Road safety 

Drink and drug driving

Thames Valley Police tests thousands of people for drink and drug driving – don’t take a chance, it isn’t worth it.

If you drink alcohol or take drugs and drive, you put yourself, your loved ones and other road users at risk.

Drink and drug driving is totally unacceptable and is a serious crime. Thames Valley Police works to tackle drink and drug driving all year round.

Superintendent Rob Povey, head of Roads Policing for Thames Valley, said: “Drinking and driving wrecks lives, most obviously the hundreds of victims and their loved ones who are killed each year.

“But it also changes the lives of the people who are selfish or stupid enough to drive when they are not fit to do so.”

The drink drive limit

• The current legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, or 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, or 107 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine.
• At twice the legal limit, you are at least 50 times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision than a driver who hasn’t been drinking. At twice the legal limit, you are at least 30 times more likely to cause a road crash.

Penalties

A drink drive conviction has the potential to ruin your life.

All drivers who provide a positive breath test or face a field impairment test to determine whether they have been using drugs, refuse to provide or fail to provide, face losing their licence for at least 12 months.

If you are convicted for a drink or drug drive offence, you:

• Will lose your licence for a minimum of one year.
• Will have a criminal record.
• May go to prison for up to six months.
• May have to pay a fine of up to £5,000.
• May lose your job (15 per cent of those convicted do).
• Face very high insurance costs once you get your licence back.
• Will have difficulty hiring a car within ten years of your conviction.

If you are convicted twice in ten years, you face a three-year driving ban. To get your licence back, you may also have to convince a doctor that you do not have a drink problem.

If you are convicted of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, you face:

• Up to 14 years in prison.
• An unlimited fine.
• A minimum two-year driving ban.
• A mandatory extended driving test.

Superintendent Povey said: “How will you live your life having killed your girlfriend or somebody else’s loved one?

“How will you cope with a lengthy spell in prison? And even if you don’t have a crash and we catch you driving when you are over the limit, you will find yourself in a cell with enough time to contemplate the next 12 months without your driving licence.”

Important advice

You cannot calculate your alcohol limit, so do not try – it depends on the amount and type of drink, your weight, sex, age, and metabolism.

Drinking any alcohol – even a small drink – makes you a worse driver because you do not judge speed and distance as well and you do not react as quickly. The only safe way is to not drink alcohol at all.

Please take note of the following advice:

• If you are planning a night out, think about how you are going to get home.
• Do not drive to the venue – you may be tempted to drive home after drinking.
• Drink soft drinks until you get home.
• Book a taxi to take you home – if you believe that you can’t afford to do this, think about whether you can afford to kill yourself, an innocent person or lose your driving licence.
• Use public transport to get home, or stay overnight.
• Never offer an alcoholic drink to someone who you know is driving.