Police clear up breath test dispute

Police deny that refusing to breath-test drinkers at their own request constitutes "entrapment" if they then drive over the limit.

A report that police carrying out a drink-driving blitz in Hawkes Bay over the New Year holiday had refused voluntary requests by some youths for breath tests provoked an indignant response from the public.

Speaking at the time, Senior Sergeant Greg Brown of Hastings said it was people's personal responsibility to ensure they were fit to drive.

In a letter to the Dominion Post, Kean O'Neill wrote that the police attitude "made a mockery of their road safety campaign".

"This equates to nothing short of entrapment and is the most irresponsible action police could take."

Sandra Mansfield suggested it was like telling young people "go and play Russian roulette".

"As a mother of two teenagers, I would feel very proud if they told me they'd asked for a breath test on New Year's Day," she wrote.

"In my mind they would have been acting responsibly."

But Inspector John Kelly, of police national headquarters, said people always had the option not to drink and drive.

"It can't constitute 'entrapment' because it is a question of personal choice and personal responsibility."

He said there were no official guidelines on police breath-testing people at their own request, but officers traditionally refused.

"The reason for this is, if you tell people they are okay to drive, they tend to go and have another couple of drinks and assume they are still all right.

"You have no control over what they are going to do ... If they then get in their car and crash and kill someone, they will say, 'But the police told me I was okay to drive'."

Also, the result was not always accurate because it took time for alcohol to register in the breath, Mr Kelly said.

"If someone has only just finished a drink, they might be technically under the limit, but 20 minutes later, an evidential breath test will show they are over."

Many people did not realise that they could still be over the limit even after "sleeping it off".

"It takes hours for the levels in the blood to decline and so people can still be over the limit the next day."

Mr Kelly said a proposal that councils could buy breath-testing machines to be manned by volunteers could have some merit.

But a similar experiment by the hospitality industry a few years ago had some unexpected negative consequences.

"Some bars introduced breath-testing machines with the blessing of police," he said.

"They thought it would be a good idea, and we said, 'Sure, why not?'

"But the problem was that bar patrons ended up having competitions to see who could score the highest level."

Mr Kelly said he had no problem with the idea of community groups offering voluntary breath tests.

It was possible to buy electronic breath-testers for as little as a few hundred dollars.


Drink-driving
* Officers normally refuse to breath-test people at their own request.
* Police feel those tested as under the limit may feel safe to drink more and then have an accident.
* The result may also be inaccurate because alcohol takes time to register in the breath.
* Police say breath-testing machines in bars became a sport as patrons competed to see who could reach the highest level.


- NZPA