Can you ask to be breathalysed?

helimachoptor

Just a query as beside my local there is a pub and after a few nights out I got thinking can you go and ask them to give you a test?

Carroller16

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helimachoptor

Carroller16 wrote: »

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No its a serious question!

Sometimes I'd drive to the pub if it was raining and leave the car there cos I'd have a few points. Have never ever D & D.

If i'm going to drive I have a 7up.

But I'm just wondering if you have a bottle of beer, can you ask a Garda to give you the test before you get into the car?

ojewriej

helimachoptor wrote: »

No its a serious question!

Sometimes I'd drive to the pub if it was raining and leave the car there cos I'd have a few points. Have never ever D & D.

If i'm going to drive I have a 7up.

But I'm just wondering if you have a bottle of beer, can you ask a Garda to give you the test before you get into the car?

I'm pretty sure you can, but it's up to a Guard whether he'll do it for you or not. They were talking about it on Newstalk not long ago.

I know that Gardai were actually encouraging people to get breathalised before driving from one of the music festivals last year.

Eru

Well the road side standard test only shows alcohol in your system not how much so in order to satisfy the question regarding being over or under would involve going to the station and doing the correct test there.

Thats not very effective policing if neither you or the Gardai think your over. It also takes about 1 hour so really whats the point in wasting everyones time? Nothing stopping you from asking but perhaps carrying one of the self test kits would be easier? Just as long as you know they arent 100% accurate.

Geri Boyle

No, you can't.
A friend of mine asked a guard at a festival last year if she could be breathalised before she got into the car and he said no.
I've also asked another guard on a different occasion and he told me that they just won't do it.

Trojan911

helimachoptor wrote: »

Just a query as beside my local there is a pub and after a few nights out I got thinking can you go and ask them to give you a test?

Give it a go. Pop in when you next around. I can't see an issue as it only takes a few minutes if that. You might get a friendly officer who will oblige & then again you might get an arrogant one who will tell you where to go or you might get one that will tell you whether they can do it or not.

Just be advised that approx twenty mins after your last drink is a good time to do it and the alcohol could still be developing in your system so bear that in mind if you pass at the station you may fail an hour down the road.

Fyr.Fytr

Also the fact the alcahol level in your body can rise after being tested.

Right way to go is to just stay off the gargle if your driving alot easier and your also definate there is none in your system.

Geri Boyle

Trojan911 wrote: »

Just be advised that approx twenty mins after your last drink is a good time to do it and the alcohol could still be developing in your system so bear that in mind if you pass at the station you may fail an hour down the road.

I think this is the reason that no guard will do it for you.
If you're all clear when you leave the station, you won't necessarily be 10 mins later. And chances are, every breathaliser is slightly different aswel. No guard will want you pointing the finger at them saying 's/he said I was ok!' They will more than likely cover themselves.

phaxx

WTF! If you drink, don't drive!

Again, WTF!

Fyr.Fytr

He said he didnt, he was just curious

Trojan911

Blue Belle wrote: »

I think this is the reason that no guard will do it for you.
If you're all clear when you leave the station, you won't necessarily be 10 mins later. And chances are, every breathaliser is slightly different aswel. No guard will want you pointing the finger at them saying 's/he said I was ok!' They will more than likely cover themselves.

Spot on... The simple answer is not to drive at all even after one unit.

TheNog

Yeah the road side test will only show if you had drink taken or not but not the amount of drink in your system. The machine in the station will give you the amount of alcohol in your system but I doubt it can be used to see if a person is fit to drive if they request a sample. Could you imagine if a person was told they are below the limit and then crash their car on the way home and then said "the guards said i was okay to drive"

allybhoy

This was discussed on NewsTalk around xmas, a fella was going to drive home from his xmas party the next day but thought he might have been over so went to a Gard and asked him to breathalyze him but he said he would have to arrest him and bring him down the station for a urine sample first. So the answer is no

Fyr.Fytr

You say the road side machine only shows if people have gargle on board not wether they are over the limit?

Maybe im reading it wrong but thats the impression im getting

So i can have 1 unit and if i get stopped at a check point ill be arrested for sec 49??

I thought they were like the road side ones you see on tv, it detects wether there is drink in your system and shows that but has a seperated indication for wether its over the limit or not.

yayamark

Personally i cant see the problem as long as the chap is polite about it. It is a good way having a bit of crack with the Public and showing people how the machine works rather than at a checkpoint which can be very formal.

