Facts
On 23 January 1997, Mr. was stopped while driving a car with a blood alcohol content of 1.27 g/oo. Mr. had already been deprived of his driving licence for 2 months in 1991 for a previous offence of driving under the influence.
The Cantonal Vehicles Office of Vaud Canton ordered the revocation of Mr.'s driving licence for a duration of 8 months. The Administrative Court of Vaud Canton confirmed this decision.
Mr. appealed to the Federal Tribunal, arguing that the Administrative Court had violated Articles 17(1)(b) and 33(2) of the Road Traffic Act (LCR) by considering that the second offence, committed approximately 5 years and 9 months after the expiry of the first measure, required a withdrawal period of one year under Article 17(1)(d) LCR.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considered that the fact of driving under the influence a second time, shortly after the expiry of the 5-year recidivism period, constitutes an aggravating factor of the offence. However, this factor must be taken into account with all the circumstances, in accordance with Article 33(2) of the Ordinance on the Admission of Persons and Vehicles to Road Traffic (OAC), and must not lead to a schematic determination of the duration of the withdrawal.
In the present case, the Federal Tribunal found that the Administrative Court had given too much weight to the temporal element to the detriment of other circumstances,…