3 May 2012

And the drink drivers roll on

3 May 2012 | By johnboy

ACT Policing apprehended 58 drink-drivers over the past fortnight (16-29 April), with 30 of those drivers issued with Immediate Suspension Notices.

Of the 58 drivers apprehended, 22 were subject to special conditions which restricted them to an Alcohol Content (AC) of 0.00.

The highest reading of the fortnight was at 6.50pm on Sunday (April 29). Police responded to a report of a collision on Knox Street in Watson where a silver Subaru Liberty had collided with a roadside post and had become wedged and immobile. The driver, a 59-year-old Watson man, returned a positive roadside screening and was taken to City Police Station, where he returned an Alcohol Content (AC) reading of 0.234. He will be summonsed to face the ACT Magistrates Court next month, charged with drink-driving.

In a separate incident around 10pm on Anzac Day, a mobile patrol saw a silver Toyota Echo driving along Constitution Avenue in Reid without its headlights on. The driver, a 19-year-old woman from NSW, returned a positive roadside screening test. She was taken to City Police Station where she returned an Alcohol Content of 0.171. As a provisional licence holder, the woman was subject to a zero alcohol content limit. She was issued with an Immediate Suspension Notice, and will face the ACT Magistrates Court tomorrow (Thursday, May 3) charged with drink-driving.

Traffic Operations Superintendent Kylie Flower said it is alarming people continue to drink and drive, putting their lives and those of other road users at risk.

“This high-level drink-driver colliding with a roadside post demonstrates the impact alcohol has on one’s ability to drive responsibly and react to their surroundings, putting themselves and others at risk. Fortunately no-one was seriously injured in this collision, but if this had occurred at another time for example during school hours, there could have been a more fatal result,” Superintendent Flower said.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]