Blew 0 at the roadside... not sure how

[double--]

Hey all,

Last night I was stopped and breathalised by the police on my way home after visiting friends.

I below 0 at the roadside (which was obviously good news) however I had actually been drinking (although I thought I'd be under the limit) and now I'm confused.

I had 3 cans of lager (mixed with lemonade) over the space of 6-7 hours, then waited a further hour before driving where I had a pint of lemonade. The lager says it is 1.8 units per 440ml can.

I couldn't believe it when I blew 0 as I had been drinking. Do you think the machine the police were using was faulty? Otherwise it sounds like I could have drank more and still have been under the legal limit (I do understand that any amount of alcohol impairs your judgement / ability etc).

Thanks.

 

[price1367]

A casual drinker will get rid of about one unit per hour, after the first 30 minutes from when they start drinking, so it is possible that your reading was 0.
there is also the possibility that the breath test machine was faulty, the roadside ones are battery operated and are only an indication if someone is over the limit. They can produce false readings if the battery is low.
i wouldn't advise you to go down the route of "I could have drunk some more" because sometimes people have alcohol still in their system from a previous drinking session and they do not start from zero. Have none for the road! Is our motto at TTC......

 

[double--]

Makes sense - thanks very much for the reply