In BC, when it comes to blowing into a breathalyzer, depending on the amount of alcohol detected, you could either blow a ‘Warn’ or a ‘Fail.’ The differences in results also affect the consequences you may face for either one.
What do the results mean?
Blowing a ‘Warn’ or blowing a ‘Fail’ means you have some amount of alcohol in your body. Whether that means in your bloodstream or mouth alcohol, the Approved Screening Devices (ASD) police use at roadside stops are not able to tell the difference. Nevertheless, if the device senses alcohol, depending on the amount it detects, it could result in either a ‘Warn’ or a ‘Fail.’
The limit in Canada considered a ‘Fail’ is 0.08; however, these devices have a margin of error built into them, and so, therefore, they will register a ‘Fail’ at 0.10. If you blow into a device and it registers a 0.05 or higher but still below 0.10, the result will come up as a ‘Warn.’
It is important to understand the differences between these two results and what they mean in terms of consequences the police can hand down to you.
Consequences of a ‘Warn’
While blowing a ‘Warn’ will still land you with a driving prohibition, the length will not be as severe as if you were to blow a ‘Fail.’ Depending on your history with driving prohibitions and the police officer handing you the punishment, the length of your prohibition could range from 3 to 7 to 30 days.
You can appeal to the prohibition, but the appeal has to be filed within seven days of receiving the prohibition.
If your appeal is successful, the roadside prohibition will be cleared off your license.
Consequences of a ‘Fail’
If you were to blow over 0.10 on a breathalyzer and land with a ‘Fail,’ the consequences you face would be much harsher than blowing a ‘Warn.’
You will be handed an Immediate Roadside Prohibition, which will begin immediately and last 90-days. On top of the lengthy driving prohibition, you will also be given a $500 fine, have your car impounded and have to take a driving course that will cost around $1000. At the end of your prohibition, you will be responsible for getting your car back and having your license reinstated at your own expense.
Just like with a ‘Warn,’ it is possible for you to appeal your IRP, but you must do so within seven days. During this time, you are still prohibited from driving. If your appeal is successful, the government will pay for the towing and storage of your vehicle, along with the reinstatement of your license. But they will not reimburse you for your expenses such as missed work, taxis, Uber, or activities that you could not participate in.
Biggest risk factor to blowing a ‘Fail’
The biggest risk for drivers is mouth alcohol. If you’ve seen our YouTube channel, Kyla and Paul have done a series titled ‘Can You Fail It’ where they test out different non-alcoholic products to see if it is possible to fail a breathalyzer.
The results are surprising and give many reasons to doubt roadside breathalyzer’s ability to correctly detect alcohol and respond accordingly. As a result, it is important to appeal as soon as possible if you blow either a ‘Warn’ or a ‘Fail’ during a roadside breath test that you believe has been registered incorrectly.
Like humans, devices make mistakes, and the consequences for failing a breath test are severe but not always definite if you appeal promptly and hire a good lawyer to help argue your case.