Woman found driving on wrong side of hamilton road blows over twice the legal limit

Waikato Police are horrified a woman driving on the wrong side of the road on a busy Hamilton street was found to be behind the wheel while over twice the legal alcohol limit yesterday.

District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said the 48-year-old Hamilton woman was spotted driving on the wrong side of the road by a patrolling member of the Traffic Alcohol Group in the suburb of Enderley.

"Sensing something was amiss the officer has pulled her over and carried out a routine breath test, the result of which came as quite a shock.

"The woman returned a reading of 1000mgms of alcohol per litre of breath, the legal limit for a fully licensed driver is 400mgms so she was well over twice the legal limit," said Mr Tooman.

One of the more concerning aspects of the woman's willingness to place not only her life at risk but that of other road users was the time of day she was found intoxicated.

"It was at 3.02pm, right when school children are rushing out the gates heading home, given the high alcohol reading we're very, very fortunate she was stopped when she was."

Mr Tooman said drivers needed to be aware that 'any where, any time wasn't just a slogan in terms of road safety, it was a reality and alcohol impaired drivers run the risk of being breathalysed 24/7.

'It's just not worth the risk,' he said.