A 33-year-old Belconnen man driving with his five-year-old son in the back seat has been caught drink driving after colliding with a police vehicle on the weekend.
Around midnight on Saturday night, police were conducting a routine patrol along Kingsford Smith Drive in Melba when they saw a vehicle travelling towards them on the wrong side of the road. Police activated their emergency lights however the vehicle continued to drive towards them. When it was apparent that the driver of the other vehicle was not going to stop, police took evasive action to avoid a head-on collision.
Both vehicles were travelling around 20km/h when they grazed each other’s front quarter panels. After the collision police located the driver’s five-year-old son on the back seat. Nobody was injured as a result of the collision.
The driver underwent a roadside screening test which returned a positive result. He was taken to the Belconnen Police Station for a breath analysis. The driver was found to have an Alcohol Content (AC) of 0.220, which is more than four times the 0.05 limit for a full licence holder.
In another drink-drive related incident, police were called to a single vehicle collision near the Palmerston shops on Sunday afternoon (December 18). The driver of the vehicle involved in the collision had left the scene however, with the assistance of members of the public, he was identified to police.
The driver underwent a roadside screening test which returned a positive result. He was taken to the Gungahlin Police Station for a breath analysis. He was found to have an Alcohol Content (AC) of 0.290 which is more than five times the 0.05 limit.
Superintendent Kylie Flower said police were appalled at these recent results which could have resulted in a more serious outcome.
“We do not want this holiday period marred by a road fatality and these recent results could have easily ended that way. What is extremely disturbing is that one of the drivers made a choice to drink and drive with his five-year-old son in the vehicle,” she said.
[Courtesy ACT Policing]