NCJ Number
87270
Journal
Police Journal Volume: 55 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1982) Pages: 373-377
Date Published
1982
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Aspects of the 1981 British Transport Act which deal with driving while intoxicated (DWI) are described, and limitations in the legislation are noted.
Abstract
Overall, the DWI portions of the Transport Act are aimed at making it less likely for an offender to escape apprehension on mere technicalities. The act provides that a uniformed officer can require a person to provide a breath specimen if the officer has reasonable cause to suspect that a person driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle in a public place has alcohol in his/her body or has committed a moving traffic violation. Further, the police are empowered to enter private property to require a breath test from a person believed to be a driver of a vehicle involved in an accident in which injury was suffered by another person. Police can also enter private property to exercise the power of arrest when a positive breath test has been given or a test has been refused. Also, it is no longer necessary to have an arrest before a breath, urine, or blood sample can be obtained. The fact that the act does not specifically recommend random testing of drivers for drunkenness indicates that DWI is not taken seriously enough. Neither does the act specify efforts to identify the high-risk drinking driver for the purpose of rescinding his/her driving license until there is evidence that the person's drinking habits no longer place his/her driving at high risk for accidents. Six references are listed, and characteristics of the high-risk drinking driver are identified.