Northern Territory Police are continuing their efforts in preventing road trauma by targeting drink driving.
Between 3pm Friday 5 April and 6am Saturday 6 April across the Territory, 16 drink drivers had been caught behind the wheel.
Four drivers in Alice Springs, one in Jabiru and 11 in Darwin were detected driving under the influence, with the highest reading of 0.217 coming from a random breath testing station on the Arnhem Highway between 4pm and 6pm on Friday.
“Drink driving is always a stupid thing to do, but on a stretch of road that sees serious crashes and at a time when a lot of people and kids would’ve been in the area, this is just disgraceful,” Senior Sergeant and Officer in Charge of Traffic Operations Angela Stringer said.
“In the lead up to the Easter long weekend, all motorists can expect even more of a road policing presence on the roads to enhance road safety and work .
“We cannot achieve that without everyone playing their part.”
A combined operation by Northern Traffic Operations and General Duties officers in Katherine was conducted on the evening of Saturday, resulting in seven drivers being found to have been under the influence of alcohol.
Senior Sergeant Stringer said her team recognises that drink driving continues to contribute to serious crashes in the Northern Territory and they are attempting to influence driver behaviour through traffic law enforcement.
“A number of vehicles were stopped for the purpose of random breath testing and it was disappointing to see that seven drivers in Katherine have total disregard for the safety of themselves or others,” she said.
Two males aged 21 and 27 were issued traffic infringement notices for low range drink driving, with the 27-year-old also driving the wrong way on a one-way street. A 30-year-old female also returned a low range reading and was unlicensed. She was issued a Notice to Appear in court.
Two males aged 26 and 30 were arrested for high range drink driving, returning readings of 0.199 and 0.178 respectively. The 26-year-old was also driving while disqualified, while the 30-year-old was unlicensed. A 30-year-old female was also in the high range with a reading of 0.202. She was also arrested for the drink driving and for driving unlicensed.
The seventh driver, a 20-year-old female, was issued a Notice to Appear for returning a reading of 0.047 instead of the 0% alcohol reading she was obliged to stick to.
