Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 1978

Procedure following provision of specimen under section 15.

16.—(1) Where, consequent on a requirement under section 15 on him, a person provides a specimen of his breath and the apparatus indicates that he has committed an offence under section 49 (2) of the Principal Act, he shall be supplied forthwith by a member of the Garda Síochána with a written statement indicating the concentration of alcohol in the person's blood.

(2) On receipt of the statement referred to in subsection (1) the person shall forthwith acknowledge such receipt in writing by his signature as requested by the member of the Garda Síochána.

(3) A person who refuses to comply with subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding £100, or to both.

(4) A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person who refuses or fails to comply with subsection (2).

(5) Where a person arrested under subsection (4) (or a person deemed under section 15 (3) to be a person so arrested) has been brought to a Garda station, a member of the Garda Síochána may require the person to permit a designated registered medical practitioner to take from the person a specimen of his blood or, at the person's option, to provide for the designated registered medical practitioner a specimen of the person's urine.

(6) A person who, following a requirement under subsection (5),—

(a) refuses or fails to comply with such a requirement, or

(b) refuses or fails to comply with a requirement of a designated registered medical practitioner in relation to the taking under this section of a specimen of blood or the provision under this section of a specimen of urine,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding £500, or to both.

(7) Notwithstanding a refusal by a person to comply with subsection (2), the relevant statement referred to in subsection (1) may be tendered as evidence in a prosecution for an offence under section 49 or 50 of the Principal Act or an offence under this Part.