Its happened to me a couple of time where we've been on checkpoints and the wife gas picked the husband up. We breathalayse the wife obivously zero, the husband leans over "sorry garda i've had x amount of pints any chance can i check am i over" Here i can see no wrong in Breathalaysing the husband as the garda or husband is under no pressure.
Actually what happens here is that the husband come back as a fail which reinforeces the idea of not drinking and driving. The thing here is that the husband could be failing here because of what is known as mouth alcohol which doesnt give a true reading. Of course we dont tell him that!

ojewriej

Fair enough, won't be arguing with the guards, but if it's such a bad idea, how come the gardai had a stand set up somewhere in punchestown to breathalise people?

And I don't mean a checkpoint, just a stand to breathalise anyone who wanted to do it before driving?

grainne_ed

helimachoptor wrote: »

No its a serious question!

Sometimes I'd drive to the pub if it was raining and leave the car there cos I'd have a few points. Have never ever D & D.

If i'm going to drive I have a 7up.

But I'm just wondering if you have a bottle of beer, can you ask a Garda to give you the test before you get into the car?

He probably tell you that you look fine, encourage you to jump on in and drive home no problem, follow you up the road, pull out his tube and tell you to blow it. Next thing your locked up.

Geri Boyle

ojewriej wrote: »

Fair enough, won't be arguing with the guards, but if it's such a bad idea, how come the gardai had a stand set up somewhere in punchestown to breathalise people?

And I don't mean a checkpount, just a stand to breathalise anyone who wanted befor driving?

I had a different experience in punchestown, but if I was to guess I would say that the next morning your blood alcohol levels are going to be decreasing, whereas at night- depending on how long it's been since your last drink- they are possibly still rising, so in theory it is less likely to be inaccurate an hour later if done in the morning.

TheNog

allybhoy wrote: »

This was discussed on NewsTalk around xmas, a fella was going to drive home from his xmas party the next day but thought he might have been over so went to a Gard and asked him to breathalyze him but he said he would have to arrest him and bring him down the station for a urine sample first. So the answer is no

In this case the guard probably did not have access to a road side alcolyser but had access to the breathilyzer in the station. I would imagine that the breathilyzer would give computer print-outs say every month or two to show who was breathilized and the reading.

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

You say the road side machine only shows if people have gargle on board not wether they are over the limit?

Maybe im reading it wrong but thats the impression im getting

So i can have 1 unit and if i get stopped at a check point ill be arrested for sec 49??

Exactly the alcoliyzer only tells us if a person has alcohol in their system but not how much. Only the breathliyzer in the station can do that.

yayamark wrote: »

Personally i cant see the problem as long as the chap is polite about it. It is a good way having a bit of crack with the Public and showing people how the machine works rather than at a checkpoint which can be very formal.

Its happened to me a couple of time where we've been on checkpoints and the wife gas picked the husband up. We breathalayse the wife obivously zero, the husband leans over "sorry garda i've had x amount of pints any chance can i check am i over" Here i can see no wrong in Breathalaysing the husband as the garda or husband is under no pressure.
Actually what happens here is that the husband come back as a fail which reinforeces the idea of not drinking and driving. The thing here is that the husband could be failing here because of what is known as mouth alcohol which doesnt give a true reading. Of course we dont tell him that!

Informally doing it i suppose it would be okay but I'd be very wary unless management told us it would be alright provided it doesn't impact our duties.

ojewriej wrote: »

Fair enough, won't be arguing with the guards, but if it's such a bad idea, how come the gardai had a stand set up somewhere in punchestown to breathalise people?

And I don't mean a checkpoint, just a stand to breathalise anyone who wanted to do it before driving?

Its a good idea but again I wouldnt do it unless management said it was okay to in any given situation.

ojewriej

TheNog wrote: »

Exactly the alcoliyzer only tells us if a person has alcohol in their system but not how much. Only the breathliyzer in the station can do that.

I was breathalised few times, usually it just shows 0.0, but 2 weeks ago I had a little wine with my dinner and the Garda told me that she could see I had a drink, but I wasn't over the limit. So it must indicate level of consumption somehow, at least whether you are over the limit or not?

the_syco

You: Can I get breathalysed before I drive?
Garda: No.

So you get in the car, and drive 4 feet, before gettting pulled over, and breathalysed. You fail. Goodbye license.

Why did they pull you over?

Cos you asked to be breathalysed. Why would you ask if you weren't drinking, tbh.

=-=

Oh, and if you passed it, and got in an accident down the road, I wonder what the judge would say when you said "but I passed the breathalyser test before I drove"...

ojewriej

the_syco wrote: »

Oh, and if you passed it, and got in an accident down the road, I wonder what the judge would say when you said "but I passed the breathalyser test before I drove"...

Garda could make clear that the breathaliser result is just an indication.

