jef

iTrader: (13)

just a thought,

say your in house, no intention of going out and have half glass of wine or whatever, go out in car for whatever reason, and then get stopped within minutes to give a sample.
would the residual alcohol in yor mouth, hiding in saliva, under your tounge ect have an effect on the reading? ie increasing it?

obviously youd demand a blood sample taken as soon as possible - but the question is would it give an falsely high readout on one of those machines?

bigredrob

I think , but I might be wrong,they have to wait 20mins after you last drink before they test you.

Loonie

i am guessing it would increase it thats why police cannot breath test you within 20mins of your last drink

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

Drinking in the house or drinking in the pub makes no difference whichever it is, if you have a drink don't drive then you know your ok.

David Lock

I find that with the generally poor standard of driving and shocking state of the roads I need a couple of snifters before venturing out to steady the nerves

dl

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

I remember a guy drinking in his house with no intentions of driving. It began to rain and he decided to jump in his convertable (over the doors) to shut the roof and a copper saw him.

they got chatting and the copper said that he could have nicked him for drink driving as he had the keys on him!

I have a friend who has drunk drive (I can't say how over as I don't know) and the three times he was been pulled he blew under even though he expected to be over.

HE said his secret is to blow the breathalizer like a whistle...

Saying that I do not condone Drink driving, your a dick head if you do.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

Looks like the Xmas drinking routine is getting prepared,
If you need to go out while drinking then you don't drive, simple, get a taxi or a lift.
Better than killing someone.

Fleetster

Yea you get asked when you last had a drink and they have to wait 20 mins before they test you, same for mouth wash lol

jef

iTrader: (13)

talking hypothetical here mate, im not looking for a loophole to allow driving home from the boozer drunk.

i never knew they had to wait 20 mins to take a sample tbh, but say you tried some foods/drink to try manipulate or skew the results, a red hot madras, aniseed *****, the unit is designed to bypass all eventualities?

are there ever any cases of false positives?, or is it clealry 100% accurate?

jef

iTrader: (13)

my sentiments exactly - any booze = no driving. end of.

Camsedin

drink = stay away from any driving.

iv seen a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the road in the pitch black with there lights off.. ive seen them drive on payments.

only a total plank would drive after any drink.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

If you have a drink it will show on the breathalyser but the one you take in the police car doesn't count for anything it just shows that you may be over the limit. The one that gets you prosecuted is the one done in the police station and it will be over an hour after you have been checked into your new room

You can refuse a roadside breathalyser and it won't make any difference in terms of being charged but if you refuse the one in the station thats an instant ban/fine with no defence as its just clear cut refusal.

jef

iTrader: (13)

your body has a metabolic rate at whic it breaks down poisons - so it could well be, even though at time of stopping and questioning (subsequently refusing) you could indeed be over the limit yet by the time an hour or so has passed to squabble with officers, get to station and a test taken there its entirely pheasible you could fall below the thresshold?

even though if they reverse engineer the scenario it could easily palce the person over the limit at the time of stopping, but a lawyer couldnt hold that up in court as evidence?

is that correct?

as a comical side note i remeber a tv show where a guy whos defense was that he had a medical condition which actually resulted in his liver manufacturing in some sense alcohol - lol - lucky bstartd lol. anyone fancy a pint of alcoholic bile??

jef

iTrader: (13)

agreed but not really relevant to the thread - i dont think there can be many people who accept drink driving as an acceptable passtime. but thats not my point. it was just scrutinising the testing method as i have little understanding of it

ScoobyWon't

Anyone in a vehicle, with keys, when drunk is considered being in charge of the vehicle, even if stationary and the engine off.

When I did my Police training, we had to test each other. We were given a cap full of whisky, from a miniature bottle, and then asked to provide a sample immediately. I was about 4 times over.

The twenty minute rule does exist, but the person being tested can waive the right to wait twenty minutes, which is handy if you know you have hsd no alcohol. on one occasion, a chap waived the 20 minutes as he knew he was too far over.

In terms of getting away with it, many people claim post consumption, where they immediately neck booze after getting out of the vehicle, but the scientists can work this out on count back.

