If You Like To Drink, Do Not Drive
– If You Do Drive Be Prepared For a Breath/Exhalation Test
– And if you refuse be ready for a harsh punishment
Drinking and Driving in Israel: The Reality
If you like to drink, then don’t drink and drive. If you DO drink and drive, be prepared to take a breath/exhalation test. If you refuse to take the test, be ready for a harsh punishment.
Important:
If you refuse to be examined for the breath/exhalation test you will be presumed to have been intoxicated! So before drinking and driving, think wisely.
Why would a person refuse to take the test?
The first and main reason is to avoid being caught driving under the influence of alcohol. You are the only one who knows for certain if you have drunk alcohol.
The second reason is the fear that the testing device is unreliable. There are those who refuse to take the test because they have heard and read that the device is not reliable enough to provide conclusive results and therefore they prefer a blood test.
It is fair enough to undergo a blood test and refuse to pass the breath/exhalation test, but to not undergo any test will be considered driving under the influence of alcohol solely on the basis of that refusal.
A Jerusalem Traffic Court Case:
Mr. Tamir was the “smart guy type.” While driving under the influence of alcohol he was stopped by the police.
Mr. Tamir, the accused, didn’t refuse the test. He did the first step and blew into the machine and the level of alcohol found was high. As a result, he was asked to do it again. He did again and again, but only in a way that would not be possible to reach a result accepted in court. The police warned him to stop “playing games,” but he kept repeating the test in an inadmissible way.
The rationale of the case:
The Honorable Judge Mr. Tenenbaum ruled (file #009186/08) “Punishment should be derived from, among other things, level of intoxication. As a proper punishment, the higher the level, the harsher the punishment should be and vice versa…”
“If the defendant refuses to be examined, a more severe penalty should be imposed and he should be seen as having been highly intoxicated.
The rationales being that:
1) If we don’t do so, all heavily intoxicated drivers will prefer to refuse to be tested and it is not possible that they should be allowed to gain from refusing to cooperate
– and –
2) We must attempt to ensure that all such suspects cooperate and not prevent evidence from being submitted.
The final decision and the penalties imposed on the accused:
The accused received a harsh sentence of a 30-month driver’s license suspension. He was also fined 3,000 NIS (in 2008). As a result of the suspended license, Mr. Tamir would have to obtain a driver’s license (after his suspension ended) from scratch.
A word of wisdom:
If you want to drink, don’t drive because one beer could be enough to find you driving under influence (intoxicated).
Refusing a test today could cause you to lose your license for a much longer period because judges don’t rule leniently on the issue. Driving drunk can result in deaths – yours and others! We adults have, to some extent, the maturity and life experience to make the right decision and not drive if we drink, yet we don’t always do the right thing. Most of the drunk drivers caught are adults.
If we cannot really make the right decision, imagine how hard must be for our teenagers “showing off.” It is all about good education and setting a good example. Don’t give up, keep talking to them about the danger of the combination of drinking and driving and mostly, be a good example yourself!
