r/news • u/maiscestmoi • Oct 11 '21

Title Not From Article Accountant cleared of drink driving after claiming she guzzled vodka AFTER crash

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/im-not-going-lie-necked-21820359
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u/7i4nf4n Oct 11 '21

That sucks so hard. Here where I live fleeing after an accident can get you in prison, DUI is a lost license and a fee.

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u/SantaMonsanto Oct 11 '21

But if you’ve already had several DUI’s the punishment for running is lesser than the punishment for hurting someone in an accident while drunk (again)

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u/7i4nf4n Oct 11 '21

No. It is an additional offense, and it is punished harsher than if he stayed there. It’s not like they stack up separately, offenses are looked upon entirely.

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u/FjorgVanDerPlorg Oct 11 '21 edited Oct 12 '21

In Australia we also have similar laws, can still happen here.

I know of a case in regional Australia; guy rolled his car, shitfaced drunk. When the police arrived they tested him, blew well over. He simply claimed he had drunk it after the crash, that he had a bottle of vodka in the car and had drank most of it before they arrived, to calm his nerves after the crash. That was unfortunately enough reasonable doubt for his lawyer to get him off the hook.

This was the local town drunk, who the police were actively trying to stop/get his license revoked.

Unless they are able to test your BAC, then the prosecution has no evidence of intoxication to present to the court. The go-to for shitty behavour these days is to hit and run, dump the car somewhere, then report the car stolen the next day. Police know that this is often a lie, but it's not about what they suspect, but what evidence they can collect for the courts. Proving intoxication after the fact is next to impossible.

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u/monty845 Oct 12 '21

In my state, its possible to take a DWI case to trial without a chemical test, but its a lot harder. Also, you don't get your license automatically suspended if there is no test. (assuming they just didn't test you, or only caught you later, refusing a test in custody is a separate grounds for license suspension)

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u/FjorgVanDerPlorg Oct 12 '21

Same here, there's legal precedent and it usually comes about due to witness testimony - ie "how many drinks did they have before they got in the car?" and "were they showing visible signs of intoxication?". This is why I said next to impossible, because it involves the police having the investigations talent/resources and also getting lucky because there needs to be a witness for this to even be an option.

Refusing a breath test also comes with auto license loss here, but as I outlined in the first example, (in certain situations) unfortunately there are ways of creating reasonable doubt.