15 February 2017

Drunk father crashes car during school pickup

| Emily Morris
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A drunk driver will be summonsed to face the ACT Magistrates Court after a collision at around 3.15pm on Tuesday outside Garran Primary School on Gilmore Crescent.

The male driver had been attempting a three-point turn outside the Primary School when he collided with a parked vehicle. Two children and an adult were inside the parked vehicle at the time, however no one was injured.

After stopping and providing his details to the occupant of the parked car the 55-year-old man then picked up his two children from the school and drove a short distance home.

Police located the driver a short time later and conducted a breath test. As a result, the man was taken to Woden Police Station for further breath analysis which returned a reading of 0.159, more than three times the legal limit of 0.05.

He was issued with an immediate 90 day driving suspension notice. He will be summonsed to face the ACT Magistrates Court at a later date.

Woden Station Officer in Charge Sergeant Harry Hains said the driver was lucky no one was hurt.

“It’s never OK to get behind the wheel drunk – you risk your life and you risk the lives of everyone on the road around you. It’s appalling that someone would drive drunk with two children in the car and with children all around in a school zone.”

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Blen_Carmichael10:26 pm 16 Feb 17

gooterz said :

As lovely as it sounds, it’s not likely admissable in court. Given he could say he drank as soon as he got home.

And you don’t think police might have eliminated that possibility in questioning him?

wildturkeycanoe9:47 pm 16 Feb 17

“and drove a short distance home”
This says it all. The guy could have walked to school, collected the kids and avoided the repercussions of his actions. Now he will find himself doing a whole lot more walking as a result. If I’ve even had just one afternoon drink before pickup time, I’ll walk before ever risking it. Not due to the possibility of going over the limit, but the possibility of killing somebody due to sluggish reaction time or other impairment. Life is too precious.

As lovely as it sounds, it’s not likely admissable in court. Given he could say he drank as soon as he got home.

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