“Breathalyzer Test”

Hi everyone!

I've posted at this forum before under a different username a while back, which I unfortunately can't remember, and at that time the people who replied back were extremely helpful and for that I'm grateful.

Last night I was leaving Toronto driving north on University just north of Queens Park around 3 am. Two cops were checking to see if anyone had a bit too much to drink that night. I stopped and the officer asked if I had anything to drink. I was honest and said that I finished having two drinks at least 1.5 hours before. He asked me for my license and to step out of the car. He proceeded to do the following:

1. Asked what year, make, and model my car was.

2. My height, weight, and to confirm that my address on the license was correct. I have a G license, which I've had for about 2 years now.

3. He then asked me to walk with him to his cruiser to perform a breathalyzer test, which kind of shocked me at first. He read the demand, and I agreed.

I performed the test and blew a 12, not to anyone's surprise. I drank a total of 5 drinks that night starting at 10 pm and ending at 1:30 am.

He then said that I had nothing to worry about, for the warning zone is above 50, and that 80 is definitely bad news.

He walked me back to my car and allowed me to drive away. I thanked him for being vigilant and make sure the ones that do blow over get off the road immediately.

I know convictions are the worst thing to have, but will this event show up on my driving record, or become knowledge to any other police officer who pulls me over for a routine stop?

Thanks for your time!

The only thing that shows up on your driving record are convictions. As to whether it'll be flagged under your name in the popo computer I don't know. I'd personally proceed with that assumption. And FYI, if you admit to having even a sip of alcohol, the police are obligated to breathalyze you.

As manwithaplan said this will not show on your driving record as it only shows convictions, suspensions and number of demerit points. The officer may have filled out a contact card with your information which would be kept on file at the local police division, but that information would only be available to officers within the Toronto Police Service.

Ah, then I shouldn't have been surprised when I was asked to perform a breathalyzer test. I don't want to make it sound like it was an inconvenience that this happened. If this is what needs to be done to keep drunk drivers off the road, then by all means, I hope they continue to do a great job doing it.

Thanks for the help again!

Police are not "obligated" to give you the breathalyzer if you admit to consuming. Like everything else, that is discretionary.

Simon Borys wrote:Police are not "obligated" to give you the breathalyzer if you admit to consuming. Like everything else, that is discretionary.

Just like how police don't have ticket quotas but are expected to write a certain number of tickets per shift to show they're working, right?

So when you were a police officer, if a driver admitted to you that they had had something to drink, would you not do it just to be sure? If I was a cop I would, better be safe than sorry. Particularily if I was running a ride check and it was my primary focus of the night

Sure, for obvious reasons, as you suggested, it's going to be done. I'm just saying it doesn't HAVE to be. Does this distinction make a difference? In practice, probably not, but I'm sure there's a situation where it could.