Cold Kiwi drink drivers, all 4 of them

[FJRider]

Yep, yesterdays O.D.T. had the Court news in it including the idiot with a 6L on the Buell who left this years Vincent rally a bit worse for wear. (admitted drinking until 4am).

And hammered down a short straight and shot through a T-intersection into the chevron sign that indicated the road was now running at right-angles to his direction of travel.

Just lucky he only suffered a broken collar-bone - and a day in Court along with the fines & disqualification etc.

I guess HE got his monies worth out of ACC...

Broken collarbone ... 9 weeks off work (if he was working) ...with ACC paying two thirds of his wages (less tax which equates to about half pay in the hand ... if that ...) less fines ... and repair bills ... any monies from ACC will be WELL spent ...

[rastuscat]

Just a few thoughts.

When you do a breath test, it doesn't check if you are drunk, it checks the level of alcohol against a set legal limit.

If you went up to a Popo and did a test which said you were legal, you'd think no prob. 10 minutes later, your actual level would be different from when you did the test. It may be higher, it may be lower, but it won't be the same. If you've just finished drinking, it would still be on the way up, but if you've been off the drink for a few hours, it would be on it's way down. If you are a 120 kg behemoth you'd have a different metabolism rate than a 65 kg racing sardine, so the alcohol would appear or disappear from your breath at a different rate. There really are too may variables for there to be a definitive answer.

Imagine the whinging if you went to a Popo and passed his test, then drove down the road and failed the next test a few minutes later, and ended up in court. You'd be aggrieved, and justifiably. Thing is, a breath test is only an instantaneous snap shot of the breath level at the time it was taken.

That's why Popos are reluctant to breath test drivers, lest they end up having to appear as a defence witness at the drink driving case.

In law, there is an irrefutable presumption (whew, legal term there) that the level of the test at the station or booze bus is the same as the driver had when driving. It's actually incorrect as they are normally minutes apart, but the law needed a basis upon which to establish a legal reading.

Just my thoughts.

Donuts.