Drink Driving

marrus

A family member was recently done for drink driving gaurds did not arrest him or breathalyse him a scene, took him to barracks and waited 20 mins to do test, should he not have been tested on road side. I know he will be done as he was over limit and deserves it but is there regulations when being stopped.

Little CuChulainn

There is no requirement for a roadside breath test.

gozunda

marrus wrote: »

A family member was recently done for drink driving gaurds did not arrest him or breathalyse him a scene, took him to barracks and waited 20 mins to do test, should he not have been tested on road side. I know he will be done as he was over limit and deserves it but is there regulations when being stopped.

Was there any specific impediment to the Gardai undertaking a breath test on the family member?

From

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/driving_offences/drink_driving_offences_in_ireland.html

Under the Road Traffic Act 2011, since June 2011 Gardaí must conduct a preliminary breath test where they believe a driver has consumed alcohol or at the scene of a crash where someone has been injured and requires medical attention.

Little CuChulainn

gozunda wrote: »

Was there any specific impediment to the Gardai undertaking a breath test on the family member?

From

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/motoring_1/driving_offences/drink_driving_offences_in_ireland.html

That does not include situations where they arrest them for drink driving.

gozunda

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

That does not include situations where they arrest them for drink driving.

marrus wrote: »

A family member was recently done for drink driving gaurds did not arrest him or breathalyse him a scene, took him to barracks and waited 20 mins to do test, should he not have been tested on road side. I know he will be done as he was over limit and deserves it but is there regulations when being stopped.

Am I missing something relevant in your reply?

Losty Dublin

A friend of mine was arrested for drink driving some years ago and taken to a station for testing without a roadside test being done.

Little CuChulainn

gozunda wrote: »

Am I missing something relevant in your reply?

Yeah. The guy was arrested. That's why he was brought to the station to give a sample.

gozunda

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

Yeah. The guy was arrested. That's why he was brought to the station to give a sample.

Really? - I am going with the detail provided by the OP. See bolded bit below ...

marrus wrote:

A family member was recently done for drink driving gaurds did not arrest him or breathalyse him a scene, took him to barracks and waited 20 mins to do test, should he not have been tested on road side. I know he will be done as he was over limit and deserves it but is there regulations when being stopped.

MarkAnthony

Open to correction but is the process not suspicion -> Sample (by asking the driver to accompany them to station) -> arrest?

Is the refusal to provide a sample not an offence in of itself.

This is entirely informed by late night UK cop shows and the fact that AGS don't all carry breathalysers.

In any event, OP's family member need a solicitor so I'd ask the solicitor.

If a guard suspects someone of drink driving, they can arrest them & bring them to the station.
Clearly the person in this instance was arrested & taken to the station where they underwent the test for drink driving & were found to be ove r the limit.
There is no onus to give a roadside test if the guard is of the option that someone is drink driving.

cheves

i take it they failed the test

Pro Hoc Vice

MarkAnthony wrote: »

Open to correction but is the process not suspicion -> Sample (by asking the driver to accompany them to station) -> arrest?

Is the refusal to provide a sample not an offence in of itself.

This is entirely informed by late night UK cop shows and the fact that AGS don't all carry breathalysers.

In any event, OP's family member need a solicitor so I'd ask the solicitor.

The relevant legislation allows AGS to ask a person to go to the station for a sample without arrest. Also once a member forms an opinion that the person is intoxicated to such an extent to be incapable of having propor control then he does not have to do the roadside test. But the person does need a solicitor as it is a complex area of law.

marrus

Thank you for your responses, yes he was over the limit, but never arrested, just asked him to accompany him to station

Pro Hoc Vice

marrus wrote: »

Thank you for your responses, yes he was over the limit, but never arrested, just asked him to accompany him to station

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1994/en/act/pub/0007/sec0014.html#sec14

That may have been amended.

Claw Hammer

Pro Hoc Vice wrote: »

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1994/en/act/pub/0007/sec0014.html#sec14

That may have been amended.

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 2010
4.- (1) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while he or she is under the influence of an intoxicant to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle.

(2) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while there is present in his or her body a quantity of alcohol such that, within 3 hours after so driving or attempting to drive, the concentration of alcohol in his or her blood will exceed a concentration of-

(a) 50 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, or

(b) in case the person is a specified person, 20 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

(3) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while there is present in his or her body a quantity of alcohol such that, within 3 hours after so driving or attempting to drive, the concentration of alcohol in his or her urine will exceed a concentration of-

(a) 67 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine, or

(b) in case the person is a specified person, 27 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine.

(4) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while there is present in his or her body a quantity of alcohol such that, within 3 hours after so driving or attempting to drive, the concentration of alcohol in his or her breath will exceed a concentration of-

(a) 22 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, or

(b) in case the person is a specified person, 9 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

(5) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(6) A person charged with an offence under this section may, in lieu of being found guilty of that offence, be found guilty of an offence under section 5 .

(7) Section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 does not apply to an offence under this section.

(8) A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person who in the member's opinion is committing or has committed an offence under this section.

Suspected drink drivers are invariably arrested under this section.

Pro Hoc Vice

Claw Hammer wrote: »

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 2010
4.- (1) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while he or she is under the influence of an intoxicant to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle.

(2) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while there is present in his or her body a quantity of alcohol such that, within 3 hours after so driving or attempting to drive, the concentration of alcohol in his or her blood will exceed a concentration of-

(a) 50 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, or

(b) in case the person is a specified person, 20 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

(3) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while there is present in his or her body a quantity of alcohol such that, within 3 hours after so driving or attempting to drive, the concentration of alcohol in his or her urine will exceed a concentration of-

(a) 67 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine, or

(b) in case the person is a specified person, 27 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine.

(4) A person shall not drive or attempt to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while there is present in his or her body a quantity of alcohol such that, within 3 hours after so driving or attempting to drive, the concentration of alcohol in his or her breath will exceed a concentration of-

(a) 22 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, or

(b) in case the person is a specified person, 9 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

(5) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(6) A person charged with an offence under this section may, in lieu of being found guilty of that offence, be found guilty of an offence under section 5 .

(7) Section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 does not apply to an offence under this section.

(8) A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person who in the member's opinion is committing or has committed an offence under this section.

Suspected drink drivers are invariably arrested under this section.

That is the arrest provision different to the accompany provision contained in 1994 Act.