Random Breath Testing: Did My Cop Stuff up?

RubenM on 09/09/2019 - 08:30

So I was at a wedding on Saturday and from 5pm to 10pm, I had six beers (Lashes, yum) and one shot.
Being an engineer, I entered it into an app to calculate my BAC, which said around 0.04 when I left, quite close to the limit, but not over.
Then after about 10 minutes, as luck would have it, I got stopped for a random breath test. The cop does the usual, asks for my licence, asks if I've had anything to drink, to which I respond "yes".
He then wants to do a breath test, but then decides to do the counting test first, even though we both assume it's a foregone conclusion.
I count, he looks at his machine and then says "You're free to go", I reply "Really?", he just says "Yes".

So did the cop stuff up, was his machine faulty or am I a strange human specimen?

Automotive

Comments

  • Shark on 09/09/2019 - 18:12
    -2

    Wow, the only thing worse than drink driving in the first place is that you came on here to boast about it as well. Shame you didn't get caught.

    • bobolo on 10/09/2019 - 10:33
      +4

      Fail. He was stopped and tested, then let go. The sole purpose of police doing a random breath test is to catch drink drivers over 0.05 BAC. The fact they let him go is evidence that he was not above the limit and did not break any laws. What else must he do to "get caught"?

    • bobolo on 10/09/2019 - 10:35

      Fail. He was stopped and tested, then let go. The sole purpose of police doing a random breath test is to catch drink drivers over 0.05 BAC. The fact they let him go is evidence that he was not above the limit and did not break any laws. What else must he do to "get caught"?

    • smartazz104 on 12/09/2019 - 13:51
      -1

      He got pulled over and tested genius, try to keep up.

  • fozzie on 09/09/2019 - 18:15
    -5

    So you think it’s smart to brag on here? Next time you probably won’t be as lucky, you were well above the limit with 6 beers and a shot.

    • smartazz104 on 12/09/2019 - 13:52

      I get the impression reading comprehension isn't your strongest trait.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/09/2019 - 22:14
    +9

    I don't really understand some of the comments beating on the OP.

    This is a good news story of someone managing their drinking, blowing under the limit and getting home safely. Congrats to the OP and to the Police.

    • Pantagonist on 10/09/2019 - 09:23
      +1

      I don't really understand some of the comments beating on the OP.

      Amygdala hijack

      Also known as "Social Media Syndrome".

  • codinghelloworld on 09/09/2019 - 22:27
    +1

    Which suburb are you living? Probably I should stay away from there. I am still not convinced when someone use the app to analyze BAC, I am app developer, too.

    • smartazz104 on 12/09/2019 - 13:52

      If you want to avoid dying whilst driving you might be best to give up driving altogether.

  • 2Poor4Ozb on 10/09/2019 - 00:59
    -1

    Happened to me awhile back. Cop ask if I have anything to drink and I said yes. He breath test me and I was just over. He told me I can just wait around till my limit was under or I can go, but if I go and get pulled over later by a different cop he might charge me. So I decide to go :) because I live on the wild side. A few years ago I was borderline over and got charge by an arse.

  • jacross on 10/09/2019 - 08:58
    +1

    Being an engineer, I entered it into an app to calculate my BAC

    Haha wow.

    • Coops1 on 10/09/2019 - 09:24

      Lol yeah….don’t try this at home kids

      • smartazz104 on 12/09/2019 - 13:53

        Yeah, there's no point if you're already at home…

  • Waltervp on 10/09/2019 - 09:26
    +4

    Obviously controversial. Like speeding laws, alcohol laws are designed for low(est) common denominator. Though best not to ever speed or drive under the influence or tired or with bald tyres, or with little driving skills… driving with a little alcohol for most people is still safe. Some people are greatly effected at 0.01 and some people seem sober at 0.09, but they have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. And apps also err on the side of caution, and do help understand your consumption.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2019 - 09:29
    +1

    Mate if cops said you are “free to go” don’t question them just fly off.

  • bobolo on 10/09/2019 - 10:28
    +5

    At the end of the day the OP did not break any laws. Why give him crap for drink driving?

    • Stopback on 10/09/2019 - 17:36

      basically its risky behavior, to take 5+ drinks could def lead him to drinking more during the party. Who knows someone might of added a double shot to one of his drinks.

