dO i HAVE TO ATTEND THE POLICE STATION

Convicted Driver Insurance

jobhunter

New Member
After being brethalised is it law the police then take you to the station to complete the procedure or can they use two breath tests in the police car write out your charge sheet and send you home ?
 
After being brethalised is it law the police then take you to the station to complete the procedure or can they use two breath tests in the police car write out your charge sheet and send you home ?

It is the law you must be taken to the police station to provide an evidential breath/blood/urine sample. The breath tests carried out at the roadside by police officers are simply used as a means of deciding whether or not to arrest a motorist and take him to the police station to provide a further sample.

They are commonly called PBT's or preliminary breath tests and are used for screening purposes only. The readings these PBT machines produce can't be used as admissable evidence in a court of law to prove that a motorist was over the legal limit.
 
Thanks for that answer.....can you tell me if there are mobile evidential breath test units that the police are using....in vans ?
 
Sorry to be a pain mate......but is that definate...no mobile vans that do the job the police station would do............and so they have to take you in...as of this OCTOBER 2008
 
Sorry to be a pain mate......but is that definate...no mobile vans that do the job the police station would do............and so they have to take you in...as of this OCTOBER 2008

The police now have the power to require evidential breath specimens in places other than a police station, however, there are no devices currently type approved for doing so and are not expected to be until 2010.

There are new screening devices that police forces are starting to use that are memory equipped that collect data which is then sent and stored into a national database, but they are screening devices, not evidential devices.
 
Right so it's that simple, in the present day you HAVE to be taken to a police station......there's no way around this part of the procedure anywhere in the UK ?

For instance could this scenario be at all possible..........driver pulled over ..failed to stop after slight bump and is found to be 3 times over the limit............driver then enters van has further tests and is charged.

Drivers vehicle taken the few streets home for him and parked outside his house by police officer.
Driver taken home in police car.Driver once inside house presented with copy of his charge sheet and given his car key back and told not to go out again in car that night ?
 
The power to request an EVIDENTIAL sample of breath is conferred by Section 7 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. This section confirms that the device used must be type approved and that the request (for evidential breath samples) can only be made at a police station. The situation is different in cases where blood or urine are requested.

I understand that some police forces in the UK are currently piloting a new evidential breath testing device, the Lion Intoxilyser 8000 which is intended to eventually replace the Lion Intoxilyser 6000UK which is currently in use. However, I have been unable to find any confirmation that this device has yet been type approved by the Home Office, which it would have to be before the police could rely on it in evidence.

I have spoken about your case to a forensic scientist who is an expert in intoxilyser procedures. From a toxicology and practical point of view, the machine could be set up in the back of a police van and providing the machine is type approved and properly calibrated there would be no reason to doubt the relaibility of the machine. There is a potential legal argument as to whether the vehicle you describe fulfills the definition of "police station" or whether there is some other legal authority that dispenses with the requirement for the request to be made at a Police Station. It may be that the police in your area were involved in a drink driving campaign or pilot scheme and will argue that the mobile unit falls within the definition of "police station" under the road traffic act. This is a moot point and will depend on a number of factors.

It is certainly an unusual situation. If you have been charged I would recommend you take legal advice from a specialist drink driving solicitor before you decide how to plead. It sounds like the case raises some novel legal arguments that may not yet have been tested in court. If you want more help then feel free to email me direct.
 
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