Punishments For Drunk Driving
Driving Offense Punishments Author: Andrew Marshall There are a number of crimes related to driving in the UK, with some more serious than others. Different punishments apply depending on the offense as well as its nature and whether it is a minor infraction of the law or a more serious one. ...
Driving Offense Punishments
Author: Andrew Marshall
There are a number of crimes related to driving in the UK, with some more serious than others. Different punishments apply depending on the offense as well as its nature and whether it is a minor infraction of the law or a more serious one.
DRINK DRIVING
Drink driving is an issue that has got more and more coverage in the media, and is being cracked down more than ever. The legal drink driving limit in the UK is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. Being caught drink driving, or driving under the influence of drug (including some prescription drugs) could lead to up to six month imprisonment and a fine of anything up to £5,000. In most cases this will include a driving ban of between one and three years. Refusing to co-operate if stopped by police is also an offence and can carry the same punishment. By law, anyone who is asked by police must agree to a breath test, and failure to do so is illegal.
If a death has been caused by someone driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, then the potential punishment is more severe. There could be a jail sentence of up to 14 years and an unlimited fine. At least a two year driving ban will be given, but this could be much longer depending on the nature of the offence.
SPEEDING
The seriousness of speeding depends on a variety of factors, such as the area where the offense is committed, prior driving offenses, and how far over the speed limit you are. Minor offenses will result in a £60 fine and 3 penalty points. Driving around 10 miles per hour over the speed limit will usually result in this, although it does depend. More serious speeding offenses could carry a fine of £1,000, or £2,500 on a motorway. These could mean 6 penalty points, although a very serious offense could mean a driving ban.
DANGEROUS DRIVING
Many offenses could come under the heading of dangerous driving. This could be excessive speed, or driving without due care in other ways. Dangerous driving will lead to a court case, and if found guilt will mean a ban of at least a year. On top of this there will be either a fine, community service or in more serious cases, a prison sentence.
DRIVING WITHOUT INSURANCE OR LICENCE
Driving without the correct insurance or without a license are considered serious offenses.
Driving without insurance carries a 6 to 8 point penalty is most cases, but can lead to a driving ban, and a fine of up to £5,000. If someone is not insured on the specific car they are driving, but have insurance for their car, the offense is still considered as serious as not having any insurance. Letting an uninsured driver drive your car is also illegal.
Driving without a licence will incur a penalty of between 3 and 6 penalty points, which will be added if the person in question ever gets a driving licence. This would mean an immediate ban, and then having to re-take a driving test once the ban is over.
DRIVING WITHOUT AN MOT OR ROAD TAX
These offenses are less serious, but will still result in a fine if caught. Being caught driving without an MOT will mean a fine of less than £100, and your licence may be revoked until you have had the MOT completed. This is to prevent you from continuing to drive without the MOT. Driving without a valid tax disk will result in an £80 fine, and a warning to renew the road tax.
OTHER
There are other driving offenses as well, including driving without a seatbelt, having lights that are broken or not working, or driving where not permitted (e.g. wrong way down a one-way system). This will usually just mean an on the spot fine and a warning of future conduct.
Offenses that can lead to serious accidents are treated most seriously, while there is some leniency to those that could only cause minor problems. Drink driving and dangerous driving are most likely to cause serious accidents so are punished more severely. Speeding is dealt with according to the offense. It is easy to drive a few miles per hour over the limit without realising it and it is unlikely to make the situation much more dangerous. Driving an excessive speed could cause a very serious accident so are punished accordingly. Someone driving without insurance is deemed more of an infraction of the law than someone driving without an up to date MOT or road tax. Causing injury to someone or damaging someone's property or vehicle without insurance will mean you are not covered for damage that could cost a vast amount. It would, however, be easy to forget to update an MOT or road tax, and it would not cause an accident (unless an MOT is way over due) so the punishments are not so severe.
Andrew Marshall ©
They need to be as severe as it takes to save innocent lives. I’m sure we all know of someone who was killed by a drunk driver. They make the choice to drive drunk, let them take the punishment.
Do you think punishments for Drunk Driving are severe enough?
I don’t. I live in Southern Wisconsin, and around here drunk driving is a huge problem (well actually, it’s a huge problem everywhere in the U.S. but it’s especially bad here. I live near a few bars, and every friday night, there are hundreds of people driving away from the bar, probably stinking drunk. In Wisconsin, First-offense Drunk Driving isn’t even a misdemeanor, just a municipal traffic offense! As long as there’s someone sober to drive you home, you don’t even go to jail, you just get a ticket and your license gets suspended! And license suspension just doesn’t work, people just drive anyway. In the police blotter of my local paper you hear about people being caught with a suspended license on a weekly basis! You don’t need a lcense to drive, you just need to know how to drive. I personally think they should use Public, Televised Canings or Whippings followed by a few months in PRISON, not just a county jail, for FIRST OFFENSE. Then double the penalty for repeated offenses.
