My girlfriend passed the breathalyzer, they still towed her car.

[Mar]

I'm wondering about the legalities of how this was handled, not how she can get out of it.

My girlfriend was on her way to my place after sobering up from some wine and on the way got into a minor fender bender, rearending another car. No visible damage, no airbags, very minor. The other driver flipped a lid and called the cops saying she was drunk and cops came out to inspect the scene and give my girlfriend the breathalyzer.

Here's where it gets complicated, the cop gave her the breathalyzer and after she passed, he swapped out the unit for another one and had her blow and pass again. He got upset with her saying she was somehow manipulating the device to pass because he was so sure she was intoxicated, she ended up blowing 7 times into 3 different devices and passed every single time. Regardless of this, they towed her car, sent her home and charged her $125 to get her car out of impound after it was there for 2 days. She's also not allowed to drive for more than 3 weeks while she waits for her court date where they determine if she'll get a fine or lose her license for even longer.

WTF? Is this legal? She passed all tests, was not administered a field sobriety test (touch your nose and stuff) and they didn't take her blood. Can the cop simply decide he thinks she's wasted and take the car? The cop also took her license so she has no physical identification for three weeks.

[GQBalla]

i believe if the cop deems your intoxicated even though you pass the breathalyzer you can still be slapped with a dui.

im not 100 percent sure though...

[JfuckinC]

Did she get a 24 hour suspension??

[beyond_ban]

Non GDL? So she was legally allowed to have up to a .08 BAP? Hmmm... Small girls can still be deemed as "unfit" to drive, even if they are passing the test. Weird situation, douchey cop.

[Thaco]

Originally posted by JfuckinC
Did she get a 24 hour suspension??

i thought the op made it pretty clear that the cop took her license on the spot and she has no chance of getting ti back til court in 3 weeks.


reading>you

[JfuckinC]

Originally posted by Thaco
i thought the op made it pretty clear that the cop took her license on the spot and she has no chance of getting ti back til court in 3 weeks.


reading>you

lol i got a problem with skimming.. even in books.. my bad!
Sounds like bullshit though

[V6-BoI]

Originally posted by GQBalla
i believe if the cop deems your intoxicated even though you pass the breathalyzer you can still be slapped with a dui.

im not 100 percent sure though...

I think they are allowed to tow your car if they think you are a "threat" on the road because they think you are intoxicated, but passed the breathalyzer. But I don't think they can slap you with a DUI though.

[DayGlow]

There is no on the spot suspensions outside of a 24 hour. Did she receive any paperwork on this? There is no spot suspensions preceding court dates outside of the Alberta one if you are charged with an impaired. That is a 3 month suspension, but it comes in effect after I forget how many days, unless she is already suspended, then it's immediate. I'd have her make some inquirers with the area that the guy that 'suspended' her works.

Either this is a massive misunderstanding or something isn't right here. Did she receive any paperwork with the officers name? If not does she know if it was a zone unit or traffic (traffic wear red jackets that are different from other officers). From there she can contact that office to try to get this sorted out.

[Spoons]

Plain and simple, unless you are fine to drive the WHOLE night, go ahead. If she sobered up from being drunk, that's a little sketchy.

From what I know it should have been just a 24 hour suspension. He probably was rough on her because she got into an accident. Sounds like there might be more to this story...

Thing is she was drinking and she got into an accident. If I was a police officer, I would look down on that pretty roughly, like come on... I'm not sure if I can really look at this from any other angle. DUI. And it was a rear-end...

[LadyLuck]

Thats exactly what happened to my sister, almost down to the very last detail, except she had one glass of champagne and rear ended another car for not paying attention by fucking around on her ipod!!!

The cop made her take the breathalyzer in the back of the cop car 9 times, and it read nothing, then he wanted to charge her with refusal but never let her take a real test at the office.

She is going to court in Feb for "refusal"

[bubbley]

You need to talk to a lawyer for sure

[spike98]

She will be charged. It will be tossed out because she passed the breathalyzer several times. She wasnt arrested nor was blood taken to confirm. Talk to a laywer. Hell even a public defender will due in this case.

