Drinkdriving.org
Staff member
Serious errors have been identified in the way in which information on drink driving convictions was shared between the police, the courts and the DVLA. It was discovered that the alcohol levels of thousands of convicted drink drivers were not provided to the DVLA by the sentencing courts.
These errors have resulted in the DVLA reissuing driving licences to people who clearly should have been classed as high risk offenders and should have been legally required to undergo a DVLA medical in order to prove their fitness to drive before their driving licence was reissued to them.
Unfortunately two cases have also been identified where drivers who should have been classed as high risk offenders were reissued their driving licences in error without having to prove their fitness to drive and they subsequently went on to cause fatalities while driving under the influence.
The sentencing courts and the DVLA are now implementing new changes to their IT systems that will not allow drink driving cases to be processed without valid alcohol readings.
The official statement issued by the Department of Transport concerning these errors can be found here.
These errors have resulted in the DVLA reissuing driving licences to people who clearly should have been classed as high risk offenders and should have been legally required to undergo a DVLA medical in order to prove their fitness to drive before their driving licence was reissued to them.
A total of 265,225 drivers records have been identified that did not contain the required information on alcohol levels. Drivers who should have been classed as high risk offenders are now being contacted so that they can undergo the the required DVLA medical assessment immediately. Those drivers who fail to comply with the requirement will lose their entitlement to drive, no matter how long they have been driving following the end of their disqualification periods.
Unfortunately two cases have also been identified where drivers who should have been classed as high risk offenders were reissued their driving licences in error without having to prove their fitness to drive and they subsequently went on to cause fatalities while driving under the influence.
The sentencing courts and the DVLA are now implementing new changes to their IT systems that will not allow drink driving cases to be processed without valid alcohol readings.
The official statement issued by the Department of Transport concerning these errors can be found here.
Last edited by a moderator:
