UK DRINK DRIVING LAW : ACCIDENT CLAIMS

Our solicitors represent the injured victims of negligent drivers in drink driving accident claims throughout the United Kingdom on a no win no fee basis. If the other driver has been identified then compensation for the pain and suffering of personal injury and all other losses is always paid in full with no deductions whatsoever. Our lawyers do not require you to pay anything at all to them throughout the course of the claim and no win no fee claims handled by UK Lawyers are genuinely risk free.

The legal blood/alcohol limit in the UK is 80milligrams of alcohol contained in 100 ml of blood, 35 micrograms of alcohol contained in 100 millilitres of breath, or 107 milligrams in 100 ml of urine.

Current drink driving law requires that the police can only ask a driver to undertake a breath test in certain restricted circumstances. Anyone who is driving or is attempting to drive or who is in charge of a motor vehicle on a road, highway or in a public place can be required to provide a sample of breath for analysis to ascertain whether they are over the prescribed limit of alcohol. The only person that is allowed to make this request is a uniformed police officer in any one of the following circumstances :-

• There must be reasonable cause to suspect that a moving traffic offence has been committed or is about to be committed.
• There must be reasonable cause to suspect that the person driving or attempting to drive or who is in charge of the vehicle has been drinking.
• There must be reasonable cause to believe that the person driving or attempting to drive or who in charge of vehicle has been involved in an accident.

Drink driving means that vision will become less sensitive to red light including brake lights and traffic lights. Concentration will be severely impaired and it will take longer to react to fluctuating conditions and emergencies therefore increasing stopping distance and greatly increasing the risk of a drunk driver accident.

One unit of alcohol is 1 small glass(125ml) of wine (8% ABV), 1 small glass (50ml) of sherry or port (20% ABV), half a pint (284ml) of ordinary strength beer, lager or cider (3.5% ABV) or 1 single measure (25ml) of spirits (40% ABV).

The consumption of alcohol can have devastating and far reaching social and financial implications not only on the victim but also on the offender including a possible jail sentence, loss of driving licence for at least twelve months and a fine of up to £5,000. For a high risk offender whose blood alcohol level is above 200 mg or a second offender within the space of ten years the minimum disqualification period will be three years.