      If I were to decide to drive after only 1 in an hour max, it does just open a pandoras box.

  • Sensiekatie on 10/09/2019 - 10:37

    People can be unusual in their alcohol uptake in the bloodstream. My BIL was working in a pub and had 1 drink after work and attempted to drive home. There was an accident and he was taken to A&E where his blood was taken (standard practice). He was over the limit.

    Flabbergasted, he tested his tolerance with the help of someone with the equipment. His own limits are well under the average consumption that is recommended for males.

    No app can tell you that.

    • RubenM on 10/09/2019 - 10:44
      +3

      Unless he only has 1L of blood and weighs 5kg (or much more likely, lied about how much he drank), that's just not possible!

      • Cluster on 10/09/2019 - 10:51
        +2

        The problem here is people say "I just had one drink!" and it was a pint of beer which can have over 2 standard drinks of alcohol in it. Or they have a glass of wine. My local pub has started serving wine in 250ml glasses as well as the standard 150ml glass. A strong shiraz has almost 9 standard drinks per 750ml, so they consumed almost 3 drinks instead of just one.

        It's simply not possible for anyone to consume literally one standard drink (10 grams of ethanol) and blow over the legal limit. It's only your tolerance for its effects and how quickly the alcohol is metabolized that is affected by genetics/etc. It doesn't help that any breathalyzer not based on a fuel cell is completely useless and will give false results. I had a $200 MEMS sensor unit that would claim I was comatose drunk 15 minutes after brushing my teeth with just toothpaste. A fuel cell based analyzer is far more likely to give reliable results.

        And then there's the obvious answer: the person who said "one drink!" either lied or forgot how many they had.

        • weezlebub on 10/09/2019 - 12:20

          you should check out "claymore" "dark side of the moon", I'm pretty sure that's around 14.5 standard drinks for a bottle of red …

          As for the BAC, I don't actually know, but I'm assuming it's assessing blood alcohol content, sooooooo …

          30ml shot @ 40% = 12ml of 100% alcohol for one standard drink
          so 10 shots at 12ml is 120ml
          if you're 120kg, that's 10,000 shots to be 100%

          120kg is
          1% for 1.2L (we're mostly water)
          0.1% for 0.12L (or 120ml)
          so 10 shots of 40% vodka for someone who's 120kgs should have them at 0.1%
          5 shots of 40% vodka would bring that to 0.05%

          That's not how it works, but if there's a correlation, it'd be good to understand where it differs (is it time, is it KG to L, is it something else?)

          • trongy on 11/09/2019 - 09:22
            +1

            @weezlebub:

            (we're mostly water)

            Dr Google says the skeleton is 12-15% of body mass so you should subtract that mass for the purposes of estimation.

            Alcohol is also not fat soluble. Body fat percentage varies greatly. A very fit person can have less than 5% body fat, an obese person can have over 30% body fat. That's what makes estimating BAC difficult.

    • OzJD on 10/09/2019 - 15:11

      Being blood tested almost always returns a higher reading than breath tests. A breath test likely takes into account an error margin, where a blood test would be very accurate. They are attempting measure BAC after all (Blood Alcohol Concentration)

  • TSH on 10/09/2019 - 12:40
    -1

    REAL engineering degrees use a tolerance on all measurements.
    I'll put money down you are a civil engineer who happily accepts what an app tells him. GPA of 4.6 probably to get your degree am I right?!?

    • RubenM on 10/09/2019 - 12:54

      Wrong on all counts, but thanks for playing.

      • jacross on 10/09/2019 - 15:09
        +2

        I'm thinking software 'engineer'.

  • OzJD on 10/09/2019 - 15:04

    I've had the same thing happen. Downed a glass of wine at dinner, went for a drive almost immediately after, pulled into RBT after about 2 minutes. The counting device is to detect alcohol (not measure it precisely). They don't have 100% accuracy and a breeze blowing between you and the device could have changed the outcome. It also needs to have a minimum set, you may not have exceeded the threshold.

    To all this saying that he shouldn't use an app, it would be far more accurate than the '2 in the first hour, 1 every hour after that' estimate that the government suggests you use.

    With that said, it sounds like you would have been under using that method also. Just be glad you didn't drink too much, and keep doing what you're doing!

