A DRIVER who had two-and-a-half pints of Fosters before getting behind the wheel causing a near head on collision has been banned from driving.

Ryan John Haines, of Kestrels Mead, Tadley appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates Court today (October 15) pleading guilty to one count of drink driving.

The court heard how on September 28, the 25-year-old had gone out after work for a few drinks at the King Of Wessex pub in Winchester Road.

Magistrates heard how Haines had drunk two-and-a-half pints of Fosters earlier in the evening but believed he had left it long enough to be okay to drive.

Haines, along with two passengers had got into his red Ford Fiesta and drove it along Winchester Road.

Basingstoke Gazette:

 

Due to the alcohol still being in his system Haines clipped a parked car.

This caused him to lose control of the car, swerving into an oncoming car and crashing, causing substantial damage to his car.

The court heard how the passengers in his car sustained minor injuries, with one needing stiches, which the people in the other car were uninjured.

READ: Suspected drink driver charged after car crashed head on into motorist in Basingstoke >>

As previously reported in the Gazette at the time of the incident Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service had to be called to cut Haines out of the vehicle.

Magistrates fined Haines £392 and ordered him to pay £39 victim surcharge and £85 costs, he is also banned from driving for 14 months.

Fact file: drink driving

WITH approximately 30 million drivers in the UK, the police have a constant challenge in ensuring those motorists are abiding the law.

A shocking one in seven deaths on the road involves drivers who are over the legal limit.

The number of people killed on roads in drink-driving incidents has steadily dropped in recent years.

During the 1980s the number was over 1,500 but in 1998 it was down to 460. The number of drink-driving convictions has also fallen.

In 1989, there were 114,000 convictions, 10 years there were about 90,000.

But recent Government figures show the number of accidents involving drinking and driving has risen for the first time since 1990.

Drink-drive-related deaths rose by more than 10% in 2000, with total casualties increasing by 7%.

The legal limit for driving is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The quantity of alcohol in a half-pint of standard strength beer is about the same as in a pub measure of spirits, a port or sherry or a small glass of wine.

But any amount of alcohol can impair a driver's ability to judge speed and distance, slow their reaction times and seriously affect their judgment of risk.