Editorial: Drive when drunk and you risk all

I got breath-tested the other day.

It was at about 10pm last Thursday when I was driving home along Havelock Rd. I had been working late and just before I left for home, I had one beer with colleagues (and yes it was really only one beer) in the office.

When I first saw the blue flashing lights I thought there must have been an accident near where they are building the new cycleway. As I got closer, it became clear it was a roadblock. For some reason I became extremely nervous. It was completely irrational because there was no way I was over the limit after just one beer. Also, I was fully in control of the vehicle and my senses were not in the slightest impaired. If I had felt I was not able to drive, I wouldn't have. But for some reason or another I still felt anxious.

I needn't have worried at all. The very polite police officer - who must have been cold in the 2C night - greeted me and asked me to count to five while breathing into a handheld device. I did so and he said thank you and told me I could go. Simple as that.

I drove off feeling very relieved, but also, in a weird way, glad I had been stopped. I would rather go through a moment of irrational angst than not have the police out there catching the people who drive while drunk.

It always amazes me how many people do drive while over the legal limit. Every month Hawke's Bay Today runs what we call the "list of shame" - it is a list of people from this region or passing through this region who have been caught driving while over the legal breath or blood-alcohol limit. Often that list can be quite extensive.

This paper has in the past taken quite a tough stance against drink-driving and since I have been here we have published a few stories about high-profile members of our community who have been caught over the legal limit. We have done this because we believe it is important to get the message across - don't drink excessively and drive.

I don't drink much these days, but if I do plan to have more than a couple of beers over an extended period, I simply don't drive.

This weekend - Queen's Birthday Weekend - we had four men who were killed in a single-vehicle accident, in which police say alcohol played a part. While police are still investigating, it is clear this is a tragedy that could easily have been avoided.

It is astounding that, despite all the warnings, people still go out there and put their lives and the lives of innocent people at risk simply because they drive when they have had too much to drink.

It is simply not worth it. Even if you do manage to avoid killing yourself, or even worse, killing someone else, being caught over the limit could literally ruin your life. In some cases your job could be at stake, some marriages break up over things like this and, at the very least, there is the inconvenience of not being able to drive for six months or longer.

Next time you think you should be fine driving back home from the pub after "a few quiet ones", don't.

The consequences are simply too great.