Drink driving question

[Ste]

Just a quick question that occurred to me tonight...

If you went up to a policeman and asked them to breathalyse you prior to driving home just to check you were under the limit would they do it?

I know the obvious answer is if in doubt don't drink drive and I'd always adhere to that but if you weren't sure a quick breathalyser could save both your own and the polices time and effort...

Case in point last week I was driving so not drinking, had a redbull in a glass while my friend had a double vodka redbull. Coming back from the toilet I grabbed what I thought was mine and necked half of it before suddenly thinking I wasn't sure (at that time of night after 4 redbulls its hard to tell). Now I wasn't 100% sure I was under so ended up getting a lift home and leaving the car but I walked past about 4 parked up police cars obviously patrolling for the Saturday night out. If I'd have asked one to breathalyse me would they do it? Part of me thinks they would say no then just follow me to my car and breathalyse me the second I got in.

Ok not such a quick question but just wondered if anyone knew.

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[slick]

Call me a cynic but I suspect they,de refuse, lecture you on the dangers of drink driving and follow you home /stop you and breathalize you :?

 

[mr wilks]

hypothetically a good question & highlights the recent change in law for drivers in france .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18662555
i,m in france now & bought mine from amazon for £4 & after a few vinos yesterday eve was tempted to test myself 8)

 

[Stuart Truman]

I was wondering the same question after a night on the lash. I did wonder about getting some of those ones you need for France. Generally I don't drink at all if I have the car, but if you have a heavy night, what about the following morning...

 

[sars]

Good question, if you went up to them and say that you think your drink had been spiked, but it could be that you are just tired.....however the most likely response would be, if you're asking the question you already know the answer

 

[Bing]

Costs them time and money - they're not going to be amused I'd have thought, and certainly not going to do it for you. Agree they'd probably give the advice not to drive if you're unsure.

 

[Ewazix]

Problem with any pre-driving breathalyser is that it can take a long time for alcohol in the stomach to be absorbed in to the bloodstream and levels rise for some time after you finish drinking, so you can be under when tested and well over an hour later. It's true to say that there is only one way to be sure you are under the limit.

 

[Dav the wheel nut]

A Police Officer will not give you a breathalyser test simply to see if you are fit to drive.
The reason for this is that the level of alcohol in your system fluctuates insomuch as it rises to a peak before it starts to dissipate so you could take a test and pass and ten minutes later whilst driving be over the limit.
On this basis no Police Officer is going to test you and say you are ok to drive leaving himself open to critisism should you have a collision down the road and you are over the limit.
Lets be honest if you feel you need to be tested why are you even considering driving anyway

 

[theblues]

if unsure don't drive simple answer. I for one would like to see “zero” alcohol limit why take the chance
plus with people not understanding they could still fail next morning yet another reason

 

[Liam-O]

I think his point is that he didn't feel drunk, but thought he may have had alcohol which could have put him over the limit, but felt fine.

You did the sensible thing, I doubt they would test you, get a self test for about £6 from halfords, wait at least from your last drink before testing.

 

[theblues]

Hi Liam firstly nice avatar
with a self tester doesn't it take a couple of hours for alcohol to get into the bloodstream so what will they do sit in the car and wait. then don't you fall into the "in charge" of the vehicle, offence, so with many grey area's surrounding drink drive is the cost of losing a licence or a life still worth taking a chance

 

[Liam-O]

No id suggest you wait outside of the vehicle, maybe not leave the pub.

30 minutes was what I saw on the road wars tv show. I would always say read the label of the test though.

 

[corsaire77]

Just a quick question that occurred to me tonight...

If you went up to a policeman and asked them to breathalyse you prior to driving home just to check you were under the limit would they do it?

In Poland you can - and they are obliged to breathanalyse you and inform you about the readout. Without any consequences, of course. It's a good solution because their equipment is much more accurate than the cheap market devices.

 

[theblues]

oh OK Liam I thought it was a large glass of wine was three hours or one pint of beer takes about two hours to break it down.

 

[pvr]

the cheap French ones don't appear to work properly so I heard, i.e. well over the limit would still show you as fine.

 

[Woots]

Right mate i asked the father in law who was a traffic cop for almost 30 years.....and he drew a big breath and pondered the question....
Then said.....
It depends.....mainly on how busy they were/what sort of mood they were in
He said if someoone came up to him and said "im not sure if ive been spiked etcetc just wanna check" he said he would proabably carry out a breath check...and he said he would imagine many others would do the same, think it depends on the discresion of the PC themselves and also how the individual came across....
Worth a go at least...
But he said they would def not follow ppl to their cars just for asking the question...

 

[Mowflow]

Problem with any pre-driving breathalyser is that it can take a long time for alcohol in the stomach to be absorbed in to the bloodstream and levels rise for some time after you finish drinking, so you can be under when tested and well over an hour later. It's true to say that there is only one way to be sure you are under the limit.

So is the best advice to drink really quickly, run to the car (probably in a zigzag fashion) then drive home as fast as you can?

 

[Bing]

Right mate i asked the father in law who was a traffic cop for almost 30 years.....and he drew a big breath and pondered the question....
Then said.....
It depends.....mainly on how busy they were/what sort of mood they were in
He said if someoone came up to him and said "im not sure if ive been spiked etcetc just wanna check" he said he would proabably carry out a breath check...and he said he would imagine many others would do the same, think it depends on the discresion of the PC themselves and also how the individual came across....
Worth a go at least...
But he said they would def not follow ppl to their cars just for asking the question...

Well I am surprised, but that's cool

 

[pvr]

Don't forget there are two types of traffic police, the really good ones and the really, really bad ones with massive chips on their shoulders.

I have met two good ones on holiday, real good conversations and realistic views.

 

[sam1832]

Of the traffic officers I know they would tell you no

Then stop you as soon as you have left the car park

The "normal" police call traffic officers black rats

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