Road Traffic Act 2010

24

Medical examination at Garda Síochána station or hospital.

24.— (1) Where a person is arrested under a provision referred to in section 13(1) (inserted by section 1 of the Road Traffic and Transport Act 2006) of the Act of 1994 or section 12(1) of this Part or is admitted to hospital in the circumstances referred to in section 15(1) of the Act of 1994 or section 14(1) of this Part, a member of the Garda Síochána, at a Garda Síochána station or the hospital, as the case may be, may require the person to undergo a medical examination carried out by a designated doctor or designated nurse for the purpose of obtaining evidence that the person was, at the time of being arrested or the event, as the case may be, under the influence of an intoxicant as to be incapable of having proper control of a vehicle.

(2) A person who refuses or fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(3) Where a designated doctor or designated nurse carries out medical examination of a person for the purposes of subsection (1), he or she shall make a written statement of the results of the examination.

(4) A requirement under subsection (1) of a person admitted to hospital in the circumstances referred to in that subsection shall not be made unless a doctor treating the person has been consulted and it would not be prejudicial to the health of the person to make the requirement.

F65[(5) A member of the Garda Síochána may, for the purpose of making a requirement of a person under subsection (1), enter without warrant any hospital where the person is or where the member, with reasonable cause, suspects him or her to be.

(6) A designated doctor or designated nurse may, for the purpose of carrying out a medical examination under subsection (1), enter any hospital where the person is or where the doctor or nurse is informed by a member of the Garda Síochána that the person is.

(7) Section 1(1) of the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 does not apply to an offence under this section. ]

Annotations

Amendments:

F65

Inserted (28.10.2011) by Road Traffic (No. 2) Act 2011 (28/2011), s. 9(e), S.I. No. 542 of 2011.