Driver suspended after random breath test

Press, 13 January 1987, Page 29

Driver suspended after random breath test

NZPA-AAP Melbourne Maryborough reinsman, Gerald McArdle, made history for all the wrong reasons on Saturday when he became the first driver charged for exceeding the legal blood alcohol level in a Victorian race. To the embarrassment of Harness Racing Board officials McArdle achieved the dubious distinction without a metropolitan drivers’ licence.

H.R.B. stewards, chaired by chief stipe, Gerard Lalor, ordered McArdle, 54, to undergo a breathalyser test after he had driven Angler Ned in the Apollo Bay Stakes at Moonee Valley.

Angler Ned, a 50-1 chance, finished eighth behind Bold Gaze after being the early pacemaker.

Under H.R.B. rules, no licenced person officiating at a meeting is allowed to have a blood-alcohol reading equal to, or higher than, .02. McArdle faded the test and his indiscretion earned him a 12-month suspension for breaching Rules 10(A) (iii). Mr Lalor said McArdle had told him he had “one stubbie at lunchtime” but h< would not elaborate on the blood alcohol reading.

“I don’t think it would be fair on him,” he said. Mr Lalor said it was the first time in the two years that random breath tests have been operating that a driver had been detected driving in a race under the influence of alcohol.

“It’s just not on as far as we are concerned, there’s too many people’s lives at stake.” After the test stewards discovered McArdle did not hold a current metropolitan drivers’ licence, only a country licence. ‘He thought he would gain a permit when he got to the course but somehow he forgot to ask,‘ said Mr Lalor.

McArdle was fined $2OO under Rule 396 for driving Angler Ned in a race while not holding a current licence.

Mr Lalor said an inquiry would be opened into how such a matter slipped the notice of H.R.B. officials.

Capping off a forgettable evening, McArdle incurred a further -eight week suspension for careless driving, under Rule 265, for checking another runner in the early stages of the race. . . j . It was enough to drif p a man to drink.