Road Traffic Act 2016

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Amendment of section 18 of Act of 2010 - provisions regarding certain evidence in prosecutions - presumption

15. Section 18 of the Act of 2010 is amended—

(a) by substituting for subsection (1) the following—

“(1) On the hearing of a charge for an offence under section 4 or 5 it shall not be necessary to show that the defendant had not consumed an intoxicant after the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed but before the taking or provision of a specimen under section 12, 13B or 14.”,

(b) by inserting after subsection (2) the following:

“(2A) Where, on the hearing of a charge for an offence under section 4(1A) or 5(1A) evidence is given by or on behalf of the defendant that, after the time when the offence is alleged to have been committed but before the taking or provision of a specimen under section 12, 13B or 14, he or she had consumed a drug specified in column (2) of the Schedule, the court shall disregard the evidence unless satisfied by or on behalf of the defendant that, but for that consumption, the concentration of the specified drug in the defendant’s blood (as specified in a certificate under section 17) would not have been equal to or exceeded the concentration of that drug for the time being standing specified in the Schedule.”,

and

(c) by substituting “an intoxicant” for “alcohol” in subsection (3)(a) and subsection (4).