Can you be charged with drink driving......

waamo

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Really ? Sorry, not trying to be argumentative here, genuinely interested. I know about the "drunk in charge" thing (e.g. kipping in your car after a skinful in the pub car park ), but does this also apply to genuinely private land ( e.g. your own driveway / farm yard / private airfield / whatever ) ?

It depends if the public have access to it. Driveways are generally considered to be public places ie the postie can walk down it so by definition there is public access.

You would be able to drive behind a gated driveway though.

Gloomendoom

waamo wrote: »

It depends if the public have access to it. Driveways are generally considered to be public places ie the postie can walk down it so by definition there is public access.

You would be able to drive behind a gated driveway though.

That is not the case. The postie can only walk down your drive because you allow him to so your drive is not necessarily, by definition, a public place.

Captain_Flack.

Gloomendoom wrote: »

That is not the case. The postie can only walk down your drive because you allow him to so your drive is not necessarily, by definition, a public place.

Agreed and it is a poor example.

waamo

I agree perhaps postie was a bad example. If your neighbour or a window cleaner would be better.

Rover_Driver

Buzby wrote: »

Certainly in Scotland they have to prove 'intent'. For example, I have a Motorhome, and of an evening have enough drink to know I should not drive. As I have a bed, toilet and shower within, it is not sufficient that I have the vehicle keys for 'drunk in charge' to be relevant.

They would have to build an expectation that I actually intended to drive somewhere - and that would be virtually impossible.

S.4, Road Traffic Act 1988 - Drunk driving or drunk in charge, is the same offence in England, Wales and Scotland. There is a defence for 'in charge' if there is no likelihood of you driving while under the influence.

S.5, Road Traffic Act 1988 - Over the prescribed limit, is the same offence in England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland

Aretnap

waamo wrote: »

I agree perhaps postie was a bad example. If your neighbour or a window cleaner would be better.

Still bad examples. People with business at your house (posties, guests, neighbours popping in to borrow a cup of sugar) are still a special group of people, and their presence doesn't make it a public place. To be a public place it must in fact be used by the general public, and they must be there without violating an explicit or implied prohibition.

It's a myth that a gate or fence is required to make a place private - a keep out sign has the same effect, as does an implied restriction. It's very unlikely that your own driveway would be a public place, unless the public routinely used it, eg as a shortcut, and you made no attempt to stop them.

Some background in this recent case - note that was a case involving an ungated private drive which serviced around 20 different houses, and the High Court overturned a drink driving conviction on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to offer any evidence that it was used by the general public.

heath480

To answer the OP.The answer is yes.

Aretnap

waamo wrote: »

Just to be pedantic its not drink driving it is drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. You don't even have to have the engine running to be done.

Not quite. There are two separate offences - driving or attempting to drive while drunk, and being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. They have different penalties - up to 6 months jail, up to £5000 fine and mandatory one year ban for drink driving, or 3 months jail, £2500 fine and 10 points or discretionary ban for drunk in charge.

Aretnap

Buzby wrote: »

Certainly in Scotland they have to prove 'intent'. For example, I have a Motorhome, and of an evening have enough drink to know I should not drive. As I have a bed, toilet and shower within, it is not sufficient that I have the vehicle keys for 'drunk in charge' to be relevant.

They would have to build an expectation that I actually intended to drive somewhere - and that would be virtually impossible.

The law as written actually reverses the burden of proof in that case - the onus is on the defendant to prove (on the balance of probabilities) that there was no likelihood that he would have driven while over the drink drive limit. Note that likelihood isn't the same as intent, You might go to sleep in your vehicle with no intention whatsoever of driving, but there is still a possibility that you might wake up cold, uncomfortable and drunk in the middle of the night and decide to chance driving home. You'd have to persuade the court that you wouldn't have done that, and I imagine it would be a lot easier to persuade them if you were tucked up in bed in your motorhome slightly over the drink drive limit than if you were slumped over the steering wheel of your car utterly plastered.

Aretnap

heath480 wrote: »

To answer the OP.The answer is yes.

The answer is that it depends on the specific circumstances, but usually your own drive or backyard would not be considered a public place, so you could not be convicted of drunk driving on it - at least, not if you had a competent solicitor.