Four-year-old left home alone

File photo / NZ Herald

A manager in his 40s who left his 4-year-old child home alone then tried to evade a police checkpoint is one of 17 people facing drink-driving charges after a Bay of Plenty police crackdown.

The man, who returned a breath-alcohol reading of more than 900mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, was not the only one to take extreme measures to avoid breath-testing checkpoints during Labour Weekend.

A 21-year-old man was arrested after doing a u-turn on Turret Rd and driving against the flow of traffic on the wrong side of the road to avoid a police checkpoint on Saturday night.

The man narrowly avoided crashing and then abandoned the car on Haukore St before running away from the police. He was caught and is facing dangerous driving charges.

Police said alcohol was believed to be a factor.

A man in his 30s also lied about his identity in an attempt to fool police having blown more than 600mcg. The legal breath alcohol limit for adults is 400mcg.

His real identity was uncovered and he was found to be a disqualified driver.

He now faces multiple charges and could go to jail.

Western Bay of Plenty Traffic Alcohol Group acting Sergeant Lee Stringer said those caught showed there was a misconception about who was committing the offences.

People needed to take a long hard look at themselves and their work colleagues.

Mr Stringer said the charges were the result of the first weekend of Operation Profile.

During the weekend, more than 3400 drivers were stopped and tested for alcohol by the Traffic Alcohol Group alone.

Fifteen now faced various drink-driving charges and one third of the drivers processed had previous convictions for drink-driving.

Police also impounded nine vehicles and suspended eight driver licences for 28 days due to the driver's alcohol level exceeding 650mcg. Five people wanted on court warrants were also arrested.

Mr Stringer said the operation was aimed at increasing awareness of drink-driving. The ultimate goal was to deter people influenced by alcohol from getting behind the

Mr Stringer said it was important for parents to know what their children were up to.

"Please, please, please know where your children are going and staying this summer, don't be afraid to check up on them. I don't want to have to knock on your door to tell you they are not coming home."