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Fail to co-operate with preliminary (roadside) breath test

Road traffic — practical elements, sentencing links and station notes for accredited reps in England & Wales.

Road traffic

Fail to co-operate with preliminary (roadside) breath test

Road Traffic Act 1988, s.6(6)

England & Wales. Elements, mode of trial, maximum and defences — not a charging or outcome predictor.

Triable
Summary only
Maximum penalty
Level 3 fine

Actus reus

  • Without reasonable excuse, fail to co-operate with a preliminary test when required under RTA 1988, s.6 (s.6(6)).

Mens rea

  • Failure without reasonable excuse. The requirement must have been validly made.

Defences

Reasonable excuse · No valid requirement (not driving/attempting/in charge, or no suspicion as the section requires) · Did co-operate

Sentencing Council

Sentencing Council guideline effective 04 August 2008. Offence range: Discharge to Band B fine Must endorse and impose 4 points Starting point: Band B fine Fines Starting point Range.

View definitive guideline ↗

At the police station

This is the roadside test, not the s.7 evidential specimen. Reasonable excuse is fact-specific — medical inability is the usual line.

When to involve a rep or solicitor

Police station advice is free under legal aid and is not means-tested.

Authoritative sources for this page

Statute plus Sentencing Council (and CPS where listed) are the two primary sources we used for mode of trial, maximum and elements. Case links are from our verified registry only.

More in Road traffic

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Sources & further reading

Links are to official publishers (legislation, gov.uk, CPS, LAA, Sentencing Council). Case law on this site is limited to entries in our verified case-law registry. Always confirm the current version before relying on it in live advice.