To appeal this driving ban?

[GaiusHelenMohiam]

Around ten years ago I was very ill, later diagnosed with bipolar, I attempted suicide more than once. I surrendered my driving license.

After about four years I was stable, right meds, right lifestyle, working and all going well. So I reapplied and got my license back. I’ve then had to reapply every year, always successfully.

While in the throes of my illness I struggled a fair bit with alcohol and asked my GP for help. I attended a group for a couple of months, and left the group with the coordinators blessing after a progress review, she said I wasn’t really suited to it as it was aimed at dependent drinkers whereas I was a binge drinker.

This means that I have to have a blood test for my license. It’s always a bit insulting because literally all the literature that comes with the appointment is aimed at High Risk Offenders who drink drive.

I’ve never changed my drinking habits before the test and have always had moderate results.

Anyway Covid delays have meant my reapplication took nearly a year this time (I’ve been allowed to drive while waiting) and I went for my blood test last month.

The results came this morning, again moderate. But the letter says as I have a ‘history of alcohol dependency’ I am banned from driving for a year and have to be abstinent for a year before I can reapply.

What the fuck? Does anyone know if this is worth appealing? I’m not and have never been alcohol dependent, I think there is a mistake in my medical records. I have had my license renewed every year for the past six with no issues at all and this is the first time ‘alcohol dependence’ has been mentioned. They’ve never said I need to be abstinent, just not in the red zone.

I’m kicking myself for not abstaining for a month before the test tbh. But it’s always been fine. I’m fucked without my car, I work more than full time and finish very late, no public transport.

Does anyone know what my chances are of appealing?

Definitely appeal. My experience is that the whole process is so random and different (clueless) people just make a decision on the day, and you probably got unlucky. I have bipolar as well and am in a support group and there is this utterly crazy range of different experiences over the driving license thing. I hate how inconsistent they are.

I don’t know what your chances are but if the decision has been made because of something untrue (alcohol dependency) then definitely appeal!

I'd definitely appeal - and check your records with your GP.

So you’ve been banned because you might drink drive in future? Is that right?

It’s worth appealing either way isn’t it. Because it’s not like you have anything to lose, you’re already banned.

But it sounds like they’ve banned you unfairly, so definitely should be appealed on that reason.

Binge drinking is a form of alcohol dependence though. Alarm bells were ringing as soon as you said you don't have a history of alcohol dependence - usually only people who have drink problems ask their GP for help or go to AA-type meetings. Most importantly, anyone who feels the need to state they are not an alcoholic probably is one.

You can and should appeal on the grounds that you feel they've made a mistake or misunderstood your situation. The rules might have changed since your last test though so the fact you always passed with a "moderate" result before might not be relevant if they now expect you to be clean for a year. The fact that didn't tell you of this change won't alter their position if this is the case.

Why don't you focus your efforts on stopping drinking completely instead of fighting the technicalities of a ban. Having lost a relative to a drink driver I'm happy they're so cautious with this sort of thing to be honest.

It might be that someone has seen the referral and taken that to mean I’ve been diagnosed with dependency. That’s the only thing I can think of. But tbh the GP just looked for a local support group and sent me to the nearest. I certainly never said I was dependant, but I was definitely self medicating with booze. The group was literally people having whisky with their cornflakes, with the shakes and having to wean off. I just cracked a bottle of wine a few (too many) times a week.

@HereComesTheSum

Why don't you focus your efforts on stopping drinking completely instead of fighting the technicalities of a ban. Having lost a relative to a drink driver I'm happy they're so cautious with this sort of thing to be honest.

Why should she have to stop drinking completely when she doesn't have a problem?

Why shouldn't she contest a driving ban that massively impacts her life when she's been banned unnecessarily?

I have never and would never drive even after a glass of wine. I’m very anti drunk driving and won’t drive the morning after if I feel hungover.

She binge drinks so to me that is an issue with alcohol.

@HereComesTheSum

She binge drinks so to me that is an issue with alcohol.

No she was a binge drinker when she asked for help.

I agree ,I never drink even one glass of wine as it makes me a bit fuzzy headed .

Well you’ve nothing to lose by appealing

You say you've never changed your drinking habits before the blood test and so get moderate results. That may ring alarm bells as why wouldn't you stop drinking completely before the test and therefore get a clean result? It looks like you can't stop drinking completely.

I don’t binge drink now!

I have a couple of glasses of wine after a long shift at work to wind down, or share a bottle with DH if we have an evening off together. Like almost every other person I know.

I was very ill and destructive back then, drinking was another form of self harm. I now live my life with no bipolar symptoms or alcohol abuse. I don’t get why this has come up now, unless it’s an error.

Why should she have to stop drinking completely when she doesn't have a problem?

Many people would argue that binge drinking is a problem, though.

I’ve never been told to abstain before the test. I obviously would have done if I knew.

There are four result levels, no alcohol, minimal, moderate and severe. And the literature I got beforehand said that only severe would be a problem.

In fact even the cover letter doesn’t tally with the rest of the letter where it talks about levels of alcohol and length of bans.

Plenty of binge drinkers and alcoholics don’t ask for help yet presumably are more at risk of drink driving as they don’t want to acknowledge the issue and carry on being able to drive.

Is it just because you identified a problem and asked for help?

Well done for dealing with everything you have in your life so far.

Sorry, can I just ask what it means to come back moderate? Do they do a blood or hair test so they can see how much you've been drinking spread over a period of time?

That’s exactly how I feel, I’ve been penalised for asking for help. I feel stupid.

It’s a blood test that looks for proteins.

Why should she have to stop drinking completely when she doesn't have a problem?

The OP very clearly does have a problem with alcohol. Whether that means she shouldn't drive I cant say.

And so you have a moderate amount of proteins in your blood. But would they be able to determine whether that has been amassed by continous, steady drinking, or occasional heavy binges? Does that even make a difference to their ruling? They must have some guidelines about what each level of proteins mean. So can you see which band you're in and google if appeals have been successful or whether it's a black and white decision of automatic disqualification?