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LCQ18: Breath tests for drivers suspected of drink driving
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    Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (April 23):

Question:

    It has been reported that, on January 15 this year, when handling a traffic accident involving a private car driven by an off-duty police officer, the police officers at the scene allowed the driver to stay in the car and drink plenty of plain water. They seemed to have deliberately employed delaying tactics to buy time and, consequently, the driver was breathalysed almost an hour after their arrival at the scene. As the driver's alcohol level was tested to be slightly lower than the prescribed limit, he was only cautioned. It has also been reported that in respect of the time taken from the arrival of police officers at the scene of a traffic accident to the conduct of screening breath test(s), there is a big difference between this accident and another accident. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)  whether they have received any report from the police officers handling the above traffic accident, indicating a delay in conducting the breath test on the driver; if so, of the details of the report;

(b)  whether they have followed up and investigated the police officers' way of handling the breath test in question; if so, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that; 

(c)  among the breath tests conducted by police officers on drivers at the scene of traffic accidents in the past three years, of the number and percentage of those in which the alcohol levels of drivers breathalysed did not exceed the prescribed limit; and

(d)  whether, in the past three years, police officers had acceded to the request of drivers involved in traffic accidents for delaying the taking of breath tests, or allowed them to drink plenty of plain water before the tests; if so, of the details?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a)&(b) In accordance with the Police's procedures in handling traffic accidents, the first police officers arriving at the scene should, after identifying the vehicles and drivers involved, attend to or help attend to the injured, if any. In addition, the police officers should, depending on the location of the accident and the traffic conditions at the time, handle the traffic conditions or direct the traffic to help smooth out traffic flow and to ensure the safety of other passing-by vehicles, as well as the speedy arrival of emergency vehicles at the scene. If situation allows, police officers will require the drivers to conduct the breath test as soon as possible.

    Regarding the traffic accident involving a private car driven by an off-duty police officer on January 15 this year, the Police have conducted an investigation on the procedures in handling this traffic accident.

    The findings of Police's investigation reveal that the first police officers arriving at the scene had followed the procedures by identifying the vehicles and drivers involved in the first instance. At the same time, since the accident took place on a highway, it was necessary for the officers to take immediate actions to deal with the traffic conditions at the scene. The police officers also requested for dispatch of additional police officers to the scene. The interval between the arrival of the first police officers at the scene and the completion of the screening breath test on the driver by police officers was 36 minutes. This is comparable to the average time required (that is, 25 to 45 minutes) for the relevant procedures in most traffic accidents as generally recorded by the Police. There is no evidence showing that there was any unreasonable delay in this case.

(c)  Among the screening breath tests conducted by police officers on drivers at the scene of traffic accidents in 2005, 2006 and 2007, 42 724 (96%), 42 931 (94%) and 42 869 (94%) drivers respectively were tested with alcohol concentration in the body which did not exceed the prescribed limit.

(d)  According to the Police's procedures in handling traffic accidents, police officers will require the drivers to take the breath test as soon as practicable, after taking into account the need to attend to the injured and deal with the traffic conditions at the scene. Except for health reasons, normally police officers will not accede to the request of drivers involved in traffic accidents for delaying the conduct of the breath test. On the contrary, police officers will, depending on the situation and in accordance with existing legislation, warn the drivers that he may be prosecuted if he fails to provide a specimen of breath upon request from police officers without reasonable cause.

    On the other hand, there is no specific provision in the law empowering the Police to prohibit persons detained or required to take the breath test from drinking water. According to the Police, currently there is no conclusion from studies that drinking water before conducting the breath test would have any significant impact on the test result.

Ends/Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:17

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