[DayGlow]

Oh yeah, is she GDL? If so then if she had any alcohol in her system then she recieves a 1 month suspension. She should have recieved paperwork as such. No court date in the end. After the month she can reapply to have her license reinstated.

If she has a court date it would be a for a ticket she recieved at the scene, not the GDL suspension.

[DayGlow]

Originally posted by LadyLuck
Thats exactly what happened to my sister, almost down to the very last detail, except she had one glass of champagne and rear ended another car for not paying attention by fucking around on her ipod!!!

The cop made her take the breathalyzer in the back of the cop car 9 times, and it read nothing, then he wanted to charge her with refusal but never let her take a real test at the office.

She is going to court in Feb for "refusal"

refusal on a roadside is a criminal charge. If someone is charged with that then they don't take the next step to a breathalyzer.

In court the crown will have to prove that the roadside was in good working order and that your sister refused to blow properly. A refusal isn't charged on a zero reading. For the zero reading a proper blow is needed, the refusal means that the cops involved are alleging that she didn't properly blow.

[Super_Geo]

Come on... as sketchy as the cop was, your sister:

1) Rear ended someone... and
2) Somehow her actions tipped off the other driver that she had been drinking.
3) The cop believed that from her conduct that she was drunk.

Why would the other driver think she was drunk? She was obviously not acting sober, otherwise the other guy wouldn't have known shit.

The cop went overboard on what he did, but your sister didn't exactly put the odds in her favor.

[phil98z24]

Originally posted by Mar
I'm wondering about the legalities of how this was handled, not how she can get out of it.

My girlfriend was on her way to my place after sobering up from some wine and on the way got into a minor fender bender, rearending another car. No visible damage, no airbags, very minor. The other driver flipped a lid and called the cops saying she was drunk and cops came out to inspect the scene and give my girlfriend the breathalyzer.

Here's where it gets complicated, the cop gave her the breathalyzer and after she passed, he swapped out the unit for another one and had her blow and pass again. He got upset with her saying she was somehow manipulating the device to pass because he was so sure she was intoxicated, she ended up blowing 7 times into 3 different devices and passed every single time. Regardless of this, they towed her car, sent her home and charged her $125 to get her car out of impound after it was there for 2 days. She's also not allowed to drive for more than 3 weeks while she waits for her court date where they determine if she'll get a fine or lose her license for even longer.

WTF? Is this legal? She passed all tests, was not administered a field sobriety test (touch your nose and stuff) and they didn't take her blood. Can the cop simply decide he thinks she's wasted and take the car? The cop also took her license so she has no physical identification for three weeks.

Before I even attempt to answer your questions here, were you at scene or is this information your girlfriend gave you? None of this adds up, and I'm not necessarily satisfied that the whole story is being told here.

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by Mar

My girlfriend

Originally posted by Super_Geo
your sister...

Wait a minute...the girlfriend is the sister? It's all starting to come together.

[project240]

Originally posted by Super_Geo
Come on... as sketchy as the cop was, your sister:

1) Rear ended someone... and
2) Somehow her actions tipped off the other driver that she had been drinking.
3) The cop believed that from her conduct that she was drunk.

Why would the other driver think she was drunk? She was obviously not acting sober, otherwise the other guy wouldn't have known shit.

The cop went overboard on what he did, but your sister didn't exactly put the odds in her favor.

I think it was his gf, not sister... doesn't matter.

Fact is she passed a breathalyzer test several times... Isn't that like someone getting arrested for stealing because they are wearing a new jacket and look suspect?

**This is assuming the OP has actually posted all the details**

[phil98z24]

Originally posted by spike98
She will be charged. It will be tossed out because she passed the breathalyzer several times. She wasnt arrested nor was blood taken to confirm. Talk to a laywer. Hell even a public defender will due in this case.

What are you talking about?

[Sharpie]

Originally posted by DayGlow
Oh yeah, is she GDL? If so then if she had any alcohol in her system then she recieves a 1 month suspension. She should have recieved paperwork as such. No court date in the end. After the month she can reapply to have her license reinstated.

If she has a court date it would be a for a ticket she recieved at the scene, not the GDL suspension.

My buddy has gotten 2 dui's under gdl and he didnt get any paperwork nor did he have to get his licence reinstated.... this was by rcmp if that makes a difference