A Yarmouth woman’s driving career is somewhat on the rocks after being caught drink driving when Police spotted a headlight out on her Fiat 500.
21-year-old Erin Hucklesby, of South Street in Yarmouth, was stopped at just before midnight on Christmas Eve by officers patrolling in the West Wight town.
Police noted that a headlight on Hucklesby’s Fiat was out, prompting the vehicle to be stopped. A roadside breath test was conducted which led to the 21-year-old’s arrest. She blew 52 on the evidential breathalyser at Newport Police Station.
Henry Farley, defending, said that his client was of previous good character and this incident was down to miscalculation, naivety and inexperience. He explained to the court that Hucklesby had consumed 1 glass of wine and then offered a friend a lift home, from ‘Point A to Point B’ – both within the Yarmouth area. She then returned home to South Street, where she was stopped by Police.
Magistrates said that there was no excuse to gamble with people’s lives and handed Erin Hucklesby a 16-month driving disqualification and fined her £120, as well as ordering her to pay £85 costs with a £34 surcharge – a total of £239.
The question is, how much can you drink and still be safe to drive. The answer is to drink nothing at all. No excuse, no nothing. Been drinking at all, then no driving. Full stop.
Good, hopefully this will be a lesson to the young lady. This story sends out the right message for once – zero tolerance. I’m sure some will say ‘oh that’s harsh, she was only just over…’ Fact is, she had a drink and decided to drive. What is really silly about this is that Yarmouth is a very small place, they could have simply walked!
Zero tolerance is not a one-off, it’s the norm with drink-driving which carries an automatic ban, no excuses.
If you’re over the limit, you’re banned.
So not sure what you mean by “for once” when it’s a mandatory ban.