  • bobolo on 10/09/2019 - 15:43
    +4

    This thread's been a frustrating read…might have a couple of beers before driving home tonight

  • funnysht on 10/09/2019 - 15:45
    -4

    You're an idiot. If you had killed someone, you'd be for manslaughter.
    Thread closed.

    Edit: i wish these apps basically send a msg to the cops so they know where you are . …

    • rogerm22 on 10/09/2019 - 16:10
      +1

      How is he an idiot for driving when he was under the legal limit?

      • funnysht on 10/09/2019 - 16:33

        So you trust the lives of ppl based on some app?

        • rogerm22 on 10/09/2019 - 17:07
          +6

          Regardless of the questionable accuracy of the app, I do trust the cops, when they found him to be under the legal limit.

    • RubenM on 10/09/2019 - 16:20
      +4

      The cops found me, so how would that have helped?

      • TightBungholio on 10/09/2019 - 18:57

        DRUNK DRIVER DRUNK DRIVER DERKA DERKA DERKA

  • Jugganautx on 10/09/2019 - 17:17

    iM aN EnGiNeER

    You're an idiot for using an app.

  • HeWhoKnows on 10/09/2019 - 18:16

    OP answered his own question:

    Being an engineer, I entered it into an app to calculate my BAC, which said around 0.04 when I left, quite close to the limit, but not over.

    Rule of thumb is 3 std drinks in the first hour then 1 there after will keep you close to the limit

    OP drank 7 drinks over 5 hours which puts him just under the limit exactly as the app suggested at 0.04.

    Very risky though and rather irresponsible as well.
    OP should have had a PLAN B as they say

    • trongy on 11/09/2019 - 09:33

      Dan Murphy's says that a stubbie of 150 Lashes is 1.1 standard drinks which would take the session total to 7.6 standard drinks.

  • firebucket on 10/09/2019 - 19:00

    I think you may have got a bit lucky in this instance. Those counting tests are notoriously inaccurate. A number of factors can influence the outcome such as wind and distance from mouth. That said, with your large body size - it's likely that you would have been just under the limit even if you were put on the tube. P.S - Don't say "Oh Really?" when told to leave an RBT site haha

  • Noophe on 11/09/2019 - 14:00
    +1

    gotta always let people know you're an engineer, classic engineers

    i know, because im an engineer

    engineer
    engineer

    • RubenM on 11/09/2019 - 15:31
      +1

      How else will they know that I'm better than them? ;)

  • Eeples on 11/09/2019 - 23:12

    In my experience cops let off people who are well dressed and neat in appearance.

  • star-ggg on 12/09/2019 - 08:06

    Being an engineer, have you independently verified the accuracy of the app? Stress tested the factors they used in the modeling for non-linearities?

    • RubenM on 12/09/2019 - 08:27

      I did to a quick sanity check calculation and I ended up in the same ballpark, but no more than that.

      • star-ggg on 12/09/2019 - 09:25
        +1

        Sounds like you work in the Australian residential building construction industry

        • RubenM on 12/09/2019 - 11:48

          No, Nation Building Australia!

  • syousef on 12/09/2019 - 10:07

    App or no app you clearly thought you were over and were surprised to be let go? WTF were you driving!?!? Why would you ask the cop "Really?" when he said you were free to go? Why are you posting about it publicly? Why would you even risk your license or other consequences on a dodgy app? There were more stuff ups here than a Mr Bean episode.

  • TSH on 12/09/2019 - 11:24

    I engineered someones downfall once using bits and bobs I picked up from the international school of hard knocks (graduated class of 98 with distinction).

    Still trying to get a recognition of prior learning from my school so I can get a membership to Engineers Australia.

    Surprised the smell of BS didn't reach the officer first. OP seems to be a creative writing graduate whos 'Engineering' fictional tales.

    While we're all here, anyone else have tales of bravery or war where their app saved them in the nick of time?!?

    • smartazz104 on 12/09/2019 - 13:55

      Maybe we can wait for you to post more dribble.

  • TSH on 12/09/2019 - 11:41

    Nah Engineering Student, Your personal cop didn't stuff up.
    Your dads condom broke!

  • Andard on 12/09/2019 - 12:07

    Cop was probably drunk.

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