Ban for drink-driver who overturned her car in Chichester
She was still more than three times the limit after drinking the night before
A Tangmere woman who crashed into three parked cars and rolled her vehicle while more than three times the drink-drive limit has been banned from the roads.
Diana Woloszszuk had been drinking the night before the crash in St Paul's Road in Chichester, at around 4am on February 21st.
The 35-year-old pharmacist, of Windmill Drive, had to be helped out her Fiat 500 by a member of the public but was unhurt in the incident.
Woloszszuk admitted to police she had not appreciated she was still over the limit when she woke in the morning.
She failed a roadside breath test and was subsequently arrested and charged with driving with 114mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in her system. The legal limit is 35mcg.
Woloszczuk appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on March 8th, where she pleaded guilty to the offence.
She was disqualified from driving for 23 months, ordered to pay costs totalling £303 and given a community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement.
Investigating officer, PC Zachary Stout, of the Chichester Neighbourhood Response Team, said:
“The defendant was remorseful for her actions, which she regrets. Nevertheless, she is aware she should never have attempted to drive while intoxicated.
“It is a common misconception that you’re fine to drive after a few hours’ sleep – this very much depends on how much alcohol you have consumed and how much time you’ve given yourself before driving.
"Alcohol stays in your system for several hours after you’ve stopped drinking, and if you’re in any doubt, don’t drive at all. You could end up in a situation like this, or worse still, you could kill yourself or someone else.”
Drink-driving is one of the five most common causes of fatal and serious injury collisions on our roads, along with speeding, mobile phone use, not wearing a seatbelt and careless driving.
To find out the approximate number of hours it will take for alcohol to leave your system, you can take an online ‘under the influence’ calculator, produced by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, here.