so perhaps not?

I understand that this previous conviction will be taken as an aggravating factor in court but I'm specifically asking in terms if this previous offence will increase the ban to at least 36 months?

As my breath reading was 46 this time I'm in the lowest band of sentencing guidelines with 12-16 months ban as the range.

Basically I'm asking if my drunk in charge conviction in the past will increase the ban to three years or more, or whether it won't?

Thanks in advance.
 
No you won't be classed as 2 offences in 10 years, so you won't get the three year minimum ban. You will be classed as an HRO though, so medical and jumping through hoops at the end of the ban I'm afraid.
 
antihawk

I appreciate Big Tom has answered your question.

To the best of my knowledge with someone in your circumstances - the Magistrates will only go off their higher sentencing guidelines when there has been a previous drink driving offence NOT a drunk in charge. Therefore, if you have blown 46, you should only be looking at a ban of say 12-16 months (which you have referred to yourself!)

Sadly, the DVLA view this slightly differently than the Magistrates and will put you in the High Risk Offender category. This is because two drink related 'traffic/vehicle' offences in three years suggests to them you might pose a danger on the roads, so invariably you will need to do a HRO medical at the end of your ban to satisfy them that any alcohol problems are under control.

You should still be eligible to do your drink driving reduction course so make sure you politely ask to be put forward for this by the Court Clerk.

The HRO medical can be something of a stumbling block for many people. If you read some of the threads on here and at least try and familiarise yourself with the process then you should be prepared for it closer to the time.

Good luck.

CJ
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Enter code DRINKDRIVING10 during checkout for 10% off
Top