At 6.10 p.m. on Friday the 27th July 2018, a 40 year old male from West Moonah was the operator of An Uber vehicle when stopped by police who were conducting static random breath testing on King Street, Sandy Bay. The driver had a fee paying passenger in the vehicle at the time.

The Uber driver submitted to a random breath test which returned a positive reading. He was then required to submit to a breath analysis test at the site whereby the driver returned a reading of 0.125 grams of alcohol per 210 litres of breath.

Sergeant Hogget, Officer in Charge of the Southern Road Safety Task Force said, “Whilst this type of offence in uncommon, police were extremely disappointed as Uber drivers are hired by the general public for a variety of reasons, including being the ‘designated driver’ after a night out. The public have a right to expect to be safe whilst using such services therefore I urge drivers of hire vehicle’s to ensure they have not consumed alcohol prior to driving”.

He further stated “When a vehicle is under hire, it becomes a ‘prescribed vehicle’ therefore drivers are not permitted to have any alcohol in their system whilst driving”.

The Uber driver was charged with the following offences and will appear in court at a later date;

• Drive a motor vehicle whilst exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit, and
• Driver of a prescribed vehicle with alcohol in body.