Drink Driving Solicitors

Our drink driving solicitors are experts in road traffic or driving offences and can help if you’ve been caught over the legal drinking and driving limit. Our solicitors have many years’ experience and are best rated in the North East, having successfully defended many previous clients against drink driving offences.

Drink driving penalties

If you face a charge of drink driving, you should seek specialist advice as soon as possible. Driving or attempting to drive while over the alcohol limit normally carries mandatory disqualification of at least 12 months. The court will also consider punishment from a fine to a prison sentence depending on your alcohol reading and the circumstances.

Every drink driving case is different, and our specialist drink driving solicitors will fully consider the evidence against you and provide expert representation at trial.

It can be possible to avoid disqualification if “special reasons” are proved – for example, if you have driven in an emergency or only a very short distance.

If you decide to plead guilty, we will provide specialist drink driving advice and representation to reduce the punishment. We will ensure you are considered for the Drink Drivers Rehabilitation Scheme which can reduce your disqualification by up to one quarter.

Our drink driving solicitors understand the importance of your driving licence – whether you wish to challenge the drink driving charge or reduce the disqualification or punishment imposed, contact us for further advice.

If you’ve been caught under the influence of drugs when driving, you should seek advice from our drug driving solicitors.

What is the legal drink driving limit?

In England and Wales the current drink drive limits are as follows:

In breath – 35 mg
In blood – 80mg
In urine – 107mg

Please note there is no longer a requirement for the police to offer a blood or urine test if your breath reading is below 50mg.

Your alcohol levels are measured through a specimen of breath, blood or urine. It is an offence to refuse to provide a specimen unless you have a reasonable excuse (a physical or mental inability), a reasonable excuse does not include delaying giving a sample “until you receive legal advice.”

Failing to provide a specimen

If you refuse to give a specimen, whether it be a breath test, blood or urine sample, you will be charged with this offence. If you are convicted of failing to provide a specimen, you will be disqualified from driving and can receive a higher punishment than for a drink driving.

The fact that you claim not to have consumed any alcohol, consumed alcohol since driving, or claim to not have been driving at all, will not be considered as a reasonable excuse for failing to provide a specimen.

You should therefore provide a sample, even if you think the request for a specimen is unjustified.

Footage from custody
Footage of the drink/drive procedures can be crucial evidence in your case. We often identify issues with the police procedures from this. Footage is automatically destroyed after 28 days unless a request is made to retain it. Please seek early advice so that necessary requests can be made.

Our fees

In accordance with rules published by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, as of December 2018 all firms offering this type of work must publish details of prices and personnel undertaking the work. Please see our dedicated fees page for more information.