An incident which saw a woman blow nearly twice the legal alcohol limit early yesterday morning serves as a timely reminder why the public should contact police if they become concerned about a driver's behaviour according to Hamilton Police.
Sergeant Phil Ruddell of the Hamilton's Strategic Traffic Unit said police were alerted to the problem after a 35-year-old woman tried to pay for purchases from a fast food restaurant with a supermarket loyalty card about 6.30am.
"She had appeared to the caller as having been drinking and he was worried she would go on and collide with someone.
"Responding patrol cars spotted the car at a Hamilton East service station and the woman tried drive off but officers stopped her immediately. Despite woofing down her takeaways and a bottle of energy drink she returned a breath/ alcohol reading of 725mgs, that's at 6.30am!"
Mr Ruddell said officers at the scene reflected that had the member of the public not made the call this driver could have caused a crash that would have ruined someone else's Christmas- or worse.
"Yesterday's incident was a clear cut example of why, if you're debating whether to make a call about a driver's bad behaviour or not, you should make the call. You could save someone's life.
"We made contact with the concerned member of the public to thank him for making the effort and he was relieved the matter was resolved without anyone being hurt."
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