Drink driving sentence calculator

There is no fixed penalty for drink driving. The case goes to a magistrates' court in England and Wales. The prescribed limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood, or 107 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of urine. The Sentencing Council guideline then groups readings from 36, 60, 90 and 120 microgrammes of breath (or the matching blood and urine figures) into four rows. A court must disqualify for at least 12 months on a first relevant offence, and for at least 3 years if you have a second relevant conviction inside 10 years.

Police use a roadside screening breath test, then an evidential specimen at the station. You can be asked for breath, blood or urine. Refusing to provide a specimen without a reasonable excuse is its own offence, with the same shape of penalty as driving over the limit: an unlimited fine, up to 6 months' imprisonment, and a ban of at least 12 months, or 3 years on a second relevant conviction in 10 years. That refusal route is how some people become high risk offenders even without a reading.

You will be bailed or charged to appear. Take the papers, take the reading, and take advice before the first hearing. A guilty plea at the first opportunity can reduce the sentence under the separate guilty plea guideline. Waiting to see whether the reading 'might go down' does not change the specimen that the court already has.

The guideline is 'Excess Alcohol (drive or attempt to drive)', in force from 24 April 2017. Breath readings from 36 to 59 microgrammes in 100 millilitres sit in the lowest row: a Band C fine as the starting point, a range from a Band B fine to a Band C fine, and a ban of 12 to 16 months. On £500 a week net, Band C starts at £750 and the Band B to Band C range is £375 to £875. Those pounds are derived from the published percentages.

The next breath row is 60 to 89, still a Band C starting point, with a range from a Band C fine to a low level community order and a ban of 17 to 22 months. From 90 to 119 the starting point is a medium level community order, with a ban of 23 to 28 months. At 120 and above the starting point is 12 weeks' custody, with a range from a high level community order to 26 weeks' custody and a ban of 29 to 36 months. Blood and urine have matching thresholds at 81, 138, 207 and 276 milligrammes, and at 108, 184, 275 and 367 milligrammes.

A second relevant conviction in 10 years replaces those ban ranges with 36 to 40, 36 to 46, 36 to 52 and 36 to 60 months. The calculator on this page applies that swap when you select a repeat. It still does not predict the sentence. A guilty plea, previous convictions, a collision, a high passenger risk, or genuine emergency mitigation can move the court inside the range.

If you are banned for 12 months or more, the court can offer a drink-drive rehabilitation scheme course. GOV.UK says you have to pay, that it can cost up to £250, that you have to decide in court, and that you cannot change your mind later. Complete it in the time the court sets and the ban is usually reduced by a quarter. A 12 month ban with a completed course therefore usually becomes 9 months. That 'usually' is GOV.UK's word. The court still has to offer the course in the first place.

High risk offenders do not get a new licence automatically when the ban ends. You are in that group if you were convicted of 2 drink driving offences within 10 years, if your reading was at least 87.5 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 200 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood, or 267.5 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of urine, if you refused a specimen, or if you refused to allow a blood sample taken while you were unconscious to be tested. DVLA sends a D27PH form 90 days before the ban ends. You pay for a medical with a DVLA appointed doctor, including a blood test.

Northern Ireland uses a different process for both the course and the medical. GOV.UK points to nidirect for the course and says the high risk medical process is different in Northern Ireland. Do not send a D27PH to DVA and expect DVLA's steps to apply.

DR10, driving or attempting to drive with alcohol above the limit, stays on the driving record for 11 years from the date of conviction. It is valid, meaning a later court can count it, for the first 10 of those years. That is a different clock from totting, which compares offence dates over 3 years. Because the ordinary guideline requires disqualification, the court does not impose penalty points in that ordinary row. The code still appears on the record.

GOV.UK says a drink driving conviction means your car insurance costs will increase significantly, your employer will see the conviction if you drive for work, and you may have trouble travelling to countries like the USA. No official source publishes a premium percentage, so this page does not show one. Answer the insurer's questions about unspent convictions. A drink driving sentence can also extend the rehabilitation period beyond a simple fine.

You need a new licence after a drink drive disqualification. Check the date the ban ends, apply, and if you are a high risk offender wait for the medical. Driving before the licence is returned is a separate offence. The photocard you handed in is not a spare key.

Yes. Scotland's prescribed limit is 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 50 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood, or 67 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of urine. That is regulation 2 of the 2014 Scottish regulations. England, Wales and Northern Ireland remain on 35, 80 and 107 under section 11 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. The Sentencing Council rows on this page, which start at 36 microgrammes of breath, are built for the England and Wales limit. They are not a Scottish sentencing table.

A driver who lives in England and is stopped in Scotland is sentenced in a Scottish court on the Scottish limit. A driver who lives in Scotland and is stopped in England is sentenced in an England and Wales court on the 35 microgramme limit and on this guideline. The specimen and the place of the offence decide the limit. Your home address does not.

Northern Ireland uses the 35, 80 and 107 limit, but its courts and DVA process are not this guideline. The high risk offender medical and the rehabilitation course are different there. This calculator stays silent on a Northern Ireland starting fine because none is published in the sources behind this page.

Driving or attempting to drive is the offence this guideline covers. Being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit is a different offence, with a lower maximum: GOV.UK lists 3 months' imprisonment, a fine up to £2,500, and a possible ban. 'I was sleeping it off' is a defence people raise on being in charge, not a defence to driving. If the keys, the position of the car and the evidence show driving or attempting to drive, this guideline applies.

A company car, a hire car or a van does not create a separate drink driving tariff. The reading still selects the row. Commercial use and a goods or passenger vehicle are aggravating on other guidelines. On this one, the reading is the published input. An employer can still dismiss a driver who drinks and drives the firm's vehicle, and the insurer can still void cover for that use if the policy requires a clean licence.

New drivers are not given a softer reading. There is no fixed penalty to collect 3 points on. The obligatory ban still applies. After the ban you still have to apply for a new licence, and a high reading can still put you in the high risk offender group.

The first myth is that a 'low' reading means points instead of a ban. The ordinary guideline requires disqualification from the lowest row up. The second is that a drink-drive course is automatic. The court has to offer it, you have to accept it at the hearing, you have to pay, and you have to finish it in time. The third is that the 12 month minimum is also the maximum. The lowest row already goes to 16 months, and the top row goes to 36 months on a first offence.

People also confuse the high risk offender reading (87.5 microgrammes of breath) with the top sentencing row (120 microgrammes of breath). They are different thresholds for different decisions: one is about getting a licence back from DVLA, the other is about custody as a starting point. Mixing them up leads people to skip the medical or to expect prison on a mid-range reading that the guideline does not start in custody.

Ignoring the summons does not pause the ban. A hearing can go ahead without you. Driving once the ban has started is a new offence. Telling an insurer the matter is 'ongoing' when you have already been convicted is another way people compound the original case.