Motoring offences include:
- Driving under the influence of alcohol.
- Driving while under the influence of drugs
- Drive with Excess Drugs
- Medications that require a prescription from a medical professional.
- If you refuse to provide a breath or blood sample, this will be considered a failure.
- Driving carelessly and dangerously
- Driving under Disqualification
- Not stopping or reporting an accident is a failure.
- Driving without valid insurance, a driver’s license, or speeding.
- The Licensing of Taxis
Driving under the influence of alcohol.
The maximum limit of alcohol that you are legally allowed to have in your system when driving or being in charge of a motor vehicle is 36mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath and 81ml of blood.
Roadside breath tests usually show if a person is over or under the legal limit. If they are found to be above the limit, they might get arrested, detained at the Police Station, and have to take more formal tests (including giving blood).
Those who remain over the limit will face being charged with an offense and will have to attend the Magistrates Court.
The amount of alcohol in your system will impact the severity of the sentence if you are caught driving or operating a motor vehicle. Our solicitors can review your case and let you know what to expect given your specific circumstances.
If you are caught driving with excess alcohol, the law requires that you be banned from driving for a minimum of 12 months.
Driving while under the influence of drugs
If you are caught driving under the influence of drugs, you will lose your license for at least 12 months.
Our solicitors in Wrexham and Mold can advise you if there are any potential defenses to your charges, both at the police station and in court. The determination of whether someone is driving while unfit through drugs is usually made by a police surgeon after an examination at the police station. However, this assessment can be challenged by other expert analyses.
If you plead guilty to an offense, our solicitors can help you by presenting your case in court and trying to get the best possible outcome for you.
Drive with Excess Drugs
Starting from 2nd March 2015, anyone using illegal drugs (or certain prescription drugs) can now be prosecuted if they drive with high levels of the relevant substance in their system, even if there is no evidence that they are impaired.
It is important to remember that drugs take longer to leave your system than most people realize. The limits set by Parliament are intentionally very low, so even if you occasionally use cannabis, you could be stopped and tested positive for it. If this happens, you could face a 12-month disqualification from driving.
The Limits
Although the maximum amount of prescription medication you’re allowed to carry is relatively high, the limit for illegal drugs is set much lower. The reason for this is that these substances are already against the law, so lawmakers believe that you shouldn’t be taking them at all.
The new law specifies maximum concentrations of substances “per liter of blood” as follows:
- Benzoylecgonine (a chemical created when your body breaks down cocaine) 50
- Clonazepam 50
- Cocaine 10
- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis) 2
- Diazepam 550
- Flunitrazepam 300
- Ketamine 20
- Lorazepam 100
- Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) 1
- Methadone 500
- Methylamphetamine 10
- Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)10
- 6-Monoacetylmorphine (Heroin) 5
- Morphine 80
- Oxazepam 300
- Temazepam 1000
The amount of the substance required to reach said limits would depend on numerous external factors, such as a person’s height, weight, and metabolic rate. As is the case with drunk driving, one individual may process a drug differently than another person. We have found through experience that just a few inhalations from smoking a Cannabis joint can put people over the legal limit.
It is crucial to remember that drugs often stay in your system much longer than alcohol. Even if you feel sober after taking an illegal substance, driving could still be unsafe because the drug’s effects typically last much longer than people anticipate.
The length of time it takes for a drug to leave your system varies depending on the type and amount of drug taken, how it was taken, your characteristics, and whether the drug was mixed with any other substance. We have found that people can still be detected over 24 hours after taking certain drugs.
The government has not given any clear guidance about how long these drugs typically stay in your system. They continue to maintain the view that these drugs are illegal and you should not take them at all.
Although drug detection times vary depending on the individual, we can offer general timelines for how long drugs usually stay in a person’s system.
