This week Slovakia’s roads will be littered with police officers as they launch a week of checking chiefly drivers under the influence throughout Europe, with cyclists and pedestrians no exception.
The annual pan-European event called Tispol will see an increased number of spot checks on the roads, especially at hazard points that are prone to accidents. Speeding will also be a target of the officers.
There were a total of 378 drivers caught under the influence in May, for instance, with 479 drink-related accidents so far this year.
One piece of advice, though, if you think your alcohol reading is wrong, ask to blow again. Recently, I was stopped by police who measures 0.35 on their breathaliser, which is well over the limit as if I had been drinking spirits and would mean loss of licence. As I hadn’t been drinking, I asked to blow again, this time getting a reading of 0.02, forcing the embarrassed police to let me go.
It makes one wonder, though, how many people have been unjustly punished for excessive alcohol, as the readings of the breathalisers are not reliable if the devices are not calibrated at regular intervals.
Small note to my fan club…I have got off two spot fine for speeding in my Porsche ( never ever doing the speed they claimed anyway ) by asking Mr Copper, when last they had their speedy camera calibrated ..both times the police officer could not tell me ( ie. did not know, or did and was just trying to avoid ) ….QED, sent me on my way, rather than give me a ticket and go to court .
Also got off for not stopping as A STOP sign ….no white STOP line on the road ..
Mmmm…… un-calibrated equipment? what about the radars? Is not a second breath test or blood test mandatory? No wonder the real bandits get away with murder when the plods can’t even get basic policing right.
I have to share this gem from the Oh So Professional police – after five years of giving the local plods a hard time about the lack of policing my wife was approached at yesterdays council surgery and and asked if we would be prepared to co-operate with the police. The local police want us to spy on their own men and report any incidents where they fail to attend or take appropriate action – my first thought was how much of your salary do we get for doing your job but the missus, ever the optimist, suggested it may be a good idea. “Right, you ring me, the day after something happens on my direct line – I can’t remember my number and I don’t have any business cards so I’ll ring you sometime and then you can save my number” Speaks volumes nes pas!
Hurummmmm….
One wonders if the 100 euro note, used to clean the pipes of the device, after the first duff result , had more to do with the breathaliser becoming more `so reliable` the second blow around, rather than the these devices going wrong, if not calibrated at regular intervals.
Any other people wondering out there ?