A car is pretty much a speeding bullet if you get hit by one. Cars can weigh in excess of two tonnes and, travelling at speed this is lethal. You need to pass an extensive, two-part test in the United Kingdom before you are allowed to pass and examiners are like Scrooge with their passes. If all of this happens before you get your licence, you can bet your bottom dollar the police won't want you driving whilst intoxicated with alcohol. Hence we have breath testing devices to filter out those loopy drunk drivers.
Police in England and Wales have their powers set out by the PACE ACT 1984 and there is a code therein which sets out how they can approach drunken drivers. These drivers need to be stopped and the police have to work out if they are drunk or not. They cannot just use breath testing devices on everyone and thus they need to use their old fashioned common sense to root out the drunkards.
Police officers, and particularly traffic police officers, are well trained to spot a driver that may be intoxicated. This can include drug users but the most common of these would have to be those intoxicated with alcohol. Specially trained eyes are able to spot these drivers whilst they are driving and then the correct stopping procedure can be applied to the situation so that the driver can be assessed.
The police officer can then employ breath testing devices to ensure their prediction was correct. The officer uses the device which the suspect blows into. The device can then analyse the breath sample and indicate how much alcohol is in the breath sample. The machine will then specify whether or not the sample was above the legal threshold and indicate either a passed or failed breath test. A failed breath test allows the officer to arrest the suspect.
Roadside breath testing devices aren't accepted as evidence in court and thus a more advanced breath tester is used in the police station after arrest. This can be used in court and provides a more detailed reading. This is repeated to eliminate any possible claims of anomalies.
Breath testing devices are only used for those that are driving or suspected of being in the process of drunken driving. Some venues and nightclubs have their own breath testing devices that can give you an idea of your chances of being arrested for the offence. This stops people driving whilst intoxicated and thus unfit to be behind the wheel of a car.
At the end of the day, a car is only as dangerous as the nut holding the wheel. If this happens to be part of a drink driving incident then there could be a danger to lives. The police therefore have breath testing devices to assess whether somebody is under the influence of alcohol whilst driving. This helps save lives and gives police a vital tool in maintaining the safety of our roads.
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