Australian mum explains the morning police found her passed out

Susan Lung tells of the day she was caught by police passed out in her parked car. Photo / 60 Minutes

She was found by police passed out in her car, nine times over the legal blood alcohol limit.

But a Sydney mum-of-two insists she's not an alcoholic, and she didn't break the law despite recording one of the highest blood alcohol readings in NSW history.

Susan Lung, 42, was arrested for drink driving after she was found in her car parked in a bus zone in Sydney's north shore in November last year.

She recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.445 — nine times over the legal limit.

But in a controversial twist, she didn't lose her licence, thanks to a little-known detail in the law.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Ms Lung recalled the fateful day she drank in her car and was arrested.

She said she was devastated that morning after her husband of 24 years announced he was leaving her.

After she dropped her off children at school, she pulled over in a spot she didn't realise was a bus zone.

"(I was) just sitting there thinking, 'What's happened to my life? Where did it go wrong?'" she told 60 Minutes.

"And then I remembered that I had wine in the back, so I just pulled it into the front and just took the first sip, and then from there I think it just went downhill."

The day after her arrest, Susan Lung – still intoxicated – responded publicly. Susan wasn’t convicted of drink-driving because the policeman who took her blood alcohol reading didn’t follow protocol so the breath test was inadmissible. #60Mins pic.twitter.com/JNqGZCYpin

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) May 6, 2018

Ms Lung said she sat and drank almost two casks of wine from 10am until 12.30pm, when police found her.

She faced court in April but sensationally escaped conviction, thanks to a section of the law that says a police officer can only take a breath test if they have a reasonable belief the person had driven in the previous two hours.

That loophole meant the charge had to be withdrawn in court, as police could not prove Ms Lung had driven in the previous two hours, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Ms Lung said she parked the car sober and then got drunk while it was parked, and police couldn't prove otherwise.

"It's not illegal to sit in your car and drink," Ms Lung said in the 60 Minutes program that airs tonight.