Eleven drink-drivers, including two allegedly so drunk they could not complete a breath test, have been nabbed in just one week in the Bay of Islands.
A police spokesman said he was shocked by the number caught and, in some cases, the level of intoxication. "Eleven drink-drivers could well be 11 fatal crashes, if not serious injury to themselves or others."
On Friday, a 53-year-old Russell woman stopped by police was unable to complete an evidential breath test because she was too intoxicated to blow into the machine. The same woman had been involved in a driving incident at Matauwhi Bay a week earlier.
The following day, a 71-year-old man stopped on the Russell-Whakapara road was also unable to complete the test.
In both cases a blood sample was taken instead. Police are awaiting the lab test results.