Client feedback

Anonymous online feedback helps us ensure we provide the best service

We have always asked people for feedback on a variety of topics ranging from the quality of the advice and representation they received to questions about professionalism, costs and convenience.  But, historically we always struggled to get responses to our paper surveys, which is why this year we moved to an online feedback form that clients, former clients and even people who decide against instructing us can complete quickly and easily - incidentally, we love hearing from people who don't choose us because their feedback can really shape how we approach potential clients in the future to ensure that people who come to us are receiving the service they really want.

So far, we've only had a few responses to our survey - not the thousands that John Lewis probably receive every week - but the responses have all been positive.  A low number isn't a surprise to us because we are a small bespoke practice that takes very few cases per year compared to the larger warehouse-style firms that churn our cases quickly by simply handing them to contractors to deal with. 

It's worth saying that the surveys are entirely anonymous; we have no way of knowing who has completed the survey once our computer automatically sends out a link.

So far everybody who responded said that we are "extremely professional" and everybody agreed that we are either "extremely convenient" or "very convenient" to use.  Since all of our client meetings take place at a location convenient to our client, such as their home or work, that isn't too much of a surprise.  Every client and former client who responded has said that we are either "extremely responsive" or "quite responsive" to questions about their case.

We are thrilled to be able to say that 100% of respondents said that they were "extremely satisfied" with London Drink Driving Solicitors work.  100% also said that we were able to answer their question or solve their problem "extremely well".

We are really pleased that 75% of respondents rated our service either "a great deal better" or "quite a bit better" than the service they have received from other solicitors.  The remaining 25% said they "did not know".

In terms of price, 50% said that our fees were "somewhat lower" than our competitors while 25% said they were "quite a bit lower".  Nobody thought we are more expensive than other motoring law solicitors they spoke to about their cases.

It is very early days in the running of this survey but so far the results are excellent.  We will be taking on board comments about how we can improve even further and aim to go on providing every client we meet with the best possible service.

If you need a solicitor in the London, Oxford or Thames Valley areas call us today on 020 8242 4440 or 01869 866 490.

Summer drink driving clampdown

Police are cracking down on people who get behind
the wheel after a drink

Police forces across the country have launched their summer crack down on drink driving offences, beginning with a "month of action for June".

As the sun finally comes out to play across the UK, police forces expect to be busier than ever hunting down people they suspect of drink driving.  Chief Constable Suzette Davenport, said:

"We shall be better equipped than ever this summer and we will be ready for action to keep the road network safe, whether it be at night or the morning after."

But, police don't always get it right - in 2012 157,000 drivers were breath tested, of which just 4.6% tested positive or refused to provide and were arrested!  In the summer of 2014, police achieved a slightly better hit rate of 6.45% out of 63,688 breath tests.  We don't have figures for those who were convicted following arrest but our experience tells us that there are many things that can lead an innocent person to be wrongly accused of drink driving.

As specialist drink driving solicitors we meet a lot of people who have got behind the wheel above the drink driving limit and one of the things we can do is help them minimise their sentence.  One thing we find consistently is that people over-estimate the amount of alcohol they can drink and remain below the drink driving limit.  This is as true of the young as it is of the old and we don't see any significant difference between men and women making this mistake.

The best advice we can give is not to drive after consuming any alcohol.  But, if it's too late for that and you have already made a mistake - or been wrongly accused - then call us on 020 8242 4440 (London) or 01869 866 490 (Oxford/Thames Valley) and get the drink driving experts on your side today.

Drink driving smart cars

In car breath tests could become the norm

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that they have developed a new technology to prevent drink driving offences.  Called the DriverAlcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) the technology will monitor the alcohol level of drivers and immobilise the vehicle if the driver exceeds the drink driving limit.

DADSS can operate through an in-car breath test machine that operates as the driver breaths normally, i.e. there is no need to breath into a special device for a set period of time as with systems that you can currently buy to fit to vehicles.  The other option is a system that claims to be able to monitor blood alcohol levels via infrared detectors mounted in the steering wheel.  It’s unclear at the moment whether DADSS will use breath and blood analysis together or separately.

The proposal at the moment is to offer DADSS as an optional extra, although it’s difficult to see it being a popular option.  People who don’t care about drink driving won’t buy it and nor will people who are convinced drink driving is something they would never do – in our experience most of our clients fall into the latter category.  The only real market we can see for this technology is parents concerned about their children drink driving – how big a market that is we don’t know but we have only come across one youngster with the current technology fitted to his car.

