Drunk driver alleged to be near breath-alcohol record

A woman teacher may be close to setting a record for blowing the bag as the one of the drunkest drivers behind the wheel.

The 47-year woman initially failed to stop for a police patrol in Auckland last month but when she was finally persuaded to pull over, the level she blew in a breath-alcohol test astounded police.

The woman was charged with driving with 1583 micrograms of alcohol per 100 litres of breath. That is almost four times the legal limit of 400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath. The woman is thought to have had at least two other similar convictions.

The result astounded veteran policeman, Sergeant Mike Neary, who said after more than 30 years in the police, he had never heard of a higher level of alcohol in a breath test.

Other long-serving police officers said they had heard of levels of 1100mcg and 1200mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, but not 1500.

Alcohol Healthwatch spokeswoman Christine Rogan said the woman could have been near death or serious illness as the alcohol as a depressant, caused her central nervous system to begin shutting down.

That could also depend on many factors which included individual tolerance, how well her liver processed the alcohol and how quickly it was drunk, she said.

"It is certainly up to the very dangerous levels."

Ms Rogan said even at the 400mcg limit, driving was impaired.

She said that level of alcohol was worse for a woman than a man.

"Our ability to process alcohol is quite different to a male. We don't have the same special enzymes that break alcohol down. Alcohol will rise in a woman's blood system much more rapidly than in a male.

"It is very extreme but it is indicative of the culture of drinking we have where there is not a lot of thought going into our drinking right now."

She said on an empty stomach it was easier to get to higher levels of intoxication than women realised.

Some of that could be blamed on flavoured alcohol beverages, known as alcopops, which could be up to 12 per cent in alcohol content.

"They slide down," Ms Rogan said.

The Ministry of Transport said alcohol-related crashes cost close to $900 million a year and 85 per cent of drunken drivers involved in fatal crashes were male.

The woman entered no plea and was due to appear in Auckland District Court next month.

- NZPA