NSW Drink Driving & Traffic Offences

[Fobw]

I got stopped by the cops last weekend. They took me to the station and made me blow into a big machine.

When I stopped blowing I saw that the readout on the machine said error or bad reading or something. (I can't quite remember what it said)

The cop running the machine, who looked very young to me, looked confused and called over to one of his mates for help.

Before his mate came over the machine beeped and the reading came out. I asked if I should blow into the machine again because the machine didn't look like it was working properly. He ignored me and they charged me with drink driving with a 0.175 reading. They gave me a bunch of paperwork and kicked me out of the station.

I admit that I did have a few drinks that night, but I can hold my drink and there is no way my reading should have been that high. I am going to lose my job if I can't drive.

What do I do?

[NSW lawyer]

If you are in NSW if you plead not guilty, you would need to produce evidence that the machine was not working properly. I would recommend that if you are seriously considering pleading not guilty that you subpoena the service records for the machine and the results of any calibration testing done by the police at the station.

If you plead guilty or are found guilty it is almost inevitable that you will be convicted of the offence. Once you are convicted the court must disqualify you for at least 12 months. I hope this helps.