We see possible problems with the system.  First, if the car is simply analysing the air inside the car it gives rise to the possibility of false positives from passengers and even from chemical fumes that can mimic alcohol in the air – in one particular case we discovered a roofer who was able to set off breathalysers at 50 paces due to the type and amount of chemicals he used in his daily work.

This system is being designed by the US safety administration with the cooperation of leading vehicle manufactures from around the world, including BMW, Mazda, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover and many others.  This means that the system will have to be programmed for each jurisdiction because different countries have different drink driving limits.  If a computer can be programmed it’s likely it can be reprogrammed – car enthusiasts already reprogram their car’s computer to produce more power from the engine and tweak other functions.  Is there really anything to stop people reprogramming this device?

Is the future self driving cars?

Anybody who has driven cars fitted with automatic windscreen wipers may also be dubious about how reliable car manufactures can make this technology – our experience at least is that automatic windscreen wipers are completely unable to detect water on the windscreen properly, so will a car be able to detect alcohol inside a human body any better?

It’s worth remembering that Toyota have been working on their own version of DADSS for more than a decade but have yet to bring any technology to market in their vehicles, which may give some indication of just how difficult a challenge this is.

Some people have suggested that DADSS is the technological equivalent of Betamax in that by the time it is ready to launch self-driving cars will be available thus rendering this technology irreleva

Driving licence counterpart abolished

The counterpart has now been abolished

As of this morning (8th June 2015), the driving licence paper counterpart has been abolished and is no longer valid.

The government is advising drivers to destroy their counterpart document; however, we think you should hold off from doing that for a little while.  As from today if you plan to hire a vehicle, at home or abroad, you'll have to visit a government website first and obtain a code that you provide to the hirer so they can check your driving record.

New drivers will only receive a
photo-card licence

At the moment, there are reports of some hirers not being ready to handle the new system and it will no doubt take some time for overseas hirers to catch up with the new system in the UK.  Because of this, you may find it helpful to keep the paper part of your driving licence until the new system is bedded in properly.

In future, new drivers and people renewing their licences will be issued with only a photo-card licence.

The changes also apply to those drivers from European countries who have been issued Community counterparts by the British authorities.

From today, new endorsements and penalty points will not be entered on to your physical driving licence and will exist only on your electronic driving record.  This means that when people appear in court, the court will need to obtain the electronic drivers record for every single defendant.  Currently, courts normally only do this where the counterpart is not available.  There are frequently problems obtaining a DVLA printout at court so this change may create me delays for the court service.

If you have received penalty points before the new system began they will be transferred to your new driving record and continue to operate exactly as before.

Should you require legal advice on any driving matter please call the London Drink Driving Solicitor on 020 8242 4440 and ask for Nick.

Lowering the drink driving limit

Drink driving arrests have fallen but some want to see a US style of enforcement
aimed at preventing persistent drink drivers from consuming alcohol

Currently, the drink driving limit is set at 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.  There’s no way of saying how much alcohol consumption that equates to but the safest rule is not to drive after you’ve had a drink.

I encounter a lot of people who drink, believe they are under the drink driving limit and then drive home – or who get up in the morning thinking that the alcohol will have been eliminated from their system.  It’s hard to judge the point you’ll exceed the limit.

At the recent Police Federation conference, speakers called for a reduction in the drink driving limit for England and Wales to reflect the lower limit in Scotland where an offence is committed if you drive with 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.

The main driver behind this change has been the increase in women drink drivers over recent years relative to offences committed by men.  Chief Inspector Victoria Martin told the Daily Telegraph:

“We’ve seen a steep decline in men drink driving over the years, with targeted advertising campaigns, which is great, but women don’t seem to be getting the same message. 

"It seems we have a worrying trend, with females still flouting the drink driving limit, sometimes scarily unaware, putting themselves and others in danger as well as adding to the drain on police resources.”

Drink driving convictions among women
remain stubbornly high

The call by the Police Federation was backed by Northumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird, who is a former MP and former Solicitor-General for England and Wales under Gordon Brown.  In London, too there is a strong and persistent campaign to get tough on people accused of drink drivers with Mayor Boris Johnson (who is also effectively Police and Crime Commission for London) attending anti-drink driving campaign rallies as long ago as 2008 and the head of the Metropolitan Police calling for a US style system that prevents drink drivers getting drunk:

"One of the local district attorneys decided that instead of trying to stop drunk drivers driving, why not stop the driver getting drunk,

“If you got convicted of a drink driving offence, [then] twice a day you get tested for drinking and that had a massive impact on road safety, people did not go out and kill people on the roads.”

