Q. What is the alcohol limit in England and Wales?

The alcohol limit for driving in England and Wales is set at 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath or 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Many people think that this equates to around 2 1/2 pints of normal strength lager or beer and are probably correct in this assumption. However, every individual is different and the amount a person can drink and stay below the limit varies widely. The only safe option is to drink no alcohol when you are driving.

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Q. What powers do the Police have to breathalyse me?

The Police can breathalyse you if they suspect that you have alcohol in your body. They do not have to know that you do and this suspicion can be gleaned from a number of sources. The most common is probably the smell of alcohol on your breath. Remember that the smell of alcohol is non-existent to someone who has been drinking but very strong to someone who has not. It can be clearly picked up over the smell of mints, even extra strong ones!
There is no need for you to have committed an offence for the Police to stop you and administer a breath test. Any vehicle can be stopped if it is being driven on a road or other public place and the smell of alcohol is then sufficient grounds to demand a breath test. The Police can breathalyse you if they have reasonable cause to believe that you have been driving with alcohol in your body and still have alcohol in your body. For example, this suspicion could come from a telephone call complaining that you had been drinking in a pub all night before driving home. Or an officer might see you park your car up and stagger away from it. It also applies to a driver who runs from his vehicle or to a group of people who are in a vehicle but the identity of the driver is not known (see 'What if nobody owns up to driving the vehicle?').
The Police can breathalyse you if you are committing a moving traffic offence. No suspicion of alcohol is required. These offences include things such as speeding, defective lights, dangerous driving etc. but do not include things such as no tax or other documents. If the officer can smell alcohol on your breath when he speaks to you, however, then he can breathalyse you under the above power.
The Police can breathalyse you if they have reasonable cause to believe that you were the driver at the time of a road accident. No suspicion of having alcohol in your body is required. If you are the registered owner of a motor vehicle that has been involved in a road accident in which the driver has left the scene, the Police are empowered to breathalyse you.

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Q. Do I need to have committed an offence for the Police to stop me?

There is no need for you to have committed an offence for the Police to stop you and administer a breath test. Any vehicle can be stopped if it is being driven on a road or other public place and the smell of alcohol is then sufficient grounds to demand a breath test.

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Q. What does the breath test procedure involve?

At the scene you will be required to blow into a handheld breathalyser. This is not 100% accurate and only gives the officer sufficient suspicion that you may be over the drink-drive limit and, therefore, the legal grounds on which to arrest you. This is not used to provide evidence of the amount of alcohol in your system. If this machine indicates that you may be over the limit, you will be arrested and taken to a local police station where the station procedure is performed. After the paperwork formalities of booking you in and giving you your rights etc. you will be required to provide 2 more samples of breath on a large station-based computer. Of the 2 samples provided, the highest sample is discarded and the lowest is used to evidence the amount of alcohol in your system. If your sample is below 50 mgs of alcohol per 100mls of breath you will be given the option of supplying a further specimen of blood or urine for laboratory analysis. If your sample is over 50 mgs of alcohol per 100 mls of breath then you are not given this option.

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Q. Can I delay the procedure to obtain legal advice?

No. The procedure will not be delayed for this purpose. If you are unsure about the legal position, it is best to provide a sample and to then consult a solicitor as soon as possible.

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Q. What if I'm over the limit at the scene but under at the station?

Normally in these situations you would be free to leave and no further action is taken. However, the Police can sometimes have a forensic scientist to analyse your sample to establish what you would have been at the time of actually driving the vehicle. This is unusual and normally carried out in the case of serious incidents such as fatal road accidents.

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Q. What if nobody owns up to driving the vehicle?

If there is more than 1 person in the vehicle and nobody is prepared to say who the driver is, the Police can breathalyse everybody in the vehicle, or any other person who they have reasonable suspicion to believe may have been the driver. It has been known for the Police in South Wales to breathalyse a coach load of rugby supporters after it was driven off without the official driver being present. The occupants refused to name the driver and were subsequently arrested, all 52 of them!

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Q. But what if I wasn't driving?

If you have been arrested in similar circumstances to the above and you were over the limit when tested, you would be just as liable to prosecution as the driver, should the identity of that person not be discovered. If his identity does come to light then it would be accepted that you had committed no offence. If you failed to provide a sample of breath, even if the identity of the driver is subsequently discovered, you would be liable to prosecution and would find yourself likely to be convicted in a magistrates court. See 'What if I can't blow hard enough?' and 'What if I just refuse to provide a sample?'

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Q. What is the minimum disqualification period if I'm over the limit?

The minimum disqualification period is 12 months. This is the least you can expect for the first offence. The statistics for convictions are valid for 10 years and if you are caught again within 10 years the minimum is then a 3 year disqualification. If you are caught again within 10 years, you face a very good chance of going to jail.

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Q. What if I can't blow hard enough?

If you are unable to blow into the breathalyser hard enough to satisfy the legal requirements you will be arrested for failing to supply a proper sample of breath. If you are again unable to provide the requisite 2 samples at the police station, and you have a bona fide excuse for not being able to do so, then you will be required to provide a sample of blood or urine instead. The choice of whether you supply blood or urine is the custody officer's and the normal option is to go for blood. You will be offered the choice, however, and your comments may then be considered when the final decision is made.

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Q. What if I just refuse to provide a sample?

If the Police are acting within their powers (see Police Powers) and you refuse to provide a sample of breath at the scene with no good cause, you commit an offence of failing to provide a sample. This does not carry a mandatory disqualification. If you refuse to provide the 2 samples at the police station, you commit a further offence of failing to provide a sample for analysis. This carries a mandatory disqualification just as if you had provided a positive sample. If you refuse, or simply fail to provide, at the scene and are then found to be well under at the police station, you still commit the offence of failing to provide a proper sample of breath at the scene. If you are one of a number of people in a vehicle and the driver is not identified, you must comply with the requirement to provide a sample of breath or you will commit this offence.

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