Just a heads up re the new legislation, this is all in the guise of research and we are going to be paying for it. Also if you are in a serious accident the police have the right to take blood from you if you are between 250 and 400. There is no need for this as all they had to do was bring the alcohol level down to 250 so this is just revenue gathering.
bumfacingdown,
May 9, 9:12am
Yep Fail an evidential breath test 251-400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath
$200 infringement fee + 50 demerit points.
No criminal conviction.
No option to elect an evidential blood test.
ps, That came in 1 Dec 2014
elect70,
May 9, 10:15am
yep vigorous exersize burns it off at up to 16 millgrams per hour as told by doctor . In 74 when i got hauled in after positive breath test i had to wait an hour for doc to do blood test as he was on a urgent call . So i ran around the excersize yard at the copshop & test came back way under Cant do it these days , unless you do 100 press ups before blowing on the machine
sr2,
May 9, 10:34am
I paid around $150 for a Fuel Cell type Breathalyser that is recalibrated every 500 tests, I've compared it's accuracy to a police roadside breath screening device (don't ask!) and it was surprisingly close.
I am surprised at how much you can dink in some circumstances and still be under the legal limit and equally how little it takes you to reach the limit in other situations. You have to wait at least 15 minutes after your last drink to get an accurate reading and after 30 minutes your level will not increase although depending on how much you've imbibed it may take much longer to come down.
I'm bought one for each the family members who drive; they make you far more aware of how much you are or aren't drinking and if you're out for drinks or dinner with friends it's a easy non confrontational way of checking out if you need to call a mate a taxi. My son is on a zero alcohol (under 20) licence and he and his friends swear by them.
fiatracer,
Dec 19, 9:29am
hi all - I think I know the answer to this but can't find actual confirmation anywhere. I'm looking at buying a "personal breathalyser" mainly to build up a kind of knowledge of what it feels like to be close to the new 250 limit. The limit is 250micrograms per litre of breath, but the units all read in %, often only to two decimal places - eg - 0.00%. Can anyone confirm that the new limit would be expressed as 0.025% on a unit, so one with only two decimal places could only ever tell you that you're at 200 or 300mcg/l?
intrade,
Dec 19, 10:17am
i think you wont feel anything and them cheap tools might not even be able to mesure anything that low accuratly 1 beer is all you can drink in 3h plus s might as well forget drinking all togather now.
casualobserver,
Dec 19, 10:33am
From the land transport website: "Guidance from the Institue of Environmental Science and Research indicates that most adults may be able drink two standard drinks over two hours and are likely to remain under the new drink-driving limits for adults."
1 beer in 3 hours plus is bad advice - unless you are really skinny and haven't eaten for days. Looking forward to the OP trying to argue with a cop that they don't "feel" like they are over the limit. That's a terrible, terrible idea.
noswalg,
Dec 19, 10:34am
Not sure how the measurements work as in ug/L -> % it's all pretty confusing really. I know in most ozzie states the limit is 0.05, which is measured as Blood alcohol concentration, unsure how they get that measurement from a breathalyser but they do. Obviously here we use mcg/L whch makes a lot more sense seeing as its the breath thats being measured. Best bet is to get one from Sobercheck as they are set up to read in NZ units, also I wouldn't be getting anything that can't be calibrated
bill-robinson,
Dec 19, 10:42am
is it a legal requirement, or is it revenue gathering? a fine? points on your license? then drive home. if it is law when was it passed into law?
battleaxe,
Dec 19, 10:42am
it all depends on body mass and if you have eaten. under the old system i could drink 12 beers in three hours with a bbq and still be legal to drive - i didn't because the limit is so high you'd be a fool to. 250 is still a reasonable level and one beer would get you no where near the limit.
twincam1,
Dec 19, 10:43am
No alcohol, no problem. Hi Ronnie Merry Xmas
esky-tastic,
Dec 19, 10:44am
I've been told that if you're up near the 400 limit they will give you a ticket that forbids you to drive for 12 hours. Don't know if it's true, anybody else hear about it?
loose.unit8,
Dec 19, 10:59am
Must be a big fella because the old guidelines of "2 standard drinks in the first hour and 1 every hour after that" puts you above the old limit for 11 hours.
loose.unit8,
Dec 19, 11:00am
Nope, never heard of it
noswalg,
Dec 19, 11:09am
They will forbid you to drive if you blow 251 or over that is the new limit, no buts. How long they can forbid you to drive for remains to be tested because if you blow 249/250 2 hours later then you are no longer over the limit and they would not legally be able to stop you driving IMO.
skyblue17,
Dec 19, 12:07pm
I'd be just as concerned about your insurance cover. I read that any alcohol at all and your ins. company is liable to decline your claim, whether you're 'legal' to drive or not.
esky-tastic,
Dec 19, 12:26pm
That fits in with what I heard, if you blow between 250 and 400 they will forbid you to drive for 12 hrs.
martin11,
Dec 19, 12:52pm
And a fine and 50 demerit points 1/2 of the total you are allowed .
poppy62,
Dec 19, 2:05pm
Never realised that it was mandatory to drink before driving. Buga there goes the Ginger beer. Water OK?
lk104,
Dec 19, 2:27pm
Rubbish, 2 beers in an hour and you're fine. I had 3 the other night in an hour and blew just over the 250, I have my own breath analyser. Another 15 minutes and would have been fine.
reb53,
Dec 19, 5:58pm
I got what is meant to be an accurate one, ( as in "expensive"), a few days ago. Got it for exactly that reason. I want to know if my couple of beers with a friend at the end of the week will destroy my livelihood. Haven't worked it out yet but will, not with the intention of having more but just to ensure I'm well away from the limit. One thing I have discovered though is that it is a bad idea to have any alcohol a short time before testing. When my tester turned up on the courier at 9am I wasn't about to have a few drinks to see if it worked so I had a tiny sip of liqueur to see what happened. It went berserk, I would have been totally nailed yet I'd be surprised if any of the alcohol made it to my stomach, let alone my blood stream. Initial results are suggesting my couple of beers over an hour an a half are OK for my 68 kgs.
gunhand,
Dec 19, 6:04pm
How do/did you know you were still legal to drive?
lookoutas,
Dec 19, 7:13pm
There's no hard and fast rule of thumb here. Was talking to a guy who had 3 stubbies in 2 hours, and was just OK. But after waiting 10 minutes subsequently, it went down each period. A stocky brick shitouse drank 6 stubbies at the same time, and couldn't get it to read over 150.
fiatracer,
Dec 20, 6:52am
So many variables come into play - body weight, hydration level, drinking experience, food, and the other one not mentioned - cheap watery beer is 3.5-4.5%. Decent beer is twice that, or higher. so "2 or 3 stubbies" might equate to just one craft beer for example. That's why I'm keen to get a unit - so I can see the real results for ME. I asked a question on a unit auction - "how would it display the new 250 limit" and the answer was "050". Now that's confusing right?
loose.unit8,
Dec 20, 7:12am
Bit unreasonable if they do. Your body actually generates and maintains a certain alcohol level itself so no one is ever at "zero" alcohol.
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