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Breath-test
sham
Ellen
Whinnett, state politics
reporter
15
May 2006
THOUSANDS
of drink-drivers are getting back
behind the wheel because of secret
reductions built into Victoria Police's
breathalyser machines.
The
Herald Sun can reveal that the 3.1
million people who had breath tests
last year had their blood-alcohol
reading automatically reduced by 20 per
cent.
The
reductions mean that people who blew
under the legal limit of .05 could have
had a blood-alcohol reading of up to
.0615.
Documents
obtained under Freedom of Information
show that even police officers don't
know about the reductions, which are
calibrated into the machines by
breathalyser experts within Victoria
Police.
Opposition
police spokesman Kim Wells has blasted
the secret reductions, saying they make
a mockery of the Government's road
safety campaign, which warns people of
the dangers of being "just a little bit
over".
Assistant
Commissioner Noel Ashby confirmed the
reductions and that police don't know
about them.
He
said police only needed to know the
law, not the science.
The
reductions were built in because police
wanted to "err on the side of caution"
to ensure the breathalyser test was
accurate.
The
Police Association has expressed
surprise at the reductions, saying they
were too high.
With
more than 5000 people charged with
drink-driving in Victoria each year,
the Herald Sun can
reveal:
THE
machines used for road-side
"preliminary" breath testing are
calibrated to automatically reduce a
person's blood-alcohol reading by 20
per cent, and to show that reduced
reading on the screen.
PEOPLE
who are then asked to have a further
"evidentiary" test inside a booze bus
or police station are tested on
different machinery, which gives them
an automatic 10 per cent
reduction.
"Victorians
would be shocked and concerned to learn
that we are allowing drink-drivers to
continue to drive when they
have
a
blood-alcohol reading well over the .05
limit," Mr Wells said.
"You
have to blow .0625 to register (over
.05)."
Mr
Wells said the reductions flew in the
face of the State Government's decision
to spends millions on a road safety
campaign that warned of the dangers of
being only a little over the legal
blood-alcohol limit of
.05.
He
said it was hypocritical of the
Government to attack the Liberals'
policy of allowing up to 10 per cent
tolerance on speed cameras, at the same
time as accepting 20 per cent
reductions in drink-driving
readings.
"I
would have thought drunk driving and
speeding are two of the most dangerous
activities on Victorian roads," he
said.
"To
treat them differently is
hypocritical."
Mr
Ashby confirmed the automatic
reductions built into the two tests,
but strongly denied drink-drivers were
going free.
He
said police had the right to require
anyone who registered over .01 to have
a further test.
And
police retained the right to ask
questions about how much the person had
to drink and when they had been
drinking.
Mr
Ashby said the initial roadside breath
test was "an indicator to a member of
the police to show the presence of
alcohol".
"Because
it is a non-evidentiary machine, it
gives us the opportunity to err on the
side of caution," he
said.
"We
recognise that science isn't alway
perfect and we err on the side of
caution . . . so we know if we go to
court we are absolutely sure you are
over .05.
"There
is no screen in the world that can give
you a blood-alcohol reading to a minute
degree."
Mr
Ashby confirmed that most traffic
police were not aware of the automatic
reductions built into the
machines.
"They
don't have to know the mechanics or
science of it.
"In
fact, we don't want them to know unless
they are experts.
"What
they need to know is the
law."
Mr
Ashby said the reductions were pretty
widely known round the courts. Police
who had undergone a 10-week specialised
breathalyser training course were aware
of the tolerance levels.
But
Police Association secretary Paul
Mullett plans to raise concerns with
force command.
"Obviously
there are road users getting away with
being over the proscribed limit on the
in-built tolerance of 20 per cent," he
said.
"It
follows that it then becomes a serious
road safety issue."
Sen-Sgt
Mullett said the experts may know about
the in-built reduction in the machines,
but not the officers on the
street.
"Issues
such as this should be open and
transparent," he said.
Breathing
too easily - Editorial
15
May 2006
VICTORIA
has a proud record in tackling the
drink-driving menace.
The
highly successful .05 and "Bloody
Idiot" campaigns have not only reduced
the road toll, but have made
alcohol-affected driving a socially
unacceptable practice.
Unlike
the controversial speeding fine regime,
drink driving enforcement is
universally accepted by the wider
community.
That
is why news of irregularities in
breathalysers will be a shock to all
Victorian road users.
Today's
Herald Sun revelations that results
from breath tests are automatically
lowered by 20 per cent seems at odds
with Victoria's tough stance on road
laws.
There
is no margin for error when it comes to
intoxicated people getting behind the
wheel.
Drivers
should know their own limits and should
expect no leeway when they step outside
the law.
Current
advertisements claim that anyone
driving above the legal limit is more
than twice as likely to kill someone
while on the road.
The
20 per cent rule lets down everyone --
drink-drivers who should be taken off
the road, police who are trying to
enforce the law and, most of all, the
innocent victims of those who break the
law.
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