Welcome to our new series of micro-blogs. We understand that many of you may be preparing for your DPSI exams, or have recently completed your qualifications and are looking for some additional resources to give you more confidence in your assignments. In these posts, we will highlight the key messages that came out of our live CPD events to bring you closer to content we cover.
Introduction to Drink Driving
Delivered by Martyn Mordecai, a highly experienced trainer and former police officer. He spent over a decade in the Metropolitan Police in various Operational posts, including the Firearms Unit and Diplomatic Protection.
Martyn has also served as Head of Training for the Police Federation of England and Wales, delivering training to over 2000 individuals. Currently, Martyn works as a trainer for Driver Education, delivering various National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme Courses and Drink/Drive Rehabilitation Courses.
Key messages from this session:
- The UK has one the highest allowances for alcohol than any other European Country (35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood)
- Under S11 Road Traffic Act (RTA) 1988, drugs are defined under this section as ‘any other intoxicant other than alcohol’ (this includes not only prohibited drugs like Cocaine but also prescription drugs and over the counter medication like painkillers)
- The offence of ‘Driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of a Motor Vehicle whilst over the prescribed limit or with a controlled drug in the blood or urine’ has a key element of being in charge, which includes far more than you’d expect!
- There are now only two occasions where the ‘Blood Option’ will be offered: (1) The EBM (Evidential Breath Machine) is faulty; or (2) there is a clear medical reason as to why the machine cannot be used by the person arrested
Want to get involved in the discussion? Do you have your own experience that you’d like to share? Are you unsure whether the procedure followed was correct?
Then join our next session on Criminal Offence Types! The feedback from interpreters is truly excellent – you’ll never have attended a session quite like it!
Our Criminal Offence Workshops are EXCLUSIVELY available to CPD Central Expert Bundle subscribers – click here for more information!