The average amount of time that different drugs covered by the offense will stay in a person’s system are:
- Cannabis: 2 – 3 days for one-off use (up to two months for chronic users)
- Cocaine: 12 hours – 3 days
- MDMA: 1 – 4 days
- Heroin: 2 – 5 days
- Ketamine: 2 – 4 days
- LSD: 1 – 3 days
- Crystal Meth: 1 – 4 days
The Roadside Test
The only drugs that can be detected by a roadside drug test are cocaine and cannabis. These substances can be picked up on a mobile device that analyses saliva.
The initial results are ready within 8 minutes.
If you test positive for alcohol during a roadside breathalyzer test, you will be taken to the police station. You will then have to provide an evidential blood sample, which is the sample that motorists will be prosecuted based on, not the initial indication provided by the roadside device.
Police still can give a field sobriety test.
If you fail a field sobriety test, the police will probably arrest you for driving while intoxicated. However, if they find traces of drugs in your system above the legal limit, you will be charged with
drug DUI. The new offense is seen as easier to convict because the Prosecution does not need to find a connection between the substance and any driving impairment.
Prescription Drugs
If you’re worried that the amount of your prescription medication covered by the offense, speak to your GP or pharmacist. The limits for legally prescribed drugs are set at a normal therapeutic dose, so most patients don’t need to worry.
If you are taking more medication than directed, you have a medical defense if the medication was prescribed to you, follow directions, and adhere to any time restrictions on driving after taking the medication.
We suggest that people who take higher doses of medicine than average carry evidence of their prescribing instructions from their healthcare professional. This will expedite investigations into their medical defense.
If you take prescription medication and want to know if it’s okay to supplement with over-the-counter medicine, consult your GP first.
If you refuse to provide a breath or blood sample, this will be considered a failure.
If a person is caught driving under the influence and refuses to give a breath or blood sample at the police station, they will face more serious penalties. This offense carries a mandatory disqualification from driving for at least 12 months. If there is evidence of intoxication and deliberate refusal, the driver can go to prison for this offense.
If you’ve been accused of this crime, you must get in touch with our Wrexham firm immediately.
Driving carelessly and dangerously
Our solicitors can help you by preparing and conducting dangerous or careless driving trials.
Unlike careless driving, which is often penalized with a fine and points on your license, dangerous driving is a much more severe charge.
Simply put, driving carelessly means not meeting the standards set by careful drivers. Unfortunately, what falls under this term can often be disputed. There usually has to be a detailed discussion to determine if the driving involved was careless or not.
Our solicitors located in Wrexham and Mold will listen to the specifics of your case before offering experienced-based advice on whether you should contest any charges related to this offense.
If you are caught driving carelessly or unsafely, you may be faced with severe penalties, such as prison time. If you find yourself in this situation, it is important to seek legal counsel as soon as possible to avoid any further damage to your case. Our experienced solicitors in Wrexham can help guide you through this process and protect your rights.
Driving under Disqualification
Driving while you are disqualified means that you are ignoring a court order, which is dealt with very severely. If you are accused of this offense, contact our solicitors in Wrexham as soon as possible.
Not stopping or reporting an accident is a failure.
Road traffic collisions happen often, and it is your responsibility to stop and exchange details or report the incident to the Police if you are involved in one. This way, people will not be able to avoid their responsibilities if damage occurs because of these collisions.
If you don’t stop or report an accident, you could get penalized with a fine and points added to your license (usually 6pp).
If prison time is a possibility, we urge anyone charged with fleeing the scene or failing to report an accident to our Wrexham Solicitors for counsel.
Driving without valid insurance, a driver’s license, or speeding.
If you’re ever in the difficult situation of having to go to court, our solicitors in Wrexham can help by preparing your case or by providing detailed information on your behalf that could reduce the potential penalty.
For more information on motoring offences see abrahamsolicitors.co.uk.
The Licensing of Taxis
Our taxi licensing expert based in Wrexham can help with anything from Operator license issues to driver investigations or appeals. If you have a case you want to discuss, please get in touch with our Solicitors in Wrexham.