If you’re unlucky enough to be arrested for driving over .08, and consequently you are taken back to a police station to blow, you will be asked to provide a sample into an approved instrument, i.e. the big breathalyzer. The approved instrument currently in use in most police departments and RCMP detachments in British Columbia […]
Is the the Intox EC/IR II the right breathalyzer for BC? Continue Reading »
An important victory for anyone who received an IRP for Fail or Warn between September 20, 2010 and October 2011: the Port Moody Police have finally admitted miscalibrating their ASDs. They sent the press release to the local media today (1.5 months after they concluded the investigation) perhaps because it’s earthquake and flood week. In
Port Moody Police finally admit miscalibrating their ASDs Continue Reading »
PORT MOODY — Nearly a year after allegations surfaced that roadside breathalyzers used by the Port Moody Police Department were incorrectly calibrated, a police watchdog has agreed. The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) has determined that the force’s approved screening devices (ASD) had been incorrectly calibrated and the allegations of neglect of duty
Roadside breathalyzers not correctly calibrated: Police watchdog Continue Reading »
We have discussed many times issues that can cause artificially elevated breath samples. Last week we started to address breathing and your breath samples. We know that hyperventilating can generate an erroneously low reading on an Approved Screening Device (ASD). In our own tests we were able to knock off about .014% BAC from the
Breathing and your breath samples Continue Reading »
Our post on Monday brought up an issue that reporters regularly put to us, i.e. whether the Alco-Sensor IV is a bad breathalyzer and whether there is some other device that would be better. We touched briefly on some of the problems with the device. For example, without any sign or reason one of our
Bad breathalyzer Continue Reading »
Surprisingly even to us is that we managed to confirm a way to beat the breathalyzer. In a blog post from last week, we ask for input concerning theories to beat the breathalyzer. We put this out there because last Thursday we had a testing session (drinking event) in our office to refresh ourselves on
We beat the breathalyzer (but don’t get funny ideas) Continue Reading »
A Vancouver lawyer is calling for all Port Moody impaired driving bans issued since June 15 to be overturned, CTV’s Investigators have learned. Paul Doroshenko recently won a case for a client who failed two breathalyzer tests in that Metro Vancouver municipality in August. Doroshenko reviewed maintenance documents for the screening devices that registered a
Lawyer wants Port Moody drunk driving bans overturned Continue Reading »
Quite often using Alco-Sensor IV DWF Screeners in our office we obtained false positives for alcohol. What happens is that a drinking subject blows, and quickly thereafter a non-drinking subject is tested and the unit provides a reading indicating some amount of alcohol. In other words, the unit is either malfunctioning or it has retained
False positives for alcohol on an ASD Continue Reading »
When the new version of the IRP scheme came out mid June, one of the first undisclosed changes the Government also brought in was a document to hide ASD malfunctions. For over a year we identified never-ending ASD problems. To counter the evidence we disclosed, they came up with a document to hide the problems
Never-ending ASD problems Continue Reading »
When Sivia was argued the Government did not put forward evidence of a drunk driving expert, i.e. a forensic toxicologist. We weren’t surprised. There are dozens of experts in the effects of alcohol, the chemistry of alcohol and the equipment used to measure alcohol concentration who work in labs for the RCMP across Canada. Many
A drunk driving expert Continue Reading »
If you received an Immediate Roadside Prohibition for Fail and you’re wondering how it could happen bearing in mind how little you had to drink, the answer may be that you had some alcohol in your mouth. One of the main problems with Fail IRPs is that none of the roadside breathalyzers can differentiate alcohol
Immediate Roadside Prohibition for Fail Continue Reading »
The Vancouver police announced Monday that drinking and driving is up — over the weekend the number of people issued Immediate Roadside Prohibitions was much greater than last year. We note that the Government claims drinking and driving was down significantly in 2011. We also note that the weather was terrible in the most heavily
Drinking and driving is up Continue Reading »
