Drink Driving - Sydney & NSW Legal Advice

Have you had a big night that didn’t end up the way you thought it would?

Perhaps you’ve been caught drink driving

When that happens you need the help of the trained professionals at Gerard Malouf & Partners. We are well known as the firm that helps out the little guy against the big guys. Whether it’s big insurance companies or the police, we’ll fight for you.

Other firms may well see you as another number. Here at Gerard Malouf and Partners, we treat our clients as people.

We operate on a “no win, no fee” basis, subject to conditions and your initial consultation with an experienced solicitor is free of charge. Our experienced solicitors have over 26 years experience and regularly attend the Local Court and District Court. We are proud of our 98% success rate and have won $100’s millions in damages for our clients.

There is a common perception in the community that a drink driving charge can never be successfully defended. This isn’t necessarily true. While many drink driving charges aren’t successfully defended, there are some circumstances in which they can be successfully defended. Below is a brief explanation of some of the ways in which they can be.

A PCA Charge – What is It?

It is common for people to refer to a drink driving charge as a DUI (driving under the influence). This is inaccurate because for a person to be charged with a DUI, the police have to prove that they operated a vehicle “under the influence of alcohol”. This is very difficult to prove as it is highly subjective. For this reason most drink driving charges are PCA, not DUI. PCA (Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol) allows the police to charge a person with drink driving as long as they have their blood over the “Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol”. In this respect it doesn’t matter whether you were under the influence of alcohol or not. This is much easier for the police to prove as all they have to do is show that the amount of alcohol in your blood is greater than the prescribed amount.

How to Challenge the Reading

The devices which the police use to measure your blood-alcohol level are normally very accurate and well maintained. Sometimes, however, it is possible to challenge the reading of an alcoholmeter as it may not be the same as the reading you had at the time you were driving. It is important to remember that the crime is driving while over the limit, so what is important is what your reading was at the time you were driving.

The normal practice is for the police to give you a road side breath test, if you read above the PCA they will take you back to the police station to test you on the more accurate alcoholmeter. This normally takes about 30 mins. Because your blood alcohol level goes up and down over time, the reading that you get from the alcoholmeter might not be representative of your blood alcohol content at the time you were driving.

With enough information, scientists retained by us can calculate your likely reading at the time of driving. This means that sometimes it is possible for us to prove that, although you were over the limit at the time of your breath analysis, you were not over the limit at the time you drove. This means that you were not guilty of drink driving. Even if you were well over the limit, we can apply the same principles to reduce the range from high to mid range and from mid to low range. This will substantially reduce the penalty.

Below are a few little-known facts about drink driving:

1. Honest and Reasonable Mistake: It is a defence to a PCA charge if you honestly and reasonably thought that you were under the limit at the time of driving.

2. The 2 Hour Rule: The police cannot require you to undertake a breath test if it has been more than 2 hours since you drove a car. This means that if you were tested more than 2 hours after you last drove it may be possible to have the evidence of your intoxication thrown out when you go to court.

3. The Home & Safe Rule: Under this rule it is illegal for the police to require you to submit to a breath test at your home. If the police do test you at home, as above, the evidence of your intoxication can be thrown out of court.

So, if you feel that your drink driving charge may have been unfair, or if you feel that one of the above defences may apply to you, come in and speak to one of our experienced lawyers for a free initial consultation and let us see if there is something that we can do to help.

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Should you have any enquiries, need legal advice or wish to accept our offer of a free consultation, do not hesitate to contact us on Free Call 1800 004 878 or complete the following form & one of our friendly staff will contact you back during normal business hours.