breatho's - why wont they give you a reading?

[SCiFiRE]

I got pulled over the other day (booked for speeding, fair and square, wont go into that), and they gave me a breatho.

Ive been off my P Plates for 2 years as of tomorrow, and I have on many occasions had 1 or 2 stubbies and then gone for a drive. i dont drive if i think im too drunk too, but I'm never really sure because I've never had a breatho after a drink. (infact i havent had one since i got off my P's)

Now i had had a couple of stubbies of jack daniels about half hour before i went driving. I ask the cop, who was pretty polite in all other areas, if he could tell me my reading 'because ive never had a breatho after a drink, Id like to know how close i am'....and he refused. No reason given. I asked again, and he said 'no, i cant tell you that'.

Now i really dont understand this. Why in the world couldnt he tell me? all it does is give me an idea of how much i can drink before the law dubs me unfit to drive a car. therefor helping me know my limits and making it safer.
what do you guys think? ever had them refuse to give you the reading?

[clixanup]

Its the ol' keep 'em guessing routine.

Better to keep you unsure and worried about it than remove all doubt.

[heavychevy]

Had similar a couple of months ago. Big night on the turps, didn't drive till 3 in the arvo and was pulled in at St. Kilda Marina 5 minutes after turning the key. Asked the same question to the constable, who was frank enough to say that the road side testing stuff is rudimentry but also offered me an opportunity for a resample in the booze bus. Nup!

[Dacious]

Nothing so sinister. The little handheld units are a 'go/no-go' device. It can indicate you've been drinking, and roughly how much but is not proof of anything. It doesn't have real accuracy, so the Cop would be telling you a guesstimate or his opinion. If you then went out and thought 'Beauty, I can drink twice this amount and be legal' it might cause a problem.

That's why it's called a 'preliminary breath test'. If it indicates you may be over the limit, they need to test you with the correct calibrated unit in the booze bus or at the station to get a result which will stick in court. This is a big, expensive and sensitive instrument so can't be carried in a patrol car.

You are lucky - depending how quick you drank the 2 stubbies of JD; might put you perilously close to .05. As the alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream you B/A content keeps rising for some time after your last drink.

Alcohol also hangs around on the breath for 45 minutes-1 hour so often the Cops get a false positive on the handheld units. The Alcometer is much more accurate.

[frankdenial]

Alcohol also hangs around on the breath for 45 minutes-1 hour so often the Cops get a false positive on the handheld units. The Alcometer is much more accurate.[/QUOTE]

The preliminary breath testing device used is actually a Lion Alcolmeter SD 400. The breath testing instrument is a Drager Alcotest 7110. The Alcotest 7110 is the more accurate machine not the Alcolmeter.
Mouth alcohol is the concern for a false reading. Mouth alcohol usually dissipates after 15 minutes.

[HRT 8]

In Victoria the Lion Alcometer SD 400PA (handheld PBT) isnt a prescribed device. Ie the reading it produces isn't admissible in court. It is simply used as an indicator to your breath containing alcohol.
The Lion Alcometer SD 400PA IS very accurate and is never too far away from the reading obtained by the Alcotest 7110. Its usually the time difference between obtaining the two tests that causes the result to differ.

The only prescribed device currently used, for court purposes is the Drager Alcotest 7110.

There is nothing to say the police cannot tell you the reading of a PBT, as they often do. But, because it isnt the "prescribed device" they arent relied on as being accurate.

[Turbo00007]

So if you are found to be over do they arrest you on the spot or take you back to station then arrest you ?
Or send you home and then send a ticket ?

[zorro]

I've found in QLD if you are under they show you the reading and say have a good day/night. I have not had the opportunity, nor do I want it, of having to see the wrong numbers on the readout.

Also I am a weirdo and have a collection of the tubes, they are also fairly happy to let you keep em.

[racketsports]

So if you are found to be over do they arrest you on the spot or take you back to station then arrest you ?
Or send you home and then send a ticket ?

