‘Grow up and think of the risks'. This is the message from police after a drunk driver was caught behind the wheel twice in the space of just two hours.
Members of the public called police about 8.30am yesterday in relation to the driving behaviour of a man in Morrinsville.
A driver blew 1020 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The adult limit is now 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. File photo.
Superintendent Bruce Bird says the man stopped in his ute on Studholme Street and was breathalysed by police.
The 37-year-old returned a reading of 1020 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The adult limit is now 250.
'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, Bruce says 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, police ran Operation Stock-take in Hamilton focusing on preventing alcohol harm by targeting drunk drivers entering or leaving the CBD.
On the night of December 5 another man returned near identical results from two breath tests in the space of two hours.
Bruce has 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.”
12 comments
wake up
Posted on 24-12-2015 07:03 | By Kathryn
Is there a message to police here? If the driver had any concern he wouldn't be driving in the first place !
Superinrendent Bruce..
Posted on 24-12-2015 07:25 | By maildrop
Asks us what the most appalling aspect is...err, I would say the fact you gave him his keys back after he blew over 1000! Do you really expect someone who drives so drunk to either, "grow up", suddenly become law abiding, or have the brains to think of the risks?! It amazes me that you seem to think such people can be entrusted or are capable of thought just because you had a stern word with them.
crush it
Posted on 24-12-2015 08:16 | By hapukafin
Where is the car crusher these days.Stop him before he kills someone
Stupid
Posted on 24-12-2015 10:59 | By mickey mouse
Well....name the idiot?
@maildrop
Posted on 24-12-2015 11:15 | By Politically Incorrect
He had his keys taken off him, he's obviously got a spare key and gone back for his ute. The Police aren't that stupid. People with such little regard for what they do don't deserve licenses at all. There needs to be a lifetime ban put in place, and cars sold off with funds going towards supporting victims of drunk drivers.
Why not arrested and locked up?
Posted on 24-12-2015 11:20 | By Annalist
The public have told the police a number of things. Firstly, properly enforce the old drink driving limit, not the silly new one. Secondly lock up repeat offenders. But that doesn't seem to happen. That's why we read about repeat repeat and repeat again offenders and the penalty seems to be fines which then can be written off when they accumulate because the offender"has no chance of paying them."
trev
Posted on 24-12-2015 13:18 | By Pete KELLY
The Police are pushing s..t uphill with a hot needle when it comes to clowns like him.We read about these cases all the time. Our Motoring Offence Laws are totally inadequate. He'll no doubt be behind the wheel in a few mths or so.
maildrop
Posted on 24-12-2015 15:02 | By usandthem
You just proved that a person doesn't have to be drunk to be stupid.Hope you read Politically Incorrect's comment.
Three strikes
Posted on 24-12-2015 15:09 | By Captain Sensible
John Key & co got into power promising "three strikes and you're out". It would be interesting to know why,in all that time, nobody is "out" yet.
Hmmmm
Posted on 24-12-2015 18:14 | By How about this view!
The police are in a no-win situation here. I wonder how many staff they have in Morrinsville? Do they have any facilities to lock a drunk up? Or, would they need to take two staff off the road to transport this loser, over 20 - 30 minutes up the road to Hamilton and have them stand around whilst he's processed? Not enough police staff, But, plenty of beneficiaries! Where and when did our priorities go so badly wrong?
How about this view
Posted on 25-12-2015 06:30 | By Lysdexia
Never will you eradicate drink drivers. Don't poke beneficiaries thank you. This person was so intoxicated judging by breath readings, how could they even walk let alone drive and "have for the law". I don't like your view
@usandthem
Posted on 25-12-2015 08:17 | By maildrop
Politically incorrect was indeed incorrect. Are you two suggesting that the man was released from custody, which he obviously was because he went back to his car, yet the cops detained his keys! Maybe the policy now is to lock up the keys are release the criminal! No, he was OBVIOUSLY released, along with his keys (because they have no right to withhold), and returned to his car. No spare keys were mentioned, because they weren't required. Who's stupid?
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to make a comment.