Section 10 — Road Traffic Act 1988: Detention of persons affected by alcohol or a drug.

Detention of persons affected by alcohol or a drug. 10 1 Subject to subsections (2) and (3) below, a person required under section 7 or 7A to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine may afterwards be detained at a police station (or, if the specimen was provided otherwise than at a police station, arrested and taken to and detained at a police station) if a constable has reasonable grounds for believing that, were that person then driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road, he would commit an offence under section 4 , 5 or 5A of this Act.

2 Subsection (1) above does not apply to the person if it ought reasonably to appear to the constable that there is no likelihood of his driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle whilst—

a the person's ability to drive properly is impaired, b the proportion of alcohol in the person's breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, or c the proportion of a specified controlled drug in the person's blood or urine exceeds the specified limit for that drug. 2A A person who is at a hospital as a patient shall not be arrested and taken from there to a police station in pursuance of this section if it would be prejudicial to his proper care and treatment as a patient.

3 A constable must consult a medical practitioner on any question arising under this section whether a person’s ability to drive properly is or might be impaired through drugs and must act on the medical practitioner’s advice.