To be attributed to Sergeant Steven Murray of the Traffic Alcohol Group Eastern District
Eastern District Police would like to remind drivers not to drink and drive after the Eastern Police District Traffic Alcohol Group based in Hawke’s Bay recently encountered a high volume of drink drivers in the Gisborne area.
Twelve random breath-test checkpoints were conducted during last weekend’s operation over the evenings of 25-26 May.
Within nine hours, 18 drivers were found to be over the limit. Ten drivers will be appearing before the Gisborne District Court whilst the others received a fine of $200 as well as 50 demerit points.
Over the weekend multiple infringement notices were also issued for drivers licence breaches.
“This offending continues to be the focus of local police as inexperienced drivers have been shown to significantly contribute to road crashes,” Says Sergeant Steve Murray.
Three disqualified, or suspended, drivers were also dealt with during the operation and will be appearing before the court.
Sergeant Murray was disappointed with the number of drivers found to be driving under the influence, “The results were extremely disappointing both in terms of the total number of drink drivers apprehended and the high levels of intoxication exhibited by many of them”.
Local drivers have failed to heed the warnings and continue to drive under the influence. The team are deploying more than ever and we really want people to know this so that they can make better choices and plan how they get from point A to point B more safely.”
The chances of being caught are increasing and we just want drivers to stop making bad decisions about drink driving.”
These drivers pose a considerable risk to other road users. Local police are committed to reducing serious injury and death on our roads through prevention and education strategies, but we will continue to prosecute offending,” says Sergeant Murray.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre