Fail to provide a specimen

Fail to provide a specimen is only one offence but can be committed by failing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine. At no stage will the officer or the Crown need to prove that you drove the vehicle.

If following an attempt to provide a specimen of breath, no samples or only one sample has been provided, the Intoxilyzer operator has a choice whether to restart the process or charge you with the offence of fail to provide. If you have failed to provide a sample without trying or whilst trying, you can defend the case if you can show the court that through a physical or mental inability that you could not provide a sample. This is referred to as having a "reasonable excuse" and as case law has developed it is now clear that to show this mental or physical inability, you need an expert to confirm that your reason is genuine. The most common reasons presented at court are lung problems or problems forming a seal around the mouthpiece.

Failure to provide a specimen of blood is an offence but if a sample of breath has been obtained and you have opted to provide blood you should not be convicted of failure to provide a sample. In this scenario the Prosecution should proceed on the breath reading already obtained. If you have a genuine medical reason for not providing a sample of blood following a requirement then you must convey this fact to the officer. He should then seek a medical opinion as to whether to require a urine specimen or continue with a blood specimen. This is important as it is very unsafe to require you to provide blood if you have a medical reason not to do so. A common reason for failure to provide blood is due to needle phobias. If you refuse on this basis the matter is defendable but an expert assessment as to whether your needle phobia is genuine would be required.

Failure to provide a sample of urine is a very complex matter with a large number of cases surrounding the area. As with all the fail to provide situations failure to provide without a reasonable excuse will most likely lead to a conviction. The complication comes however with the fact that with a urine specimen, time limit of one hour is placed upon the defendant to provide a useable specimen of urine. Sometimes anxiety can be a problem and it can prove difficult to bring this condition under the heading of a reasonable excuse. The area is further complicated by the fact officers are allowed the discretion to increase the time scales but of course that means some people are given an hour and some are given longer which is is a little unfair when compared to those who are given only an hour and then fail. The best advice we can give is to do all you can to comply and keep a note of events and times. Then, if charged, contact a road traffic specialist for advice on your specific set of circumstances.