After all it wouldn't be used in court if you'd fail either, the results from the big machine at the statiuon would.

Fyr.Fytr

Thats a bit cack if you get arrested for one drink even though your still below the limit.

I read and seen on tv ones thst give a rough amount of drink in the breath, instead of just pass or fail

Seems like a waste of time to be honest, stop someone breathalise them, they fail because of one drink, have to be transported to the one station in the districy with the intoxiliser, wait for a member trained in its use to arrive only for it to show they've a very small amount in their system

bryanmurr

The alcolyser (Roadside) is a screening device to determine the presence of alcohol and does not give an exact reading (Zero/Pass/Alert/Fail),whereas the intoxilyser (station) determines concentration of alcohol on your breath and gives an exact result to be used in evidence.

JonAnderton

You can get devices that will give you an exact reading, lot of our traffic have them.

Thing is, your alcohol levels go up for a certain time after drinking so as mentioned, just cos you pass the test at the time of leaving the pub, even just 10 minutes down the road, you could be over.

Personally, I wouldn't do it... you know for sure it'd be brought up in court when they did get nicked after knocking down the old lady in the village...

There's an easy way to make sure you're not over the limit... DON'T DRINK!!!!!

Esel

helimachoptor wrote: »

Just a query as beside my local there is a pub and after a few nights out I got thinking can you go and ask them to give you a test?

Yeah, beside my chipper there is a Chinese take-away. I often wondered if I could order a curry to be delivered to my house, then blag a lift home off the delivery guy!

metman

I have to agree with Jon. I wouldn't want to be the one whose shoulder number is cited in court as 'the officer who told me I was ok to drive after he breathalysed me.'

Geri Boyle

esel wrote: »

Yeah, beside my chipper there is a Chinese take-away. I often wondered if I could order a curry to be delivered to my house, then blag a lift home off the delivery guy!

I think, by 'local' helimachopter meant local garda station

TheNog

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

Thats a bit cack if you get arrested for one drink even though your still below the limit.

I read and seen on tv ones thst give a rough amount of drink in the breath, instead of just pass or fail

Seems like a waste of time to be honest, stop someone breathalise them, they fail because of one drink, have to be transported to the one station in the districy with the intoxiliser, wait for a member trained in its use to arrive only for it to show they've a very small amount in their system

It can be but after a while you get the instinct when a person is ovr the limit by how they speak, stand/walk and generally how they look. Smell and the persons driving obviously another give away.

Fyr.Fytr

Still youd like the traffic light system the brits have on their machines, simple pass or fail, take the guess work out of it.

Let alone the time saved as stated above

Eru

Fyr.Fytr wrote: »

Still youd like the traffic light system the brits have on their machines, simple pass or fail, take the guess work out of it.

Let alone the time saved as stated above

My understanding is that your still tested at the station for an exact reading.

In Spain they have mobile machines. Just get on the radio, it rolls up and your tested.

Fyr.Fytr

I know that its just its easier you get a pass or fail there, rather then the machine telling you someone had a drink, but may not be over the limit.

kerry4sam

bryanmurr wrote: »

The alcolyser (Roadside) is a screening device to determine the presence of alcohol and does not give an exact reading (Zero/Pass/Alert/Fail),whereas the intoxilyser (station) determines concentration of alcohol on your breath and gives an exact result to be used in evidence.

has anyone ever regretted or second-guessed their decision not to take someone into the station?

TheNog

kerry4sam wrote: »

has anyone ever regretted or second-guessed their decision not to take someone into the station?

Usually the people I have arrested on suspicion of drunk driving are sound enough people who have made a terrible mistake and with these people I do feel sorry for but the fact remains that if they continued driving they may have crashed and seriously hurt themselves or someone else. I always keep this in mind. I do not prosecute these people for the sake of it or that I want to but rather to keep the roads a little safer.

metman

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

My understanding is that your still tested at the station for an exact reading.

In Spain they have mobile machines. Just get on the radio, it rolls up and your tested.

The ESD (electronic screening device) is only an indicator and does not give a an evidential reading. You still get taken to the nick and put on the intoxilyser and have to provide two evidential samples. The lower of the two readings is then used.

Eru

kerry4sam wrote: »

has anyone ever regretted or second-guessed their decision not to take someone into the station?

Never let someone go and thought I made a mistake but have felt bad after an arrest.

metman wrote: »

The ESD (electronic screening device) is only an indicator and does not give a an evidential reading. You still get taken to the nick and put on the intoxilyser and have to provide two evidential samples. The lower of the two readings is then used.

Thats what I thought, just the same as our system.