From my experience, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights saw most people who were arrested at the road side, pass the test in custody, compared with any other week night. I always put this down to it being so busy and it taking an excessive amount of time to get a qualified officer to be free to conduct the test, whereas on the other nights, it wasn't so busy, so there is a better chance of an officer being free.

douglasb

The equipment measures alcohol in the breath. Hot curries, aniseed *****, coffee, etc., don't contain alcohol so they don't make any difference to the reading.

Any alcohol consumed in the previous 20 minutes and remaining in the mouth can give a false high reading hence why you should be asked when you last consumed alcohol before being asked to provide a breath sample.

As others have said though, the roadside reading is just used to establish that alcohol has been consumed. The readings at the police station are the ones that matter.

jef mentioned demanding a blood sample in his original post. It doesn't work that way. The breath limit is 35 (of whatever units these things are measured in). If you blow between 35 and 40 at the police station you will be given a huge bollocking and told that you have been lucky. If you blow between 40 and 50 on the calibrated machine at the police station you will be given the "statutory option" of having a blood or urine test. The results of this test then replace the breath test. If you blow over 50 then the result of the breath machine stands. You do not have any right to a further test as it is assumed that however inaccurate the machine may be it would need to be "out" by 50% to give a false positive.

jef

iTrader: (13)

correct me if im wrong but i take from that, the roadsic=de test will provide a false positive if your necking of a whisky provides a positive? no?

so immediatley after the shot of whiky = 4 times over im presume due to residual alcohol in your saliva and mouth, but once iven time a more accurate level o blood mg content is available and thats always whats used to enable convictions?

jef

iTrader: (13)

so really the road test is just used as a guidance as to whether or not the officers think a station test which could be used as court evidence would be conclusive?

douglasb

jef - yes, pretty much so. If you've just necked a whisky the mouth alcohol will give a high reading. However after 20 minutes there should be no alcohol in your saliva so the reading will be accurate. Hence why you should be asked if you have consumed alcohol in the last 20 minutes before a roadside test is done.

The roadside test result won't be used in court. It is just to provide an indication. Having said that, the latest roadside breathalysers give a digital reading rather than just "traffic lights" to indicate clear, had something to drink but under the limit, and definitely over the limit.

TelBoy

Interesting comment. Admirable, but given that (finger in the air) 99% of people on this forum have driven after "just a quick one", how relevant is it? You're conversing with an awful lot of planks on Scoobynet then.

The law isn't zero tolerance (yet).

urban

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, but only on a public road.

ScoobyWon't

The equipment in the station is used to take three readings from the detainee, it actually takes three calibration readings too, then works out maximum, minimum and average, the lower reading is used to decide the charging outcome.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, but you can refuse to accept the reading.
Then you must provide either a urine or blood sample.
Request the blood sample, that'll buy you a bit more time which they get a doctor to take a sample
Be aware though, that after you've messed them around like this then you're totally fcuked if the blood sample goes against you.

P1Fanatic

douglasb

Maybe in Northern Ireland but not over here. A reading of >51 on the machine at the police station sees you charged. No option for any other tests. A reading of between 40 and 50 means that you can opt to have a blood or urine test, the result of which replaces the result of the breath tests.

But is's not your choice whether the further test is blood or urine. It is the choice of the custody officer.

Home Office guidelines complete with the step-by-step procedure for the police to follow. (Form MG DD/A)

Leslie

The best answer is not to drink at all if you are going to drive. Its a lot fairer on other road users as well.

Les

c_maguire

I'm not entirely convinced.
I think my brother was sleeping it off in his car parked on some waste-type ground beside the road.
He got a year ban for being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle (keys were in his pocket).
I expect the logic would be that for the car to be there/leave there it would have to have been driven on the road.

Bit of a bummer. Like being done for doing 66 in a 60. You'd be kicking yourself for not doing 85.

bugblue1

iTrader: (3)

i know of someone who was in same situation & got banned,apperently if you have the vehicles keys on your person & you are within one hundred metres you can also get done,how true that is well maybe someone knows?

jef

iTrader: (13)

i remeber watching a cop show at customs in dover, and abandonded truck with 3/4 bottles of gin sitting open in it in the waiting bay, they waited on driver coming back, fcked out his face, he did the usualu - i speaka no english, and because they couldnt prove he consumed it in the cab - was allowed to sleep it off and be on his merry way. lol

boomer

Not only that, but 99% of people on this forum will drive the morning after they have drunk alcohol the night before - but are they completely alcohol free?

mb