It is nearly that time again when the British Summer Time (BST) officially finishes, the clocks go back an hour and suddenly the mornings and evenings are darker. But we get an extra hour in bed so it’s not all bad!
However – the extra hour can catch you out if you’ve had a few drinks the night before – an extra hour of drinking could result in you unwittingly getting behind the wheel whilst still over the limit from the night before. According to Jeanette Miller of Geoffrey Miller Solicitors, specialists in drink drive cases, it is a common misconception that if you have been to bed you will be ‘alright to drive’ the morning after, as each person has an elimination rate of alcohol which varies. She says:
“We have countless number of enquiries from potential clients calling us for advice explaining that they thought they felt fine to drive and were shocked that they were still over the limit the morning after. The offence most commonly referred to as “Drink driving” is often misunderstood. The offence does not involve the police proving that a driver was “drunk” but that they were driving whilst over the ‘prescribed limit’, which means that you do not have to feel drunk to be guilty of the offence.”
“When the clocks go back, if you stop drinking at the original time you would normally call it a night then you will have an extra hour for the alcohol to be eliminated from your system and all should be fine as long as there is a sufficient gap between the last drink and the time you decide to drive. However, for the party animals out there who plan to take advantage of an extra hour’s drinking time, this could have a serious impact on your alcohol levels and if you choose to drive when there is still alcohol in your system, you face a possibility of a minimum 12 month driving disqualification and a criminal record.”Jeanette Miller of Geoffrey Miller Solicitors
If you do miscalculate your drinking and are over the limit, you might find yourself pulled over by the police and asked to take a breath test. This could result in you being carted off to the police station for an evidential breath test which results in a charge of drink driving. If you then wish to challenge the reading in defending any charge that is brought against you, Jeanette Miller explains:
“In most drink driving cases we work on, we will seek a report from an expert to compile a “Widmark” calculation. This calculation establishes the most likely and maximum level of alcohol in the client’s system at the time a specimen was provided. This is calculated on the basis of the individual’s height, weight, alcohol consumption and average rate of elimination of alcohol from the blood. The average rate of elimination is 18mg%/100ml blood every hour after the final drink is consumed. It is important to bear in mind that the legal limit is 80mg/100ml blood and that elimination rate is approximate depending on the other variables. If the ‘Widmark’ calculation result is different to the actual result on the breath testing device at the police station, this could be an avenue to explore whether the machine itself is reliable and calibrated correctly. However, the Widmark calculation may not be a viable defence if the reason your reading was over the limit was because you failed to take into account your extra hour of revelry!”
“Our advice would be – dokeep an eye on the time this Saturday/ Sunday and make sure that you do not fall foul of ‘the morning after the night before’ mistake.”Jeanette Miller of Geoffrey Miller Solicitors
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Geoffrey Miller Solicitors are specialists defending drivers nationwide for all types of driving offences. Call our team of expert driving offence solicitors for some free initial advice.
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