Appalling behaviour that puts the lives of the individuals concerned and those of innocent people at risk is how the Waikato’s most senior Police officer describes the apprehension of drivers on their second excess breath alcohol offences in two hours.
District Commander, Superintendent Bruce Bird, said the latest incident came to the Police’s attention thanks to the courage of members of the public in Morrinsville.
“At about 8.30am today members of the public contacted Police in relation to the behaviour of a 37-year-old male driver. This man was stopped in his utility on Studholme St and breathalysed by our staff, returning a breath test result of 1020mgs, the legal limit for an adult driver is 250mgs.
“As is to be expected the man was processed for excess breath alcohol and had his keys taken off him as he was now subject to a 28 day driving suspension so image my staffs’ surprise when they encountered him behind the wheel of the same vehicle on Morrice Ave about an hour and a half later.”
Breath tested a second time Mr Bird said the driver returned a result of 939mgs.
“In this situation it’s difficult to judge what the most appalling aspect of what has occurred is. The man’s absolute disregard for the law and the safety of other motorists, or the fact that this is the second incident of this nature to occur in the Waikato in recent weeks.
“At the start of the month we ran Operation Stock-take in Hamilton focusing on preventing alcohol harm by targeting drunk drivers entering or leaving the CBD. On the night of 05/6 December another man returned near identical results from two breath tests in the space of two hours.”
Mr Bird said he had a simple message to the public and an even simpler one for recidivist drunk drivers.
“The pleasing thing here is the public are telling us enough is enough and we’re listening. I thank those people for their courage and interventions. Over the past few days we’ve had a number of incidents where drivers have alerted us to concerning behaviour on our roads, your actions in these circumstances do save lives.
“To the recidivist drunk drivers my message is; grow up. Thinks about your actions, think about the consequences and think about how you can make a difference. Already this year alcohol and/or drugs have been contributing factors in 15 fatal crashes in the Waikato, your decisions can kill.”
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