Breath test question.

[Routemaster]

1) Suppose a drink driver is stopped by police and asked for a breath test but immediately admits that they had a drink from their hip flask a few moments before getting stopped. Does that mean they will have to wait by the roadside for the required 30 mins for the alcohol to absorb into their blood before being required to give a sample? Or will they be arrested and taken to the station?

What if the offender was lying and just wanted to buy some time which could mean their real BAC was below the limit after 30 mins?

2) What about drink drivers caught in very rural locations which may be over 1 hour to the nearest police station, are they at an advantage compared to drivers caught in a city where the station may be only a few mins away? Its possible that the rural drivers BAC could have fallen below the limit in the time it takes to get to the station for their second test whilst the city driver will still be clearly over the limit.

I know Scotland has a lower limit but some places in highlands are over 2 hours drive to nearest police station meaning a drink driver could be completely clear when they get their second test.

 

[price1367]

1. The required time to wait after a suspect has consumed alcohol is 20 minutes, not 30. This is to allow for mouth alcohol to dissipate, not for the alcohol to absorb into your blood system. The officer would doubtless ask to see the flask. Having one does not make it certain that you have had a drink. Not having one would show you to be lying...... If there was an indication that the person had consumed alcohol in the past 20 minutes then the officer would wait for that time to pass.

2. You are right that the delay could have an effect on the breath test result at the police station, but it could be either way. In that time you suggest that the reading would go down. If the person has very recently consumed spirits then their reading could go higher during the delay.
it is open to the police to have a "back calculation" carried out on the sample if it is under the limit (especially in cases of injury collisions) to determine what the reading would have been at the time of driving, and still prosecute.

It will all become academic in a year or two anyway, there have already been trials of evidential breath test machines actually in the police car, so when they are fully introduced the roadside sample will be the one that you are prosecuted on.