Breathing booze
Question
If Im in a police station and about to be breathalysed, what procedures have to be followed? How many times must a person whose medication produces shortness of breath use the breathalyser at the police station?
Answer
If you're asked to take a roadside breathalyser test and it's not possible for you to carry this out then the police can ask you to take the test at the police station. Once at the police station, if you're still unable to complete the breath test due to medical reasons, they can ask you to take either a blood or urine test. Just being too drunk is not an acceptable excuse to avoid a breath test.
It's the police officer's decision whether to ask for blood or urine, except where a doctor has advised the police that blood should not or cannot be taken. The police can also ask for a blood or urine test if they believe you may be under the influence of drugs other than alcohol. If urine is to be provided, two samples must be provided within one hour.
If you fail to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine to a police officer when required to do so you risk being charged with failing to provide a sample. If this happens, the prosecution needs to convince a court that you failed without reasonable excuse to provide the specimen.
Refusing point blank to give a sample counts as failure to supply the specimen as does failing to correctly following the instructions. In court the prosecution wouldn't have to prove you were drunk or unable to drive, just that a sample wasn't provided.
What is or isn't an acceptable reason for not providing a specimen is a question of law. The law says a reasonable excuse must be based on a mental or physical incapacity to provide the specimen, or because the person could not understand the request.
So even if you had a medical condition preventing a breath test, you would be required to provide other samples to allow the same tests to be carried out.
Updated: 30/03/2005
Question answered by CAB
