This week I want to highlight a serious issue that continues to affect our roads – driving with excess breath alcohol.
Police siren. Photo: Pexels.com
With the evenings getting lighter and the more social seasons approaching, it appears a reminder of this is required. Overnight last Friday, the Police Impairment Prevention Team (often previously referred to as “the booze bus”) were in town conducting alcohol checkpoints. On that one night seven people were caught driving in Cambridge while they had excess breath or blood alcohol in their system. If that number of people were caught, it is possible there were others driving under the influence on our roads who were not.
Deb Hann – Senior Constable
Alcohol affects your ability to make good decisions, slows your reaction time and interferes with coordination. You might feel fine, but the truth is alcohol clouds your judgment. Drivers under the influence often misjudge distances, fail to notice hazards, and react too slowly to avoid danger. That’s a recipe for disaster when you’re behind the wheel.
Police are the ones who attend the crashes where alcohol is a factor, and we see the heartbreak that follows. There are also serious legal consequences. If you’re caught driving over the legal breath alcohol limit, you will face charges in court, may lose your licence and be fined or be imprisoned. This can impact your job and ability to support your family.
Beyond the legal requirements however, it’s about doing the right thing. If you’ve been drinking, don’t drive. Plan ahead – use a sober driver, call a taxi, or stay where you are until you’re safe to drive. We all have a role to play in keeping our roads safe. If you see someone about to drive who’s clearly under the influence, speak up. If they drive off, call 111. You might just save a life.
Finally today, a reminder for when the lights and sirens of emergency response vehicles appears behind you. Too often when we are hurrying to an urgent job with lights flashing and sirens, we are delayed by drivers who fail to pull to the left and make way for us to pass. Last week in one such incident, a truck and trailer unit failed to give way for approximately 8km on Tirau road. When subsequently overtaken and stopped, the driver claimed that because of the insulation of his cab he hadn’t heard the sirens or airhorn of the police patrol car.
Any road user should be aware of their surroundings, checking regularly in their mirrors as well as being alert to sounds around them. The driver in this case was issued a fine for failing to make way for a siren and will no doubt be more attentive in future.
