KEY POINTS:
A breastfeeding mum and an under-age teen given alcohol by her parents were among the drivers pulled off Western Bay roads for drink driving at the weekend.
More than 20 drivers face charges after the sting, which also resulted in four cars being impounded and seven drivers automatically
losing their licence.
Western Bay of Plenty Traffic Alcohol Group set up checkpoints in suburban areas from Papamoa, Mount Maunganui and Tauranga between Wednesday and Saturday and breath-tested more than 2000 drivers.
A 37-year-old woman nearly crashed into a checkpoint before returning a breath alcohol result of nearly 800mg, twice the legal adult limit to drive.
Police said during processing she said she had to get home soon as she had left her baby at home for 90 minutes already and he was due to be breast-fed. Police staff notified CYFs.
The woman is due to appear in Tauranga District Court on October 16.
Sergeant Dan Roser said drink driving was not confined to the city centre but was just as prevalent in rural and urban areas.
"Our ultimate goal is to deter people who are influenced by alcohol from getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and putting themselves, their friends, families and the community as a whole at risk," he said.
A 16-year-old Mount Maunganui girl returned a result nearly 4 1/2 times the youth level. Mr Roser said her parents had supplied her with the alcohol and were called to pick her up.
He was dismayed that parents could so easily provide their children with alcohol and then expect them to make safe and rational decisions. "Alcohol, driving inexperience and youth are a potentially lethal mix."
A young male driver will appear in Tauranga District Court after he was apprehended in the central city as he waited for an associate who had gone ahead to see if the police checkpoint was still operating.
Of the drivers processed, 29 per cent had previous convictions for drink driving. Several had multiple convictions. Of those facing drink driving charges, 67 per cent either did not hold a driver licence, were forbidden from driving or were driving on a graduated licence.
"All of these drivers are inexperienced and have limited driving skills. When combined with alcohol, (they) are just fatal or serious injury crashes in the making," Mr Roser said.
The highest reading was 821mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, one of nine readings exceeding 600mcg.
- BOP TIMES
