Road Traffic Act 2010
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Obligation to provide preliminary breath specimen. |
9.— (1) Where a member of the Garda Síochána— | |
(a) is of opinion that a person in charge of a vehicle in a public place— | ||
(i) has consumed intoxicating liquor, the member shall require, or | ||
(ii) (I) is or has, with the vehicle, been involved in a collision, or | ||
(II) is committing or has committed an offence under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2010, | ||
the member may require, | ||
or | ||
(b) attends at the scene of an event which has occurred in a public place in which injury appears or is claimed to have been caused to a person of such nature as to require medical assistance for the person at the scene of the event or for the person to be brought to a hospital for medical assistance and a vehicle was involved in the event, the member shall, subject to subsection (2), require, | ||
the person in charge of the vehicle— | ||
(i) to provide, by exhaling into an apparatus for indicating the presence of alcohol in the breath, a specimen of his or her breath in the manner indicated by the member, | ||
(ii) to accompany him or her to a place (including a vehicle) near the scene of the collision and there to provide, by exhaling into such an apparatus, a specimen of his or her breath in the manner indicated by the member, or | ||
(iii) where the member does not have such an apparatus with him or her, to remain at that place in his or her presence or in the presence of another member of the Garda Síochána until such an apparatus becomes available to him or her (for a period that does not exceed one hour) and to provide, by exhaling into the apparatus, a specimen of his or her breath in the manner indicated by the member. | ||
(2) A member of the Garda Síochána shall not make a requirement of a person under subsection (1)(b) where, in the opinion of the member or on the advice of a doctor or other medical personnel attending the scene of the event, such requirement would be prejudicial to the health of the person as a consequence of the person’s involvement in the event. | ||
(3) A person who refuses or fails to comply immediately with a requirement under this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both. | ||
(4) A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person who in the member’s opinion is committing or has committed an offence under this section. | ||
(5) In a prosecution for an offence under section 4 , 5 or 6 it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown, that an apparatus provided by a member of the Garda Síochána for the purpose of enabling a person to provide a specimen of breath under this section is an apparatus for indicating the presence of alcohol in the breath. | ||
(6) Section 1 (1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 does not apply to an offence under this section. |