Escaping a ban after drink driving

Tue 26th Aug 2025

Case Study focusing on the 7 point check list detailing special reasons why you can avoid being disqualified from driving after drink driving

It is extremely unusual for a person to be charged with a drink drive offence and avoid a disqualification. The law is extremely clear, if you are found guilty of drink driving then the minimum disqualification that the Magistrates can impose is a 12 month disqualification from driving.

The length of a disqualification and the penalties which accompany a conviction in respect of this are dictated by the level of the alcohol in your system at the time when the Police test you, along with other aggravating features.

There are however, specific occasions when you can argue a “special reason” which may persuade the Court that you should not be disqualified from driving, even though you have pleaded guilty to the offence of drink driving.

Having completed a successful case of exactly this nature in the Peterborough Magistrates Court in March 2025, I felt that this was an opportunity to outline the specific circumstances where the shortness of distance driven can result in a person avoiding a disqualification.

The short distance a person drives when under the influence of alcohol can in some circumstances amount to a special reason not to endorse their licence or disqualify them. The law in relation to a special reason relating to shortness of distance driven, is set out in the case of Chatters v Burke. This case laid out a 7 point checklist that the Courts are asked to consider when they decide whether or not the distance driven could amount to a special reason not to disqualify a person. The 7 points laid out in this case are as follows:

The Court should consider how far the vehicle was in fact driven.
In what manner the vehicle was driven.
The state of the vehicle.
Whether it was the intention of the driver to drive any further.
The prevailing conditions with regard to the road and the traffic upon it.
Whether there was any possibility of danger by contact with other road users.
What was the reason for the vehicle being driven at all.

Out of all of those reasons, the Court referred particularly to item 6, where they consider the possibility of danger by contact with other road users.

In my recent case, a person was found to be drink driving by moving their car within a car park where the public had access, from one space to another and then subsequently to a further space.

The car park was deserted, albeit a Town Centre car park and there was no members of the public in the vicinity. The reason my client was there, was a result of a domestic incident with her partner and she explained that she was only moving the car to get away from him whilst he was shouting at her through the window.

The Magistrates, having looked at all the evidence in the case and applying the 7 point test, agreed that this was a case where special reasons could be found and in light of the above, my client received an absolute discharge, receiving no penalty from the Court and no disqualification.

Traffic Law can be extremely complicated and as you can imagine many people have argued many different cases over the years which has set a precedent in relation to Case Law for Courts to follow.

I would always recommend that people obtain specialist legal advice from a solicitor who practices in the area of traffic law and is local to either the Court or where the person lives.