Cengolio · Fines · Codes · DR20
DR20 : driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink
Checked 22 July 2026 · How we check our figures
What it means
DR20 is DR10 without the number: driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink, s. 4 RTA 1988, proved by impairment rather than by a reading. It appears where the machine's figure is unavailable or unusable and the evidence is what the officers and the doctor observed, which makes it rarer and more argued than its famous sibling. The consequences are the family's driving-variant set: the mandatory ban, the 11 years from conviction, the high risk file where the history is bad.
Points and how long it stays
3 to 11 points.
On the licence for 11 years from the date of conviction.
The DR family is the 11-year shelf of the endorsement system, but only half of it sits there. DR10, DR20, DR30, DR31 and DR61 stay on the record for 11 years from conviction, not from the offence, though third parties such as insurers can see an 11-year code only through its first 5 years, where a 4-year code shows throughout (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22). The in-charge and roadside codes, DR40, DR50, DR60 and DR70, run on the ordinary 4-year clock from the offence, or from conviction where a court disqualifies (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22). The driving variants carry a mandatory ban of 12 months or more, 3 years for a second drink offence inside 10, so their points column is mostly theoretical; the others carry fixed points instead, 10 for the in-charge entries and 4 for the roadside test. High readings, refusals and a second drink-related disqualification inside 10 years add the high risk offender scheme, where the licence returns only after the DVLA is medically satisfied. The tables, the course that shortens the ban and the courtroom mechanics sit in the drink driving guide at /fines/guides/drink-driving.
The usual route
There is no fixed penalty at this end of the table; the charge is heard in person, as the drink driving guide sets out.
If it goes to court
The outcome tracks DR10: a mandatory ban of 12 months or more, an unlimited fine and custody of up to 6 months available (gov.uk, checked 2026-07-22); the bans table sits in the drink driving guide.
Read next
Calculator: the code decoder, every code on the official list →
Authority
gov.uk, Penalty points (endorsements), checked 2026-07-22