A 60-year-old woman allegedly blew nearly five times the legal limit after driving into a crash cordon in Hamilton last night. Photo / File
A 60-year-old woman allegedly blew nearly five times the legal limit after driving into a crash cordon in Hamilton last night. Photo / File
A 60-year-old woman was allegedly so drunk she drove into a crash cordon and repeatedly attempted to drive through as baffled emergency service staff looked on.
Hamilton firefighters and police officers had cordoned off a section of road at the intersection of Morrinsville and Matangi Rds about 8.20pm yesterday aftera high speed, two-car crash when the woman drove up. She would later blow nearly five times the legal breath alcohol limit.
The impact of the earlier crash was so intense the car was shunted about 20m up the road and the woman's driver's door was left "crumpled and munted".
Hamilton senior station officer Steve McSweeney said a female occupant of one of the vehicles was severely trapped in her vehicle at the time and firefighters had a tricky job of getting her out.
As his crew freed the injured woman, McSweeney said he went and controlled the cordon when another woman drove up in a late model BMW along Morrinsville Rd.
The woman, who lived nearby, told him that she just wanted to go into town and seemed concerned about something.
He explained that she had to turn around and go the other way, but instead she walked back to her car and sat there. A policeman then tried explaining the situation and after a couple of failed attempts to move her vehicle, she was breath tested by police.
Waikato police Senior Sergeant Gil Meadows confirmed the woman failed the test and was taken back to Hamilton Central Police Station for processing, where she blew 1165mcg - nearly five times the legal limit of 250mcg. She is due to appear in court next month.
Meanwhile, the woman injured in the crash was taken to Waikato Hospital. McSweeney noted how calm she remained despite having just being involved in a high-speed crash.
"She was quiet but she was quite coherent. The door was pretty munted. It took longer than normal to cut her out."
