Drink Driving - Preparing for your Court Case

While you are waiting for your court case, there are a few things you can do to prepare:

1. Get a Lawyer - if you can afford it, get a lawyer to represent you. The reason being that the lawyers act in your best interests. They work on these cases all the time and therefore know what to expect.  They can present you in the best possible light, and generally speaking they will have had experience in front of the judge presiding on your case, thus they will know what to do, and what not to do in front of him/her.  The fact that you have engaged a lawyer also shows that you are taking the case seriously and because you have already had some out of pocket expenses in hiring the lawyer, it may help to reduce the fine that you are given. 

2. Get References - it's a good idea to have references prepared for your court case.  Not just any reference though,  the referee has to make mention of the fact that they are aware of your drink driving charge, and has to speak of your character.  Some magistrates give little weight to references (because it's rare for them to ever be presented with a 'bad' reference), while others do take them into consideration.  It's best to err on the side of caution and have some prepared anyway.  In my case, the magistrate said that she's 'never seen a bad reference, but noted that my references did go so far as to support what my lawyer was arguing/presenting'.

3. Enrol in a Traffic Offenders Program at your local PCYC.  If you can afford it, go and do this course before your court date.  It runs for around 8-12 weeks and it shows to the judge that you are being proactive in changing your habits and that you are taking the drink driving charge seriously.  You will be given assignments each week during this course, and at the end of the course, the Coordinator will send a report to the presiding judge with some information about your attendance, your character and what you learnt from the course.  For that reason, be on your best behaviour during the course, and take the assignments seriously.  If, for example, you write responses such as 'I don't think I should have been charged, I was more than capable of driving', then it will indicate that you have not learnt anything, and it may go into the report sent to your presiding judge. 
Apart from assisting with your court case, it's also a fantastic course, an absolute eye opener, and a life-changing experience.

4. Gather Evidence:  if there is anything that may help to explain your drink driving behaviour (for example if you suffer from depression or anything of that nature), gather some proof of that as it may assist in the reduction of your sentence.

5. Driving License Required for Work:  If you can prove that you need your driving license for work and that public transport is not an option, or that losing your license will put you in a situation of unbearable hardship, then you may be fortunate enough to retain your driving license.   It's ultimately up to the discretion of a judge whether that happens and it is rare.  Drink driving cases are viewed seriously by the courts.