Hit by a drunk driver

[Sherv]

Although the driver in question is not going to be charged with drink driving, she is going to be charged with driving without due care and attention. Can anyone tell me what penalties this woman will incur, and what are people's views of the police not prosecuting a driver if they don't hit the magic 39 mg/100 once breathalysed at the station (she registered 52mg/100 at the drash site).

[NORMANTHEDOG]

driving without due care,etc. carries 3 to 9 pts on their licence with a fine and maybe costs.

[gsxr1100tony]

Im outraged that if she was found to be over the limit that she was not prosecuted for drink driving. My friend got done for being slightly over the limit, second offensive got 3 years ban, 14 week course and 400 community service. I would appeal about her being let off to be honest and this is not good policing. What would of happend if the accident was more serious!!! Go for an appeal

[Sherv]

Apparently it is common practice for the police not to prosecute if the breathalyser test score is under 40mg/100, even though the legal limit is 35mg/100. I feel cheated by the law, and lucky, in that my two year old daughter and myself walked away from the crash relatively unscathed. Our car is a complete write off however.

[jake-the-peg]

The CPS have 2 rules for prosecution - firstly it must be in the public interest and secondly they must have a reasonable chance of sucess.

I rather imagine that this buffer zone is there to make sure that they don't get tangled up with cases where there's lots of technical arguments about accuracy and stuff like that.

If they started to bring lots of cases where people were only just over and started to lose some of them it might send the signal that it was worth contesting the charges and people would lose confidence in the system.

[ugly_bob]

unfortunately the hand held breathalysers are not 100% accurate and cannot be used for prosecution. They need to take a sample at the station to prosecute.
Obviously when tested on reliable equipment she was found not to have enough alcohol in her system to prosecute.
The main thing is that no-one was hurt - Metal will repair/replace. People less so.

[Sherv]

I do understand what you are saying. I've only been driving 9 months, and I assumed I would be the cause of an accident, not the victim of one... and she HAD been drinking. I feel slightly bitter.

[Keeprockin]

As ugly_bob says,the second reading must have been within the legal limit. As far as I'm aware,there is no leeway whatsoever if the reading had gone over. The police will try and prosecute at every opportunity. Unfortunately,your prang was just part of the joys of motoring,hopefully you'll be waiting a long while before your next 'battle scar'

[JudgeJ]

Magistrates do have the option of imposing a disqualification (instead of penalty points) for any offence which carries an endorsement. (Indeed they have the power to disqualify for any offence - even those which are not directly related to driving). If the offence is aggravated considerably they always consider this option.

The offence of careless driving covers a wide range of misdemeanours from a simple rear-end prang up to accidents where death results. There is currently no offence of causing death by careless driving and unless the driving behaviour can be classified as dangerous then no extra charges can be brought even when a fatal accident has occurred.

As a result careless driving often results in a ban instead of points in serious circumstances. The fact that this culprit was intoxicated (albeit not over the legal limit) should be raised by the prosecution as an aggravating factor and, coupled with the fact that an accident was caused, it may well be sufficient to persuade the Bench to impose a ban.

[Sherv]

Firstly thank you all for contributing your answers.

I feel I need to clarify, that this woman, legally, was over the limit when she was tested at the police station. The legal limit is 35mg/100ml of breath expelled. She registered 38mg/100ml. However at the crash site she registered 52mg/100ml.

If this woman had not been drinking it is highly probable that the accident would not have happened.

Does anyone know if it would be possible, as the victim, to make representations to the judge?

[JudgeJ]

The Police should have offered you the opportunity to provide a �Victim Impact Statement�. In practice they rarely do this unless prompted so you should speak to the �officer in the case� and insist that you are given the chance to provide this statement. It will be presented, by the prosecution, to the court in the event that the defendant either pleads or is found guilty.

If you do make such a statement, the police have no authority to influence what you include or what you do not include. It is YOUR opportunity to provide the Court with details of how this crime had an impact upon you. Provided it contains no lies or anything which cannot be substantiated it will be read in full.

You should also make sure that you submit a compensation schedule which should cover the sums you have had to pay out in uninsured losses. If your car was insured Third Party only it will be for the cost of replacement of the car. If your insurers are paying out for your loss, there will still be other losses such as the policy excess, any fares or car hire charges etc. that you have incurred. Unfortunately any compensation ordered is means tested by the Court so if the perpetrator has insufficient funds you will only be awarded a proportion of your losses.

Finally, bear in mind that this case will be heard at the magistrates� court. Unless a District Judge is sitting on the day (and this is unlikely) it will be heard by a Bench of three �lay� magistrates.