Are the Police abusing the Road Transport legislation?
The purpose of the Random Breath Testing laws is to make our roads safer. Drink drivers are a danger to all road users as they maim and kill thousands of people every year and at a substantial cost to the community. The use of the RBT has significantly reduced deaths on the road since its inception. However, many people were opposed to its introduction because giving police power to randomly stop motor vehicles carried with it a danger that these powers would be abused. The police, of course, denied that this would happen.
We all accept some intrusion into our privacy to make our society a safer place. But at what point does that intrusion cease being for our protection and become a weapon against us?
