Drunk Driver Stopped with Unrestrained Children in Car

A 23 year old woman repeat drink-drive offender will appear in the Hamilton District Court next Tuesday facing various driving-related charges, including dangerous driving, after she was stopped by police just after midday today for speeding.
The woman was stopped having been detected driving at 146kmp/h on SH1 at Karapiro as she overtook another vehicle on a corner. Three children aged three weeks, two, and twelve years were found unrestrained in the vehicle. The woman is the mother of two of the children and a care-giver for the third.
The woman failed a roadside breath screening test and subsequently returned a result of 684 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath - the legal limit is 400.
The woman's vehicle was impounded and her licence immediately suspended for 28 days. Child, Youth and Families (CYFS) were called and are making an assessment of the case.
This is the second incident in a week in the Waikato where an intoxicated driver has been found to have unrestrained children in the vehicle. The previous incident was in Huntly where a woman was detected travelling at 160kph and blew over 1100 micrograms.
Waikato Highway Patrol member Constable Gregg Flintoff says that the combination of drink driving, speed and unrestrained children is obviously a recipe for tragedy. 'Although most right-thinking people would not consider driving when drunk, there is obviously a hard core of repeat drink drivers who, without considering the consequences, are prepared to put the lives of others, even those vulnerable ones under their care, at risk,' the Constable said.