Many thousands of people are prosecuted each year for drink and drug driving offences. The legislation favours the prosecution in a number of ways, for example, by requiring those under investigation to give evidence against themselves in the form of specimens of breath, blood or urine, but also affords certain safeguards to suspects. The conviction rate is exceptionally high, and the provisions have given rise to a wealth of case law.

Drink and Drug Drive Case Notes comprises summaries of the many cases on drink driving, and the fewer
cases on drug driving, which have come before the High Court, the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords and, in one instance, the Supreme Court. Over six hundred judgments are summarised. Each note is presented as a short statement of the facts of the case, the question(s) put to the appeal court and an extract from the judgment. The notes are intended to provide a broad outline of the trends in the case law and as starting points for readers seeking guidance on particular issues.

This third edition includes notes of some seventy-five cases decided since the second edition was published. Themes running through the new cases include the interpretation of the provisions on reasonable cause to believe that the breath analysis device has not produced a reliable indication of the suspect’s breath alcohol level, and on the application of the Criminal Procedure Rules to proceedings for drink and drug driving. At the time of publication, the so-called “statutory option” has just been removed, and section 5A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, creating new offences of driving, attempting to drive, and in charge, with a concentration of a specified controlled drug above a specified limit, has come into force. The offences are framed in much the same terms of the excess alcohol offences, but testing will be by the analysis of blood or urine only. While much of the case law concerning drink-driving will be relevant, the new provisions will no doubt give rise to their own body of case law in due time.

Drink and Drug Drive Case Notes was first published, as Drink Drive Case Notes, as a product of collaboration between Lion Laboratories – the manufacturers of much of the breath-testing equipment used in the UK and throughout the world – and the author. This expanded and updated edition of Drink and Drug Drive Case Notes will prove a useful reference for police, prosecutors, defenders and legal advisers.

“As a reference guide, this is an extremely helpful addition to a legal adviser’s kitbag.”
The Justices’ Clerk, of the first edition

“[A]n extremely useful complement to any standard text book on drink driving matters. I would commend it not only to defence lawyers but also to those who prosecute in this area of law.”
Solicitors Journal, of the second edition