Unreliability Of Breath Test Machines

Here is a good article on expert opinion that breath test machines are unreliable:

First of all this is nothing to do with the Highway Traffic Act and secondly it's being appealed.

It could if the breath sample resulted in a 3 day administrative suspension.

UnluckyDuck wrote:It could if the breath sample resulted in a 3 day administrative suspension.

Yes and no. The instrument in questions (Intoxilyzer 8000C) wouldn't be used for roadside readings. It's a large instrument that's typically used at the police station for testing impaired/over 80 drivers. That being said, if the reading from a roadside device was disputed, you could be taken back to the station to provide a sample into the Intoxilyzer. You could also possibly blow under the legal limit back at the station but still register over 50 and get a suspension. Of course even the expert witness acknowledges that you need a "perfect storm" of sorts to obtain a significant error that's not in the defendent's favour.

It will be an interesting case to follow because if appeal Court actually rules breath samples as being unreliable, the only solution I could think of would be a switch to blood samples. Then of course you'd have experts talking about how the alcohol swab the defendent got wiped with before having blood withdrawn tainted the readings.

I hope Mr. Singh has significant money for his legal defence because I can easily see this going to the Supreme Court.

Certainly the Crown will run this one all the way.