Blow into the Bag, Sir

ABC News (that's the one in Australia, folks) had a lovely little story on their website today. Apparently a resident of Victoria had a guest from America staying with him. The American gentleman had his own car shipped over - don't ask me why, perhaps he doesn't like the idea of hiring a car with right-hand drive. Apparently they went for a drink and the Aussie, being an Aussie, had quite a few tinnies (I have the vernacular, folks) but he was by no means legless. His American friend had very little and was well within the strict drink-drive limits. The American was driving his own car back from the pub with the Aussie in the front passenger seat. Get the picture? Driver in the left-hand front seat, passenger in the right.
Along comes a police car which flags down our intrepid friends. The officer proceeds to the the right-hand side of the vehicle where the passenger winds down the window. "Blow into the bag, sir," requests the upstanding officer of the law. Our Aussie friend, being an upstanding citizen and not wishing to cause a fuss, produces a breath sample which, of course, is well over the drink-drive limit. Cop gets a little too big for her boots and is all for running him in on a drink-drive rap until it is gently pointed out to her that there is no steering wheel on that side of the car and the guy seated in the other front seat is really the driver "honestly, officer" and he is stone-cold sober!
Now I know that Australia is a long way from anywhere, but surely there must be a few left-hand drive cars in that great land. But whether or not there are, surely one of the first rules for any police work is observation. The lack of a steering wheel on that side of the car is a bit of a giveaway, I'd say.
Apparently, when ABC went to the local police department for a comment on the matter, they could find no record of the encounter. Well, if you were the officer in question, would you own up to it? I can just see the her report: "I was patrolling the street when I decided to stop a car and carry out a breath test on the driver. I went to the drivers-side window and asked the occupant to blow into the bag. The driver said he wasn't the driver but his friend sitting in the passenger seat was. I said words to the effect that they should not mess with officers of the law but they both protested and pointed out that the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car. Damn them, they must have moved the steering wheel while I was busy getting out the breath-test kit. I'll get the conniving Yankee bastards next time . . ."