Police patrolling on Tamaki Drive last night were stunned to discover an alleged intoxicated driver had three pre-school children in the vehicle - two of whom were unrestrained - along with two intoxicated adult passengers.
At about 10.20pm officers on motorcycles noticed a vehicle travelling east towards them cross the centre line near Mission Bay, so they followed and requested the vehicle to stop.
Auckland City Road Policing Manager, Inspector Andy King, said staff were shocked to discover the only people restrained were an 18 month-old and the female driver who blew 856mcg (micrograms) of alcohol per litre of breath.
"That result is well over treble the adult limit and, had our officers not intervened when they did, there's no telling how that journey might have ended for her, her passengers or others using the road.
"The other two children - aged three and four - were unrestrained in the centre of the back seat. Under law, every child under the age of seven is to be properly restrained in vehicles in order to prevent death or minimise harm in the event of a crash.
"It beggars belief that parents could choose to put such precious cargo as their own children in such vulnerable situations."
Mr King said Police spent considerable time organising appropriate transport for the children to be safely delivered to their respective homes last night and arrested one intoxicated passenger for obstruction during the process.
A referral regarding the children has been made to CYFS and the driver of the vehicle has been charged with Excess Breath Alcohol. It's possible further charges will be laid.
"But for the actions of Police, the families involved could have become further summer tragedies," Mr King said.
"Adults need to take responsibility for their decisions and ensure that they don't put children, who have no input into such decisions, unnecessarily in harm's way."
Note:
The alcohol limit for drivers aged 20 and over is 250 mcg of alcohol per litre of breath and blood alcohol limits are 50 milligrams/100 ml for adult drivers.
Drivers who commit an offence between 251-400mcg of breath or 50-80 milligrams/100 ml of blood face infringement penalties and receive 50 demerit points.
Drivers who accumulate 100 or more demerit points from driving offences within two years will receive a three month driver licence suspension.
For drivers under 20, the limit is zero.
ENDS
Issued by Noreen Hegarty/Auckland City Police communications manager