Intoxilyzer 5000 in need of maintenance. Second start. Instrument crashes again during start-up diagnostic RAM Check 2 error. Operator solves problem by tilting, shaking, banging, wiggling wires. Instrument resumes diagnostic and prints "Diagnostic OK". Instrument enters idle loop ready for breath test or other keyboard entry. Intoxilyzer® is a registered trademark of CMI, Inc. The Intoxilyzer® 5000C is an "approved instrument" in Canada.

This video shows that an unreliable approved instrument, in urgent need of maintenance, can pass Diagnostics checks. An approved instrument may display or print "Diagnostics OK" and yet be very unreliable. It seems that even though an instrument crashes during start-up, if you turn it off and on again, or do a warm reboot, you may be able to get it "working". It may still be unreliable as to ethyl alcohol quantitative analysis but it "works". There are serious problems with the idea that the function of an approved instrument is to "work" i.e. get from point A to point B. Crowns sometimes use the analogy of an automobile - it's not perfect but it gets from point A to point B. See for example section 320.34(3) of the Criminal Code of Canada:

"(3) The application shall be in writing and set out detailed particulars of the information that the accused seeks to have disclosed and the likely relevance of that information to determining whether the approved instrument was in proper working order. A copy of the application shall be given to the prosecutor at least 30 days before the day on which the application is to be heard."

If an instrument that cannot reliably quantitate ethyl alcohol passes its Diagnostics, is that proof that it "works" or is "working"? What does "proper working order" mean? Perhaps there is a prima facie appearance of "proper working order", after tilting, shaking, banging, and wiggling wires.

"Reliability" is a concept used in measurement science. It combines known accuracy, precision, and specificity, with no significant drift OVER TIME, together with known calibration, calibration intervals, qualification of operators, and following protocols set by the manufacturer and a program with supervision by a metrological authority.