By Leiselle Maraj and Indarjit Seuraj Thursday, December 24 2009

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Breath test: In this file photo of December 15, Roland Thomas volunteers for a breathalyser test as part of a training exercise for officers of the Po...

Two drivers failed the breathalyser test when stopped by the police on Ariapita Avenue, Port-of-Spain on Tuesday night but later passed a second alcohol test at a station, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert disclosed yesterday.

It took an hour for the officers to take the two persons to a station for the second test, and this time needs to be improved, Imbert said.

The police will continue the exercise every night, as the kinks in the testing process are worked out, he said at the opening ceremony for the Airports Authority’s new administration centre in Piarco.

Imbert said at least four drivers were stopped to be tested by the police at about 11 pm on Ariapita Avenue, a main street of popular liming spots and restaurants in Port-of-Spain.

Two of them had blood alcohol levels over the recognised limit (of 0.80) after the first preliminary field tests, but when they were taken to a police station for the second round of tests their blood alcohol levels were below the limit and no charges were laid, Imbert said.

A senior officer yesterday said the second tests were done at the Woodbrook Police Station.

“There are two tests, first the preliminary test in the field which gives the indication of whether the person is over the limit or not. As I said, two out of four gave the indication of being over the limit but when the police took them back to the station, they were just below the limit so they got away. Time is important I’m told and since it was the first time the police were doing it, they took some time to get to the police station,” Imbert said. Local officers were trained by an expert in law enforcement and breathalyser training from the United States, Imbert said, adding that ideally, the police are expected to take drivers to a station in under 30 minutes once they fail the first test. In this case, the two drivers who failed the test on Tuesday night only got to the station an hour after the initial testing.

“Last (Tuesday) night was the first try at it and the police will obviously become more and more skilled at it as they go along and will extend the activity to other areas,” Imbert said.

Senior Superintendent Wayne Richards, of the Police Traffic branch, confirmed the breathalyser was used for the first time on Tuesday night. “Everything went quite well. The officers, formally referred to as breath alcohol technicians, who were trained to use the devices were very comfortable with it,” Richards said.

Richards disclosed that five drivers were tested and they all were willing and helpful when they were approached by the officers. He said the next step was to target the highways and apprehend people drinking and driving.

Richards reminded the public that the test was being implemented to help save lives. “We hope that people would heed our warning and don’t drink and drive or have a designated driver,” he said.

Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert told Newsday he was at the scene of testing for a brief while on Tuesday night.

“When I was there I saw one guy fail the first test then he passed the second one. Then he went home. When I was leaving, they were testing another driver,” he said.