P plate drivers and 0 BAC

[Grum]

Ok after reading all the threads on P plate drivers I have one gripe that hasn’t been discussed and I wanted to get the forums opinions on it.
I am a P plate driver (NSW p2) and drive a high powered vehicle, which most would say I am in the high risk category. I do however consider myself a reasonable driver and mature, I am 22. I have completed two defensive driver courses, one paid for by my parent’s insurance company, the other paid for out of my own pocket when I bought my current vehicle.

Last Saturday I was at a Ute show in Penrith. The plan was to get there at 8:30am and party on with my mates and sleep out the back of the pub in the Ute. My girlfriend was going to join me after she finished work.
So I started drinking at about 9am, nothing like a few breaky beers to start the day. I had probably had about seven beers by lunch time and a good feed from the R.F.S. bbq when my girlfriend called and said she’s had a few things come up and needed to go home after work and asked if I would be able to come down. She finished at 6pm and we agreed to meet at hers at 7pm. I then stopped drinking at 12:30pm knowing I needed to be at 0 BAC so I could drive. I am also a big bloke and can hold my alcohol well but I would never knowingly drive if I wasn’t 0, mainly due to the fear that if anything went wrong I wouldn’t be covered by my insurance.

At about 6pm there was a police car and two officers at the pub for an unrelated manner. After they had dealt with that and were back at their car I approached them and asked them if I could be breathalysed. They said “no way, we are not going to, we will only breathalyse you if we see you driving on the road”. I then asked if there was a police station near by that I could be breathalysed at, as my local police station has done it for me in the past. They then said “no way mate, no police station would breathalyse you”.
So I was forced to drive to my girlfriends place (80km) without knowing if I was legal to drive (but 99% sure I was).

So this is my gripe. I don’t want this to turn into a police bashing thread but we do in a way pay their salary and expenses so why shouldn’t they be made to provide a RBT if asked? They are quite proud of advertising that every police car in NSW can now stop you for an RBT. This appears to me to be another example of the police (on the governments behalf) not wanting to prevent crime but rather profit from it afterwards.

Cheers Greg