Could anyone clarify the position regarding drink drive laws in mainland Europe?
It is believed that if a driver is convicted for drink driving,the person would lose the entitlement to drive any vehicle with the exemption of the vehicle to which they drive for their profession. If this is the case, British drivers would not be resigned to the dole, and continue to work. It also means that banned european drivers are allowed to work here!. Can any of you law boffins throw some light on the subject. Maybe british drivers convicted of DD could argue that it should not hinder their employment right and also not remain on their licence for 10 years. Could this also cover bans through points from other offences.?
You do not lose your entitlement to drive HGV’s when convicted of DD, you only lose your car/bike entitlement.
However you cant drive an HGV without being entitled to drive a car. so you have a de facto hgv licence ban.
I dont know of any other EU country that allows driving of an HGV without a current car entitlement.
I can only comment on spain, but here the drink drive alcohol limit is lower if you have a hgv (or taxi, ambulance or other “professional”) licence than that of a car driver and if you get a ban you cannot drive any vehicle. the only difference here though is it is not an instant ban for drink driving, it depend on how far you are over the limit. ie. marginally over say the morning after then you lose points and get a fine but more over the limit and you face a ban, its on a scale but as its never been an issue for me i couldn’t tell you the extent of penalties and fines.
The situation in Holland is slightly different, the limits are lower, there is a different between experienced driver and un-experienced drivers.
If you hit UK levels you look at 300,- Euro + 6 month driving ban, if you hit 2 times the limit you could look at 480,- Euro fine + 6 month driving ban + you need to see a psychologist and go on a 3 day course which you need to pay at Euro 780.-
Also the cost for a psychologist is for you.
Dangerous driving or an accident under influence will always bring a jail sentence.
The Dutch courts are very sharp on “professional “drivers and they will get the highest sentence possible………as they should know better than put their livelihood on the line.
It’s not marked on your driving license (unlike the UK and Germany) but it goes on the insurers register, so that you only can be insured by certain companies with premiums of 200-500% of your normal premium.
The lowest level to be fined in Holland is approx 2 half pints of Dutch lager.
Many drink driving cases get registered as a criminal offence.
Just for your information, if you get a driving ban in Holland, your not allowed to drive anything, not even a pushbike.