Understanding Redline Results
Even though the Redline device is a Certified Product in accordance with Australian Standard AS 3547-1997 as a reliable way of assessing breath alcohol content, it is a non-evidentiary screening device which means that you can’t rely on its results for legal evidence. The user must still use their discretion in interpreting results and in making decisions based upon them.
This legal status is not unique to results obtained only from Redlines. It also applies to almost all breathalyser devices, including the hand-held digital models used by the police in a preliminary breath test in a roadside check or suchlike. The only breath testing device whose results have any standing in law is known as an ‘evidential’ breath tester – a specialized desk-top machine requiring regular certification of accuracy calibration and a trained operator. Such machines are most often used by police to obtain evidence for criminal drink-driving charges.
It is therefore misleading for someone to be dismissive of Redlines and all other hand-held or personal devices on the basis that they provide “only a guide” to BAC, as they cannot provide anything else according to the law.