'Drink driver' sped through crash site

Photo / File / Glenn Taylor

An alleged driver driver caused emergency workers to leap for safety as she sped through a rural crash scene in Waikato.

Sergeant Neil Mansill of the Huntly Road Safety Team said he struggled to comprehend how any road user could fail to see they were approaching a crash site with the way scene was set up.

"Emergency services had been called to the crash on Tahuna Rd near Ohinewai about 4.15pm on Monday.

"There was two police cars at either end of the scene with flashing red and blue lights, a member of the public's car on the side of the road with flashing hazard lights and a tow-truck with flashing orange lights all attending a two car collision."

The driver of one of the cars had just been taken to hospital by ambulance when a car came speeding through the crash scene sending everyone leaping for safety, Mr Mansill said.

"One of our patrol cars headed off to stop the vehicle and recorded it travelling at 113km/h.

"Never mind that the legal speed limit for driving through a crash scene is 20km/h, the speed the driver was doing on the open road was too high," he said.

When stopped 4km down the road, the 51-year-old female driver returned a breath alcohol limit of 1131mcg, he said.

The legal limit for a fully licensed driver is 400mcg.

The woman was processed for third or subsequent excess breath alcohol, driving with an expired licence and speeding.

Her car was also impounded for 28 days.

The driver would appear in the Huntly District Court on December 2 but in the interim police wanted people to think about the risks on our roads, Mr Mansill said.

"Monday's incident highlights the risks posed to those first responders putting their lives on the line trying to save others.

"It is not acceptable in this age of such public awareness that people speed, regardless of the situation a speed limit is just that, a limit not a target and people caught infringing either by speeding or drink driving can expect to be held to account for their behaviour."