Are you in charge of a car if just sitting in the driver's seat with engine off?

Moody_Mare

Evilm wrote: »

I worked with a person whose brother got a Drink Driving conviction... by going to sleep on the back seat of the car with the keys in his pocket!

I think the only way you could get round it would be to put the keys through the door of a local business you expect to be open the next day (or leave them with the bartender) after unlocking the car and then going to sleep on the backseat - no keys, not in control of the car. (and I'm not even sure if that would work).

Correct I know of one case where that did not work, guy left keys in the pub ( rural area no taxi's after 1am) he had not expected to be there all night due to impromptu early birth celebration of relative. He booked a taxi for 8am pick up from pub as he knew he would still not be legal to drive and he was not capable of walking the 7 miles home. Slept in the back seat of car in pub car park and was nabbed by police. Case went to court ban, fine & points! he had no prior convictions for anything, this was about 10 years ago now. He was still drunk in charge of the car, even in a sleeping bag in the back!

Lum

Paradigm wrote: »

They might class it as that, it doesn't mean it is that! Just because the police say it's so doesn't mean it is.

If you read the pepipoo thread you would have expected a ban...he didn't get one!

Still got 10 points for drunk in charge though.

Given the cost of getting insurance with that on your licence it may as well be a 5 year ban.

patman99

The law on drink driving is a cloudy as a badly-kept pint. Fines/bans are not imposed by any rules, but by what kind of day a magistrate has had.

Recently in my local paper, a guy got a 3 year ban and a £500 fine for being just over the limit (and I really do mean just over). He was caught taking a converted childrens car (made as a college project) to his friends house 50 metres away from his own.

Compare this with the story in the next days edition in which a female motorist was caught whilst driving her children to school. She was 3 times the legal limit. She got a 12 month ban and only a £100 fine.

Quite clearly offender no. 1 has a good case to appeal, whilst the panel of magistrates were clearly all-male, and the woman a pretty blonde.

Paradigm

Lum wrote: »

Still got 10 points for drunk in charge though.

Given the cost of getting insurance with that on your licence it may as well be a 5 year ban.

I agree with you mostly but for "DIC" you would expect a ban similar to DD... he didn't get one. I wouldn't like to be paying his insurance either but I suppose it depends on how important your licence is? Magistrates court is a lottery at the best of times.

& yes, it's a stupid law!

Judas

patman99 wrote: »

The law on drink driving is a cloudy as a badly-kept pint. Fines/bans are not imposed by any rules, but by what kind of day a magistrate has had.

Recently in my local paper, a guy got a 3 year ban and a £500 fine for being just over the limit (and I really do mean just over). He was caught taking a converted childrens car (made as a college project) to his friends house 50 metres away from his own.

Compare this with the story in the next days edition in which a female motorist was caught whilst driving her children to school. She was 3 times the legal limit. She got a 12 month ban and only a £100 fine.

Quite clearly offender no. 1 has a good case to appeal, whilst the panel of magistrates were clearly all-male, and the woman a pretty blonde.

A lot of crap. The sentencing guidelines on ban relate to how far over the limit someone and aggravating factors.

The fine is on a level dependent on how far over the limit someone is and is related to earnings after that.

As said if you provide a believable defence that you did not intend to drive or control the car whilst drunk then you will be found not guilty. The legilsation is a preventative measure for drunk/illegal drivers so police do not need to allow the offence to occur.

For example if the car was parked up in a locked car park; keys in your pocket and asleep on the back seat and you couldnt leave the car park until after you were sober as long as you were believable not guilty.

Its worth noting though it isnt just at the time of the offence not driving; if the police suspect you plan to sit for a while then offend and you dont counter this you are guilty.

Yorkie1

patman99 wrote: »

Recently in my local paper, a guy got a 3 year ban and a £500 fine for being just over the limit (and I really do mean just over).

Quite clearly offender no. 1 has a good case to appeal

If he was just over the limit, he would not have received a 3 year ban. It sounds as though this was not his first offence in 10 years. If you repeat offend within 10 years then it's an automatic 3 year ban even if you're only just over the limit. No right of appeal.

But that wouldn't make good journalism, to tell the whole truth, would it?

samhuzz

A friend of ours got prosecuted for drink driving for sitting in his car outside his own house putting the steering wheel lock on. He got disqualified for a year.

movilogo

Reading this thread, it seems that some laws are applied more to screw people and than actually doing any good to anyone.

skiddlydiddly

A friend of my g/f was banned for getting a cd out of the player in the car parked on the drive.He was over the limit and unlucky enough that a patrol car saw him entering the car and did him for it.

I've been to a show before with friends and we went out on the lash then kipped in the cars in Doncaster race course car park.I swapped keys with one of them just in case ie the keys to my car were in his car and vice versa.Sounds like I was covered then.

thescouselander

Something even stranger happened to me. I was coming out of a pub once and the police were stopping everyone demanding to look at their keys. When I showed them my keys and they saw my car keys were attached they said they were going to do me for drink driving as I clearly intended to drive. I had an argument with them for a bit and explained that I always had my car keys attached to my house keys and that my car was still at home - they could go and check if they liked. Anyway, eventually they let me go but I did think the whole thing was totally ridiculous and I did feel harassed.

Can you really be done for drink driving for being in possession of a car key?