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Could a taxi driver caught over the drink drive limit lose his licence?

I was watching Coronation street last night and the Taxi driver, Tim was caught over the limit. He did not have a passenger inside and had been driving ok.
- He only had 1 pint and a half of beer and was off duty.
- Tim is a middle aged gentleman and is of good character.
- He relies on having a driving licence for his career. If he loses his licence he loses his job.
- He is at present a single father as his wife is in prison and has 2 children to look after in addition to an elderly father and a mortgage to pay.

Is it possible he could be allowed to escape a driving ban because of his circumstances? Perhaps be given a Driving awareness course and a heavy fine instead of a ban?
Reply 1
Original post by Ambitious1999
I was watching Coronation street last night and the Taxi driver, Tim was caught over the limit. He did not have a passenger inside and had been driving ok.
- He only had 1 pint and a half of beer and was off duty.
- Tim is a middle aged gentleman and is of good character.
- He relies on having a driving licence for his career. If he loses his licence he loses his job.
- He is at present a single father as his wife is in prison and has 2 children to look after in addition to an elderly father and a mortgage to pay.

Is it possible he could be allowed to escape a driving ban because of his circumstances? Perhaps be given a Driving awareness course and a heavy fine instead of a ban?

He'd lose his taxi licence.
Original post by Ambitious1999
I was watching Coronation street last night and the Taxi driver, Tim was caught over the limit. He did not have a passenger inside and had been driving ok.
- He only had 1 pint and a half of beer and was off duty.
- Tim is a middle aged gentleman and is of good character.
- He relies on having a driving licence for his career. If he loses his licence he loses his job.
- He is at present a single father as his wife is in prison and has 2 children to look after in addition to an elderly father and a mortgage to pay.

Is it possible he could be allowed to escape a driving ban because of his circumstances? Perhaps be given a Driving awareness course and a heavy fine instead of a ban?

In the real world, the first thing the court will respond to that is "Hm, you didn't think of all those responsibilities before you decided to drink and drive, did you?"
Reply 3
England has a BAC limit of 0.08%. It's very unlikely that 1.5 pints would have put him over the limit even if he chugged them and then drove immediately. He could still have been prosecuted for drunk driving but only if he had otherwise been driving dangerously, which you say he hadn't. Basically Coronation Street has invented a situation that would almost never happen in real life so that the law appears unreasonable.
Original post by jackcade
England has a BAC limit of 0.08%. It's very unlikely that 1.5 pints would have put him over the limit even if he chugged them and then drove immediately. He could still have been prosecuted for drunk driving but only if he had otherwise been driving dangerously, which you say he hadn't. Basically Coronation Street has invented a situation that would almost never happen in real life so that the law appears unreasonable.


Whilst I somewhat agree with this especially since almost everyone on Corrie drinks cheap lager, alcohol affects everyone differently and 1.5 pints of full strength tennents would probably put you over.
Reply 5
Original post by nevershear
Whilst I somewhat agree with this especially since almost everyone on Corrie drinks cheap lager, alcohol affects everyone differently and 1.5 pints of full strength tennents would probably put you over.

Well, we can check some numbers.

https://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/interactive/alcohol_calculator.asp

Tennets is 4%. If he weighs 120lbs and was drinking for an hour he'd need to have drunk two full pints to be over the limit (note these are US fl. oz. which are slightly different to Imperial).

If he weighs 200lbs and was drinking for three hours he'd need to have drunk four and a half pints to be over the limit.

Basically he either has to have sat there for quite a while and drunk quite a lot and then decided to drive, or drunk a moderate amount in a very short time and still decided to drive. Even then he'd be just barely over, and have to get unlucky to be caught if he wasn't actually driving dangerously.

Alcohol does affect everyone differently and I am certainly not recommending anyone drink 1.5 pints and then drive, let alone promising them that they won't be prosecuted if pulled over. But I do think the situation as stated is rather contrived.
Original post by jackcade
Well, we can check some numbers.

https://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/interactive/alcohol_calculator.asp

Tennets is 4%. If he weighs 120lbs and was drinking for an hour he'd need to have drunk two full pints to be over the limit (note these are US fl. oz. which are slightly different to Imperial).

If he weighs 200lbs and was drinking for three hours he'd need to have drunk four and a half pints to be over the limit.

Basically he either has to have sat there for quite a while and drunk quite a lot and then decided to drive, or drunk a moderate amount in a very short time and still decided to drive. Even then he'd be just barely over, and have to get unlucky to be caught if he wasn't actually driving dangerously.

Alcohol does affect everyone differently and I am certainly not recommending anyone drink 1.5 pints and then drive, let alone promising them that they won't be prosecuted if pulled over. But I do think the situation as stated is rather contrived.

Full strength tennents is 9-10% (hence why I didn't just simply state "Tennents")
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 7
Oh, in that case, sure.
A professional driver would (quite rightly) be held to a higher standard.
Any idiot caught over the limit should lose their licence.
I'd imagine loss of taxi license would certainly be a possibility, it would depend on the council that issused it but pretty sure you need to diclose the points.

Courts have been known to show mercy in the case of employed drivers for some things, but drink driving is heavily frowned on and they would need to take the safety of the drivers customers into account.
Original post by nevershear
In the real world, the first thing the court will respond to that is "Hm, you didn't think of all those responsibilities before you decided to drink and drive, did you?"


I agree.
Just because he is a taxi driver dont mean he wont get a ban.
Original post by Ambitious1999
I was watching Coronation street last night and the Taxi driver, Tim was caught over the limit. He did not have a passenger inside and had been driving ok.
- He only had 1 pint and a half of beer and was off duty.
- Tim is a middle aged gentleman and is of good character.
- He relies on having a driving licence for his career. If he loses his licence he loses his job.
- He is at present a single father as his wife is in prison and has 2 children to look after in addition to an elderly father and a mortgage to pay.

Is it possible he could be allowed to escape a driving ban because of his circumstances? Perhaps be given a Driving awareness course and a heavy fine instead of a ban?


Why does being a taxi driver exempt him from this? He should be given the maximum, as a "professional driver" he should know better than to drink anything and drive.
What IS the max sentence you can get in coronation Street? Craig Charles?
Original post by StriderHort
What IS the max sentence you can get in coronation Street?

58 years and counting in the case of Bill Roache

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