Drink driving, exceed PCA, refusing to accompany police, refusing to participate in a breath test, drug driving, driving impaired, DWI and DUI driving under the influence of either drugs or alcohol are just some of the many charges now in the Road Safety Act.
Dribbin & Brown Traffic Lawyers represent clients charged with the above offences on a daily basis. We have law offices in very close proximity to the Magistrates’ Courts in the Melbourne CBD, Dandenong, Frankston, Geelong, Ballarat, Moorabbin and Ringwood areas.
If you have been charged with any of the above offences please call our switchboard on 03 8644 7322 and we will put you in touch with the Dribbin & Brown Traffic Lawyers office closest to you.
Drink driving legislation is without question the most complex collection of subsections of any piece of Victorian legislation. This is chiefly because since its inception in 1986 there have been numerous challenges to the legislation. Each time a lawyer has successfully challenged it, the legislators have either added or removed a subsection, with very complicated results.
Drink Driving Defences
There are still a number of defences open to clients charged with the above offences, including, but not limited to:
- User error in relation to the breathalyser machine;
- Machine error, evidenced in some cases by previous correction error notifications on the readout;
- Error in estimating blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Police are permitted to take a breathalyser reading more than 3 hours after you have been driving, in cases where there has been an accident. When this happens, police must rely upon a ‘count back’, where they need to estimate what your blood alcohol reading would have been at the time you were driving. These matters are far easier to defend than readings taken within the 3 hour period.
- Factual dispute in relation to your refusal to either accompany or participate in a breath test;
- Police members providing legal advice (e.g. you were told you should not request a blood test on the basis the reading would only be higher);
- Factual dispute as to whether you were in control of the vehicle;
- Legal argument as to what constitutes a motor vehicle; and
- Identification.
These are just some examples. To see if a defence applies to you, please call our office today.
Charged With Drink Drink Driving – What will we do?
- Request the evidence if it has not already been provided to you;
- Consider the brief;
- Take your instructions in relation to the police allegations;
- Consider whether any defence will assist you in beating the charge; and
- Provide you with advice on the potential outcomes of different decisions in relation to your matter.
For more information in relation to the drink driving lawyers follow the link or review the individual charges below.
