French Gendarmarie Blood Testing - who pays?

Question

My son went to Calais for the weekend, & whilst parked in the street at night was chased by an unmarked car with 4 men in it. He stopped when a blue light went on realising it was the French Police. He was subsequently, detained for 23 hours with no food or drink, on suspicion of being in the car under the influence of Alcohol & / or Canabis. During that time he was taken to the Hopital for a blood test. He was later released without charge.

8 weeks later he has received a bill from the Hospital for 250+ euro's. As the bill is in french it is difficult to know what it is for, but we assume it is to do with the blood test taken.

My question is who should be paying for this. It sems grossly unfair that he should be expected to pay, when he was not charged, & did not want the test in the first place. Is this just the French trying it on? I'd appreciate any comments

Phil

Answer 1

I agree with the first two respondents. First, the fact that he was not charged means that he probably didn't cause any accident or anything worth charging for. It doesn't mean that he wasn't drunk.

The French police proceed as follows:

- they may test any driver for alcohol whether they have done something wrong or not ( = prevention, for instance anyone taking their car after coming out of a bar, or they test after lunch or dinner when there is a high likelyhood that people will have had some wine)

- the test is performed on the spot with a breathalyser

- a blood test may be performed at the hospital in only two cases: either the driver refused to breathe in the breathalyzer or was too drunk to do so; or when the breathalyzer test result comes out positive and the driver disputes the result.

In which case, the driver is not allowed to take their vehicle again. If he was able to take his car again after 24 hours he was lucky and treated better than a French driver who may not be able to use their vehicle for 6 months if the alcohol level was particularly high.

As for who should pay the bill, well obviously not the French tax payer, right? He wouldn't have been sent to hospital without one of the two reasons cited above, so it is entirely his fault. From the breakdown of the bill you gave us, there was a surcharge for "emergency service" and "night hours", which is why the bill is so high. I think he wasn't fined because he was a foreigner and they didn't want to deal with the process of international agreements, especially since his being drunk didn't have any serious consequences, if he had been French he would have been fined. So just consider yourself lucky that he got better treatment than a Frenchman.

EDIT: Receiving a bill from any hospital is not common practice in France since most of the French are insured but since your son is not a French national they send him the bill. If he had an EHIC then the cost may be covered by the NHS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_He...

2nd EDIT: I just read your message again and you say that his test result was below the limit. If it is true, it exlains why he wasn't charged. But then it means that either the breathalyzer didnt work properly (in which case you may have a recourse) or that he refused to cooperate and breathe into the machine, which is an offense (in this case he is responsible for the bill).

If you have any doubt, why don't you ask the hospital for his test results or contact the Embassy?

Answer 2

Are you sure its a bill from the hosptal and not the assesment of a fine? That sounds like a very high price for a simple blood alcohol test.

France has very strict drink driving laws . You are allowed a maximum of 0.5mg/ml of alcohol per litre in your blood, compared to 0.8mg/ml in the UK.

Once stopped a motorist under the influence will not be allowed to drive until the alcohol level drops to 0.5mg. this would explain the long detention.

It is my understanding that Police and Gendarmes can issue on the spot fines.

If you have between 0.5 and 0.8mg of alcohol in your blood you could be fined between 135€ to 750€.

So it sounds like he was drunk, given an on the spot fine, and then held until he sobered up.

EDIT:ChocoBN brings up an excellant point. They wouldn't have administered a blood alcohol test unless he refused the breathalyzer or was too inebriated to take it.

Answer 3

Most of the bill is for the blood test itself

C consultation 22 euro = using medical service charge

ATU forfait urgences 25.28 euro = emergency service charge

MM MAJORAT MILIEU NUIT 40. euro = night overcharge

AMI actes infirmiers 1.5 x 3 =4.50 Euro = nurse bill (drawing the blood)

B actes de biologie 620 x 0.27 = 167.40 Euro = blood test

I agree with Chocolate. Blood test is done only after the breath analyser has been refused or is positive, the fact that your son drove away probably pushed the cops to think he was drunk, knew it and was trying to avoid the test. If your son did not speak French, or good French, there might have been a misunderstanding. If your son did not understand what he was asked they would have taken his silence or protests as a no. Your son could not refuse the blood test by the way, if he had tried to he would have broken the law and things would have degenerated up to prison time.

As for paying the bill, this is the first time I heard about it but Chocolate's explanation makes sense.

Answer 4

You are english are you ?



So this is the solution - : the expenses habe been billed under regime of " medical urgencies" and not any kind of " juridicial investigation " which anyway would be in charge of the gendarmerie - which ordered the analysis -

GB and France have mutual social security and hospitals agreements - such acts are covered by such agreements -

So this could be the text of your reply ( if only necessary )

Messieurs,

Vous m'avez adressé un document comptable afférent à une

analyse réalisée sur mon fils xxxyyyyzzz, sur ordre de la gendarmerie, et je vous en remercie -

Je m'abstiendrai de vous régler les frais décrits dans ce document car rien n'établit la nature juridique de votre demande, ni le caractère de facture de votre document -

Si suite à une initiative découlant de la gendarmerie,une somme vous est dûe, vous pourrez sans doute la recouvrer soit en l'imputant directement à l'autorité départementale de gendarmerie correspondante, soit en la communiquant à la section internationale des recouvrements de la caisse de sécurité sociale la plus proche de votre établissement -

Je vous prie d'agréer mes salutations distinguées -

XYZ

Copie à Monsieur le Colonel commandant la circonscription de gendarmerie du Pas-de-Calais - 62000 - ARRAS

Downthumbs have nothing to say - and they shout it

Answer 5

How could your son be chased by another car if he was "parked in the street"? How do we know you're not making this whole thing up? And how do we know your son wasn't indeed under the influence if this incoherent anecdote is grounded in truth? Are you sure you're giving us the full story? If you tell me what it says on that bill perhaps I can translate...

Answer 6

"Regardless of weather he was above or below the limit, why would he get the bill from the hospital. Is this normal practise in France ?"

if he's not guilty , he doesn't have to pay