KEY POINTS:
A drunk and unlicensed 16-year-old girl who was caught driving six times over the legal limit is one of the growing number of teens police have pulled over since the drinking age was reduced.
The heavily intoxicated girl was one of 26 drunk teenagers police caught during a drink-driving bust in Auckland at the weekend.
Police say the girl had been drinking at her grandmother's place before taking her grandmother's car without permission and going for a drive with two friends, aged 14 and 15. The girl did not have a licence and was swerving all over the road as she approached a breath-testing checkpoint on Tamaki Drive in the early hours of Sunday.
When stopped she blew 900 - six times the limit for a person under 20.
Auckland road policing manager Inspector Heather Wells said officers tried to take the girl home but she didn't live at the address she gave them.
They brought her back to the checkpoint, where she decided to try to outrun them. "She tried to take off. She ran down the road so a couple of cops ran and got her and brought her back."
Ms Wells said the girl couldn't answer any of the questions police put to her - such as where she really lived - so they were forced to take her to the station. She was left in the cells to sober up for the night.
She is due to appear in court next week on drink-driving charges.
Ms Wells said the girl's reading was a concern, especially given she didn't have a licence and had taken her grandmother's car without permission.
"For a 16-year-old, she was bad. Blowing 900 even as an adult, you'd be pretty full. I think with the dropping of the drinking age it has encouraged more youths to drink and drive and it's certainly showing up in our stats."
Police stopped nearly 8000 cars during the weekend drink-driving operation. Ninety-one motorists, including 26 aged under 20, were found to have excess breath alcohol. A further 31 have chosen to have blood tests to determine if they too were over the limit.
Ms Wells said one man driving a Mercedes, who also blew around 900, nearly struck two constables as he approaching the checkpoint.
Another had his car impounded after blowing "well over the limit". Ms Wells said the man was so angry he started throwing chairs around before storming off down the road.
