Driving when you're over the limit
Different blood alcohol limits apply to different people. It is an offence to drive if the amount of alcohol in your blood is over the limit that applies to you.
Driving under the influence
It is an offence to drive while you are under the influence of alcohol. The police will look at the way you are driving, your behaviour and your appearance, and will charge you if they think that your ability to drive is affected by alcohol. You could be fined, lose your licence or be imprisoned for this offence. You can be charged with driving under the influence in addition to being charged with driving when you're over the limit.
Driving under the influence of drugs
It is against the law to drive a car, teach a learner to drive, or ride a motorcycle under the influence of drugs. You could be fined, lose your licence, and even be imprisoned. "Drugs" include cannabis, amphetamines, barbiturates, heroin and most sedatives (eg. valium). If you have had a breath test and it shows that you are not over the blood alcohol limit that applies to you, the police have the power to give you a further "assessment" if they reasonably believe that you may be under the influence of drugs. This belief must be based on the way you were driving or attempting to drive.
The assessment must take place at or near the place where you were breath tested. It is an offence to refuse to be assessed. If the police have assessed you and reasonably believe that you are under the influence of drugs, they have the power to arrest you and take you to a hospital in order for blood and urine samples to be taken from you by a doctor. You can also be arrested and taken to hospital if you refuse to be assessed by the police in the first place. In these circumstances, blood and urine samples can be taken from you even if you do not agree. It is an offence to refuse to give a sample, to try to prevent a doctor from taking a sample, or to try to change the amount of drugs in your blood or urine before giving a sample. The police cannot give you an assessment or require you to provide a blood or urine sample:
- if you are under 15
- if you are in hospital and it would interfere with your medical treatment
- if you are injured and it would be dangerous to your medical condition
- if more than 2 hours have passed since you last drove or rode a motorcycle, or
- if you are at home
Blood alcohol limits - which one applies to me?
If you are on your L's or your P's, or if you are under 25 and you have held a licence for less than 3 years (not including your L's), you must stay under the 0.02 blood alcohol limit. It is an offence to drive a car (or teach a learner driver), or ride a motorcycle, if you are over this limit. You could be fined and lose your licence. The 0.05 blood alcohol limit applies to most other drivers. Different penalties apply depending on how much over the limit you are, and whether it is your first drink driving offence or not. You could be fined, lose your licence and even be imprisoned. Go to the RTA's web site to find out what the current penalties are.
Breath tests
The police have the power to ask anyone who has been driving a car, or teaching a learner driver, or riding a motorcycle, to have a breath test. If you are asked by the police to have a breath test, it is against the law to refuse. If you refuse, you could be fined, lose your licence and even be imprisoned. If the breath test shows that your blood alcohol level is over the limit which applies to you, the police have the power to arrest you and take you to a police station. For more information see: Blood alcohol limits - which one applies to me?
Important! Read the section on When can I be interviewed by the police? Once you have been arrested, the police have the power to ask you to have a breath analysis. It is an offence to refuse to have a breath analysis or to try to do something to change your blood alcohol level before you have the analysis. The police cannot ask you to have a breath test or breath analysis:
- if you are in hospital and it would interfere with your medical treatment;
- if you are injured and it would be dangerous to your medical condition;
- if more than 2 hours have passed since you last drove, taught a learner to drive, or rode a motorcycle, or
- if you are at home.
Blood samples
It is important to be aware that if you are over 15 and you are injured in a motor vehicle accident and taken to hospital, the doctor or nurse who treats you has a legal obligation to take a blood sample from you for the purposes of drug and alcohol testing.
This applies even if you do not agree to have the sample taken from you, and it is an offence to try to prevent a doctor or nurse from doing it. However, the doctor or nurse is not required to take a blood sample from you if they think it would interfere with your medical treatment. © National Children's & Youth Law Centre