Turbo00007, if you blow over at the roadside test you are arrested for the purpose of a breath analysis. You are either taken to a police station or booze bus to be tested on the alcholyzer after a mandatory 15 minute observation period. This 15 minutes is to allow any mouth alcohol to dissapate. The Drager 7110 is deemed a medical instrument and is calibrated daily using a heated alcohol solution (SASS) to ensure it's accuracy. The handheld breathalyzers, whilst relatively accurate are only used as an indicative test and are calibrated less regularly. Once tested on the alcholyzer and you where to blow under the prescribed limit for your licence class, then you would be free to go (released) unless there were other offences detected at the time. What confuses people is the fact that a person can be arrested and later released without neccassarily being charged with any offence.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Racketsports

[LSavvy]

If you are ever just over, tell them you just finished your last drink 30 seconds ago and they have to wait an additional 15mins, and then re test you, if you are still over then you will have to go to the cop shop, so if your .06, this 15mins might save you.

I was under the impression that they could not tell you because if you had another drink based on their reading and you go over the coppa could be liable.

Reminds me of a time out drinking and we (5 mates) went into the cop shop and asked if they could breath test us so we knew who could drive (we were all slurring etc) and the copper said no for that very reason, he knew we were only joking about driving with the condition we were in.

[Big_Valven]

I've experienced first hand how inaccurate the hand held units are! One night I was tested by the hand held unit 6 times before being asked back to the station. They told me, before I got out of my car and into theirs, that I had consistently blown 0.1 (having not drank for 3 days, and not using any inhalers or any other things that may skew a reading.)

Back at the station I was interviewed (being the 15 min observation time) and the drager alcotest gave me two readings of 0.000, and they dropped me back to my car.

Im not sure if they would always tell the reading before putting you through the alcotester, but my case was an exceptional one because I had blown well over my limit (0.000) and didn't show any signs of anebriation.

Its quite obvious their theory is to keep us guessing, eg. "there's no safe limit."

[Souljah]

At most of the leagues clubs around here there is a tester machine on the wall. Have a go of it next time our out if your local pub or club has one. Don't know how acurate they are but it will give you an idea. Needless to say the only time i've ever used it is when im out having a big one with me mates and its usually a competition to see who gets the highest lol. :rolleyes:

[Note: and no we are not driving]

[iamhappy46]

The wall mount ones are hardly accurate though, every person before you has probably dribbled spit down the straw before you have a go. Our local had one, that guys used to use the straw to suck up some of their Inner Circle Black straight shots to get a reading LOL

You know your really wasted though when you wake up in a hospital getting your stomach pumped and get told you went into alcoholic shock. Registered 0.403 on a medical BAC test, our University drinking competitions got moderated a bit more after that.

[planetdavo]

If people were told, I can imagine a few of our brainless fellow human beings going...
"Sh!t, if I'd nown I coud ave had another harf a woodstock, I woodve stayd at tha party"!

[CossieAnt]

Its so u dont know how much u can have before being over etc. Same thing with me, they never say the readout.

cheers Anthony

[glen III]

Blood Alcohol Concentration can go up for up to two hours after the last drink..it's a bell curve, allegedly. So, if Cst X gives you a test and says "nope, you're good to go" and then your BAC then goes over in the next two hours, you crash and kill a busload of nuns, Cst X is going to be in a wee bit of trouble.

I did see one foolproof breath test on New Years. Tipsy, ditsy little thing walks over to an officer and says "Offisher, can you bref tesht moi?" Officer says "sure thing love" and takes out his device. Woman counts to ten into device. Officer says "lady, you've had too much to drink, you just counted into my pen". Funny stuff.

Cheers

Glen

[RedR8]

If you are ever just over, tell them you just finished your last drink 30 seconds ago and they have to wait an additional 15mins, and then re test you, i

Errrr.......no they don't, it is sometimes offered as a courtesy depending on the situation. And that 15 minutes varies state to state too.

[Crusty]

I remember a few years back a mate and I were walking down the street after a night out and realised it'd been quite a while since he'd had anything to drink so asked one of the local boys in blue to breathalyse him. They refused on the basis that if he'd say just chugged a couple down and it didn't show up and we got involved in an accident we would possibly point to the fact that the police told us he could drive. I agree that this makes sense and we went on our way.

I've been tested once after a couple of drinks at the pub and as the officer administering the test usually does he asked me if I'd had anything to drink, I answered truthfully that I'd had 2 beam and cokes over the last hour or so and he then told me that it registered absolutely nothing on the breatho!

I must say that some days you have 1 drink and feel light headed others I can have 5 and feel no real effects of alcohol, I guess it works the same with the Breatho's.