In Thames Valley, the police recently cracked down on drink drivers and arrested 273 people in the space of a single month.

Over the past few years, magistrates’ courts have become much tougher on drink drivers.  Not so long ago, a first time offender could almost be guaranteed the minimum 12-month disqualification if he pleaded guilty; however, the courts have adopted a much stricter approach.  This means that they are very reluctant to reduce disqualification periods for first time offenders without significant mitigation being put before them by the driver’s solicitor.

It is clear from both the rhetoric emanating from the Police Federation and Police and Crime Commissioners that there is an appetite for toughening up the law on drink drivers.  This is reflected in police crackdowns and the much stricter sentences handed down by sentencing courts.

England and Wales will follow Scotland in reducing the drink driving limit there is no doubt about that.  The only question is when it will happen.  While it is not a priority for this government, don’t be surprised if David Cameron sees political capital to be gained by showing he is tough on crime and ordering a crackdown on drink driving offences, including a reduction in the drink driving limit, by the end of this Parliament.

Taking the blood option

In this post we will look at the recent changes to the law that affects people facing an investigation into drink driving.

Currently when you are stopped and the police suspect you of drink driving they will usually require you to provide a roadside sample of breath to determine whether you may be over the drink driving limit.  If you provide the sample and it turns out that you are over the drink driving limit then you will be arrested and taken to the police station where you are required to provide two specimens of breath into an evidential breath test machine, in London and Oxfordshire the most common machine is the Intoximeter.

Let’s assume that the lower reading in breath is below 50 microgrammes per 100ml of breath (I say the lower reading because that’s the only one the police are allowed to rely on) but above the drink driving limit.  Previously, the police would have been required to offer you the option of taking a further test, which is widely considered to be more accurate than the breath test.  You have the choice of saying yes or no but once you say yes it is the police who decide whether that further test should be blood or urine.  Mostly, the police will choose blood because… well who wants to watch you take a wee then keep a fridge full of pee in their custody suite?

The blood option has been the norm for decades for the very simple reason that blood tests are more accurate then breath tests.  Despite this, the Government changed the law on the 10^th April 2015 to abolish the option for drink driving suspects to choose to provide a blood or urine sample.

This law change means that if you provide a specimen of breath that is above the drink driving limit but below 50 microgrammes you will be automatically charged with drink driving and sent to court even though there is a risk that the breath test is not correct.

It would be nice to believe that the law had been changed because the breath testing equipment used in drink driving investigations had become more reliable; however, the machines have not changed since the Intoximeter EC/IR II machine was released in 2004.  If anything, our experience shows that the machines are becoming less reliable as we see an increasing number of people failing to provide specimens due to faulty infrared sensors in the machines across London and Oxfordshire.

If you have been affected by the recent change to the law and want to instruct an expert drink driving solicitor then do not hesitate to contact us on 020 8242 4440 or visit our website.

Drug driving laws now in force

Drug driving laws are in force from today

Today new laws came into force making it a crime to drive with certain drugs in your system.  The new drug driving laws are similar to drink driving laws but there are important differences everybody needs to know.

Drug driving includes not only driving a motor vehicle but also attempting to driving and being in charge of a vehicle while you have drugs in your system.  Being in charge usually means having the keys and being in or near the vehicle.

It has been reported in the media that drug driving will be a zero tolerance offence, i.e. if any of the prohibited drugs are detected you will guilty of a crime  – one of the government’s own advisers spoke on the radio this afternoon saying just that.  But, it isn’t true.  You will be allowed to drive with some drugs in your system and the amount will depend on the drug, so the limit for cocaine is 10 microgrammes per litre of blood while for Temazepam the limit is 1,000 microgrammes per litre of blood.  

Much of the media reporting of the drug driving offence has concentrated on illegal drugs, but there are a number of prescription drugs that are directly prohibited from use before driving.  There are also a number of prescription drugs and legal highs that contain the same active ingredient as the prohibited drugs and so will produce a positive result on the drug driving test equipment.

Driving under the influence of drugs has been a crime for a very long time.  The old law prohibited driving while unfit through drugs; however, the new drug driving law makes it an offence to drive with drugs in your system regardless of whether the drug renders you unfit or not.  Some part of the media have incorrectly reported that people will not be prosecuted unless the drug renders the person unfit – that is simply not an accurate reflection of the law.

If you are taking prescription medication you must check with your doctor whether it is safe for you to drive or not as the consequences of making a mistake can be catastrophic.  Conviction will mean a driving ban and could result in a prison sentence.

In the next article we will look at the defences to drug driving allegations.