10 April 2012

53yr old L-plater blows 0.227!

| johnboy
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The road toll for the ACT remains at zero after the Easter long weekend with 18 people apprehended for drink driving as part of Operation Crossroads.

Officer-in-Charge of Traffic Operations, Sergeant Rod Anderson, said that while the ACT remained fatality free, police issued 119 Traffic Infringement Notices (TINs) for a number of offences including speeding and dangerous driving.

About 12.15am on Friday April 6, a 48-year-old Gordon woman was stopped by police on Sidney Nolan St, Conder, after leaving the Lanyon Vikings Club. She told police that she had driven to the club to pick up two friends who were too intoxicated to drive home.

The woman returned a positive roadside screening test and was taken to the Tuggeranong Police Station where she recorded a reading of 0.246. She will be summonsed to the ACT Magistrates Court at a later date.

About 10.45 pm on Friday April 6, police were conducting mobile patrols in Gungahlin when they stopped a red Holden Jackaroo on Gribble Street. As police approached the car a woman was seen to leave the front passenger door and swap places with the driver.

The driver, a 53-year-old man from Waterloo in NSW, returned an alcohol content (AC) of 0.227 at Gungahlin Police Station. The man holds a NSW Learners licence, making the woman, a full licence holder, his driver trainer. Both will be summonsed to court for separate offences.

The highest speed recorded was on William Hovell Drive where a motorist was caught travelling 137km/h in a 90km/h zone.

“We worked closely with NSW Police as part of Operation Crossroads to target dangerous driving on our collective roads and we are generally pleased with how motorists behaved over the holiday weekend,” Sergeant Anderson said.

“However, of concern was the number of ACT drivers caught by NSW Police for dangerous driving behaviours and speeding along the roads leading out of the ACT, such as the Kings and Hume Highways and Barton Highway towards Yass.”

Operation Crossroads ran from Thursday, April 5 to Monday, April 9. Police conducted 2849 breath tests during this time with 18 people returning positive results.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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Not to say this happened in this case, but I doubt I would ask a 53 year old if they are still on their “L”s. (I’ll be honest, even on a younger persons cars unless I saw “L” plates I’d assume they actually had a full license) What would happen if the person in the front passanger seat had no knowledge of the drivers learner status, and was simply under the impression the driver was being a mate and picking them up from the pub because they where too drunk to drive themselves?

OP: “However, of concern was the number of ACT drivers caught by NSW Police for dangerous driving behaviours and speeding along the roads leading out of the ACT, such as the Kings and Hume Highways and Barton Highway towards Yass.”

I drove the Kings Hwy over Easter, and while I do agree entirely with the comments about ‘dangerous driving behaviours and speeding’, I find it hard to trust the ‘caught’ bit. I saw 2 police bikes on the drive down (setup on opposite sides of the road in the town of Bungendore) and one police car on the return drive home today. While this is an increase from the 0 I normally see, we are all lead to believe the police will be out in force.

One thing I did appreciate though, was the blanket RBT setup on the Princes Highway over the weekend, they certainly appear to be getting the message across not to drink drive or drive dangerously around populated areas.

goggles13 said :

liability said :

It is quite entertaining to hear all the excuses they have.

do share some!

…….About 12.15am on Friday April 6, a 48-year-old Gordon woman was stopped by police on Sidney Nolan St, Conder, after leaving the Lanyon Vikings Club. She told police that she had driven to the club to pick up two friends who were too intoxicated to drive home………..

liability said :

It is quite entertaining to hear all the excuses they have.

do share some!

If you are off on a Monday morning it is usually quite amusing to attend the ACT Magistrates Court to see all the drink drivers appear for their first mention at Court, which is usually 3 weeks or so after they were caught.

The Registrar has a callover list at 9am to see if they want to plead guilty and be dealt with that day, the Magistrate normally taking over at 9.45am to sentence those that want to be dealt with that day.

It is quite entertaining to hear all the excuses they have.

There’s no fool like an old fool.

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