Road safety offences
Road safety offences defence lawyer
Arts. 379-385 Criminal Code
Road safety offences are, by volume, among the most frequent cases heard by duty courts: driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, manifestly reckless driving, and driving without ever having held a licence or after losing all points.
Most of these cases are decided on technical evidence — breathalyser readings, toxicology reports, traffic reports — whose formal validity (calibration of the device, chain of custody of the sample) is often as important as the numerical result itself.
Losing your driving licence, even temporarily, has an immediate impact on anyone's work and daily life — which is why acting quickly matters from the very first moment.
Scope of work
- Assistance at the duty court following an arrest for a road safety offence
- Technical challenge to breathalyser or toxicology evidence
- Defence in fast-track trials and negotiation of plea agreements
- Appeal against loss of licence and applications for its recovery
When to call
- You have tested positive in an alcohol or drug check and been summoned to a fast-track trial
- You are accused of reckless driving and do not consider the manoeuvre to have been reckless
- You have been caught driving without a licence or after losing all your points
Frequently asked questions
From what alcohol reading does it become a criminal offence?
The Criminal Code sets the threshold at 0.60 mg/l of breath alcohol (or its blood equivalent); below that there may be an administrative penalty, not a criminal offence. The measurement and its technical reliability — calibration of the device, double reading — are the first points worth reviewing.
Can I refuse to take the breath test?
Refusing to take an alcohol test is itself a separate criminal offence (article 383 of the Criminal Code), carrying a penalty that can even exceed that for testing positive, so it is not a way of avoiding the proceedings.
What happens to my licence while the case is ongoing?
It is common for withdrawal of the driving licence to be ordered as a precautionary measure during the investigation; whether that is appropriate, and for how long, can be challenged from the outset.