The Consequences of Drink Driving: A Lesson from Warren Knight
Key Highlights :
Drink driving is a serious offence and carries severe consequences. This was made clear when Warren Knight, a property manager from Hove, was recently disqualified from driving and fined for crashing his black Bentley Continental into parked cars and fleeing the scene.
At 1.30am on July 30th, Knight drove his car into parked cars in Goldstone Street, Hove. He then left the scene on foot, but was traced by specialist officers from the roads policing unit to his home address where he had gone to sleep. In custody, more than three hours after the crash was reported, police found he was still more than twice the drink drive limit.
At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on September 21, Knight admitted driving over the prescribed limit for alcohol and was disqualified from driving for 22 months and ordered to pay a £2,300 fine, £920 surcharge, and £85 court costs.
It is clear that Knight’s actions were reckless and he was lucky not to have caused serious harm to himself or anyone else on the road. Drink-driving is one of the main causes of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads. Sadly, this is a lesson that many people have to learn the hard way.
In this case, Knight admitted that he had been drinking since lunchtime the day before and had hoped to book a taxi home. However, when he couldn’t find one, he returned to his office to drive his own vehicle. He claimed that the crash was caused by the radio or a distraction inside the car, and accepted that he should not have been drinking and driving.
Taking steps to prevent drink-driving, such as booking a taxi or walking home, are some of the easiest ways to prevent drink-driving and the risks this poses. Knight has had to pay a high price for his poor decision to get behind the wheel that night. His story serves as a reminder to us all of the importance of taking responsibility for our actions and the consequences that can follow.
