Things you should know about the driving ban

Driving when you are under the influence of alcohol is a serious crime and can cost you your life or lives of innocent people. So it is best if you don't drink when you have to drive as it will save you from many problems including high car insurance for drink driving!

How much alcohol are you allowed to consume if you are driving?

A Breath or Breatherlyser Test as it is commonly referred to is carried out if you are stopped on the roads by police officers to make sure you are not over the alcohol driving limit.

If you have a blood test, it is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. For a breath test, it is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milliliters of breath. And for a urine test, it is 107 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of urine.

How can you reduce a driving ban?

You can decrease the length of your disqualification by completing a rehabilitation course. This course enables you to reduce your driving ban by at least a quarter of its term, that is, if you were disqualified for a year, you may be able to drive after 9 months provided you complete the course. However you cannot choose to do this driving rehabilitation course by yourself as it needs to be recommended by the magistrate of the Court which sentenced you in the first place but you do have the option of not doing it if you don't feel like it. You should also know that the drink drive rehabilitation course can cost you about £250 and punctuality is a must if you want to complete it. The length of the course is between 16 to 30 hours and it is divided into several sessions. During the course you will learn how consuming alcohol can slow down your metabolism and the impact it has on your driving ability. The idea behind it is to make you more aware of the adverse effects of drink driving.

What is the risk of driving while being banned?

You really don't want to take such a high risk after being banned from driving, do you? The chances of you getting caught while being disqualified are really high even if you are driving as carefully as possible because police have sophisticated technologies which can scan a vehicle registration number and pull down all the details of both the vehicle and the driver.

If you are caught driving on a ban, you could be sent to prison. You will also have to pay a fine and your disqualification will be extended.

List of drink drive rehabilitation course providers

 

COMMENTS (3)

I have been banned 3 times for drink driving and i am currently on a 3 year ban. My father has just had a stroke and is unfit to drive and my sister is disabled. Would i be able to get my ban reduced so that i can help with my father & sisters transport, shopping and things. I would go before a doctor for a medical and anything else that i might have to do. Please advise.
Posted by bernard mayes on 27th Jan 2008 at 12:51
I was caught driving under the influence of alcohol while I was still on my R plates but it was only the next morning when I was driving to work at 10am (I had been out the night before) that my reading was 39 in breath. I sat the rehabilitation course and my ban was reduced to 9 months.

What I'm wondering is if you have sat this course, does this make geting insurance any easier???
Posted by Andrew Smyth on 29th Jan 2008 at 09:58
Andrew,

The driving rehabilitation course only allows you to reduce your driving ban to a shorter term and will not facilitate the process of getting car insurance under these circumstances. Insurance companies will still take into account your driving offence I'm afraid.
Posted by gices on 31st Jan 2008 at 04:59
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