And people even get light sentences for permanently maining people in car accidents! A few years ago, a 5-year-old girl was paralyzed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver! And the guy responisble-who had a B.A.C. of 0.40 and it was something like his 8th offense-only got 7 years and 6 months in prison! That case made me so mad, i think he should have been burned at the stake!!! OK, OK, i guess that’s inhumane, but tell me paralyzing a 5-year-old isn’t! He should have at least gotten life in prison since the disabilities he inflicted will last a lifetime!
And keep in mind that the government has imposed all sorts of rediculous secutiry regulations since 9/11 to protect people from terrorism, but it’s actually mcuh more likely you’ll get killed by a drunk driver than by a terrorist! In 2001, the 9/11 attacks killed about 3,000 poeple. But that same year, 17,448 people were killed in the U.S. in car accidents casued by drivers with an illegal B.A.C. So drunk drivers actually killed more that 5 times as many americans as terrorists did in 2001, and most years terrorists kill hardly anyone. So do you seriously think terrorism is a bigger threat than drunk drivers?
And keep in mind that the government has imposed all sorts of rediculous secutiry regulations since 9/11 to protect people from terrorism, but it’s actually mcuh more likely you’ll get killed by a drunk driver than by a terrorist! In 2001, the 9/11 attacks killed about 3,000 poeple. But that same year, 17,448 people were killed in the U.S. in car accidents casued by drivers with an illegal B.A.C. So drunk drivers actually killed more that 5 times as many americans as terrorists did in 2001, and most years terrorists kill hardly anyone. So do you seriously think terrorism is a bigger threat than drunk drivers?
My point is that public, televised floggings and canings might act as a good deterrent, because people would see them and wouldn’t want that to happen to them. But i do agree that better enforcement would be an excellent solution. I’ve heard of breath test devices that would be put in cars, and would prevent the vehicle from starting if the drivre was intoxicated. I think either Toyota or maybe Honda was testing them, i hope they become standard in all cars soon.
I think a breath tester that activates a G.P.S. tracker when it detects a high B.A.C. coudl work wonders too. My idea is that the G.P.S. would activate and give the police the location of the car, so they could come and catch the driver. That would be a good solution for people who bring open bottles of alcohol in a vehicle, and are thus sober when they start the car but drink while driving.
To Babe: What makes you think i can move? By the way, what do you mean by “strip those rights away”?! Do you think people should have the right to recklessly endanger innocent people’s lives and safety by driving drunk?! If you ever get injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver, i bet you’ll feel differently. You’ll probably also feel differently if one of your loved ones gets killed or injured by a drunk driver.
Should there be tougher punishments for Drunk Driving?
In my town a drunk driver hit a car and killed a 3 year old little girl. Should the law be tougher on all drunks caught? Would this send a message that we’re not going to put up with this anymore?
Since the 18 year is an adult under the eyes of the law, the punishment will be the same as for any adult. The only difference is if over 21 it has to be 0.08 and under 21 it has to be 0.02.
Figure a fine, suspended license for six months, drivers classes or substance abuse classes. Also the insurance company will jack up his insurance rates something fierce.
I think it’s a wise idea to make alcohol illegal as well! All it does is impare driving and causes fights at home, too much money being spent on it and way to many in counseling for it. I say “just get rid of it too”! I feel for the family of the three year old ~ what a terrible loss! Just another great reason ~ make it illegal!
What’s the possible punishment for drunk driving, hit and run, killing 5 people in U.S?
Heavily drunk, hit and run, killed 5 people including a pregnant woman with a 6~7 months baby. 4 got hurt.
Why this kind of driver can’t be sentenced to death? He knew he would got drunk that night but still drove there. He got drunk but didn’t spend that night at hotel. He knew what might be caused. It is like a deliberate murder to me.
What would the punishment be for driving drunk AND being underage?
A friend of mine was just pulled over for drunk driving yesterday night. She is only 18 years old. Just curious what kind of punishment she’s looking at. We’re in Ohio.
Should there be more punishment for teenage drunk driving in order to eiminate the crime?
If there are more punishments then will it help to solve to problem? Should there be more fines? What kind of punishment would be appropriate? Explain. Can you include some facts?
Should teenagers get graduated licenses? Is this going to help lower the number of crimes? Please give me very specific details and cite some examples. If you know some websites that have great sources what are they? Please list. Thank you.
Yes there should be. Teenagers should be scared and deterred to drink and drive. I think an overnight in JAIL would do the trick.