Drunken Driving offence

BrendenFrazer · Post by **BrendenFrazer** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:09 am

Hi,

I did the most stupid thing yesterday. Had a big glass of Wine and one glass of Beer and chose to drive home(didnt know that it was above the limit ). Upon that, I oversped while overtaking and duly got pulled over by a cop. My breath test showed 0.56 which was over the limit. So I now have to visit the district judge.

This is my first traffic offence in Finland and I am charged for overspeeding and drunken driving.I asked the police officer about the possible penalty and he was telling me that it could be a fine and I wouldnt be able to drive for a couple of months or something like that. I am really worried( i should be, for doing a stupid thing like that) So could anyone please let me know what I am possibly looking at ?

Cheers,
Brenden

**Sponsor:**

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:40 am

Fines, probably 30-50 day fines, depending on the speed, location etc. Few months of driving ban.
http://www.intermin.fi/poliisi/lp/home. ... endocument

BrendenFrazer · Post by **BrendenFrazer** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:57 am

Thanks for the info, but what is a day fine? How is it calculated? can you give me an example?

For example, if I say I get 2000€/ month in hand(after taxes), what would my day fine amount be?

luulio · Post by **luulio** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:04 pm

Did you actually check the link Upphew gave to you? Seems clear enough...

Rick1 · Post by **Rick1** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:21 pm

It is always amazing that people get caught the first time they drive drunk. I have been checked once in three years and everyday on the road. They should not reduce the limit just increase the punishments, second time car away etc. etc. And people who drive away after accident just against the wall.

tuulen · Post by **tuulen** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:42 pm

@ Brenden

I wonder how many people have not been caught.

I got caught once, years ago, and you can be sure that I do not wish to get caught again!

Edit: I had misspelled OP's name, sorry.

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:59 pm

Rick1 wrote:It is always amazing that people get caught the first time they drive drunk.

Perhaps people who are not used to driving drunk don't do a very good job of it, and are easy for the police to spot

?

Rick1 · Post by **Rick1** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:59 pm

Yes the familymembers of drunkdrivers victims can stop laughing too.

BrendenFrazer · Post by **BrendenFrazer** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:32 pm

Thanks for the replies. I am totally stressed out because of this thing. I am not a law breaker or anything like that. It was just ignorance and as bad luck would have it, I got caught. In anycase I have only myself to blame. I just burst into tears today evening after getting my 1 year kid home from paivakoti thinking of what happened yesterday. My son slowly crept up to me and touched my face like he was trying to console me.

What can I say? We dont realise the value of things we have in the heat of the moment. Just have to thank god that it wasnt something worse. Maybe I needed this. Some ppl only learn the hard way. I cant work properly nor can I eat or sleep properly. They said that the court hearing might take a couple of weeks to 2 months. I just want to get over with this. Any advice on what I could do to speed up my hearing or any other information on this would greatly help me. At least ppl who have faced similar situation, pls share your experiences. It would help me a lot.

EP · Post by EP » Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:42 pm

This is from Wikipedia so I don´t know how accurate it is:

Taulukossa on veren alkoholipitoisuus (promilleina) ja tyyppirangaistus kyseisellä promillemäärällä.

0,50–30 päiväsakkoa

0,75–43 päiväsakkoa

1,00–55 päiväsakkoa

1,25–23 päivää vankeutta tai 65 päiväsakkoa

1,50–35 päivää vankeutta tai 80 päiväsakkoa

1,75–48 päivää vankeutta

2,00–60 päivää vankeutta

2,25–73 päivää vankeutta

2,50–85 päivää vankeutta

2,75–3 kk 15 päivää vankeutta

3,00–4 kk 15 päivää vankeutta

Perusmuotoisesta rattijuopumuksesta tuomitaan lähinnä aina sakkoa. Törkeästä rattijuopumuksesta on tuomittava rikoslain 23 luvun 4 §:n mukaan vähintään 60 päiväsakkoon tai vankeuteen enintään kahdeksi vuodeksi.

Looks like you are getting 30 "day fines".

Rick1 · Post by **Rick1** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:44 pm

It is a good thing you learned from it. It was not like as you said it that you were driving with a huge amount of alcohol.
Did they take your license from you? In the statement from police there is no choice for drunk driving so I think it is always the judge who decides. For speeding over 30 I thought it is always minimum one month nowadays.

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:48 pm

Rick1 wrote:Yes the familymembers of drunkdrivers victims can stop laughing too.

The

in my post was to indicate that it was an attempt at a joke and not be taken seriously. Apologies if it caused offence.

Rick1 · Post by **Rick1** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:53 pm

Yes I though already. It is just a serious problem here in Suomi, almost every weekend they 'scratch' people from the trees or pedastrians get killed by drunken drivers.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:30 pm

luulio wrote:Did you actually check the link Upphew gave to you? Seems clear enough...

Yeah, but they have fixed offences only. Here is a "calculating" fine calculator https://eportti.tietopalvelut.com/sakko/index0.html
30 days, 2000 one underage kid, 780,-

Did they take your license from you?

Of course, you need to go to court to hear when and if you get it back. Physically irrelevant, its "in the computer" as banned.

And after this naughty Brenden's going to drive nicely as his licence plates going to show up on the "blow me" list.

Deman · Post by **Deman** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:10 pm

You said that you were speeding as well as "drunk" but haven't said what speed you were doing.

AFAIK fines are calculated as a percentage of the limit.

If you are driving at 150% of the speed limit (of over 60kph, or a lower percentage of speed limits of under 60kph), it's an automatic ban.

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