For some Territorians, the message is not sinking in and drink driving continues to be evident.
Police across the NT last night detected drink drivers in Katherine, Parap, Palmerston, and Alice Springs returning readings of .108, .146, .175 and .208 respectively.
In Parap, police were in the right place at the right time when they observed the male driver who blew .146 driving on the wrong side of Goyder Road. Checks revealed his vehicle was unregistered and uninsured.
Separate to these offences, another driver was charged in Alice Springs for failing to provide a sufficient sample for a breath analysis after police observed him swerving around the road at about 40km/h. He was charged with failing to provide a sufficient sample as well as driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
Eighty kilometres north of Tennant Creek yesterday afternoon, police patrolling the Stuart Highway observed a road train with three trailers driving in a questionable manner, swerving onto the dirt verge and across the centre line several times for no apparent reason. Stopping the 30-year-old male driver for a breath test and drug test, a result indicated the use of methamphetamine. Drug implements were also located inside the vehicle and seized by police.
The driver was issued a Notice to Appear in court, charged with driving under the influence of a prohibited drug, driving with a prohibited drug in the body and possessing drug implements. His licence was also immediately suspended for 24 hours.
These incidents coincided with a major crash involving a single vehicle around 11pm on the Plenty Highway, 45 kilometres from the Stuart Highway.
Members from Harts Range and Southern Traffic Operations attended the crash, finding the Toyota Hilux that had been travelling east and carrying four males who had not been wearing seatbelts and were subsequently thrown from the vehicle when it crashed.
They were lucky to sustain non-life threatening injuries and were conveyed to hospital in Alice Springs.
It is believed the 22-year-old driver, with an expired learner’s licence, and three passengers were all affected by alcohol.
Sergeant Conan Robertson of the Southern Traffic Operations Unit said police are continuing to concentrate on regional roads.
“This is where we are losing the most Territory lives,” he said.
“We are breath and drug testing drivers at random operating cars, motorcycles, trucks and road trains throughout the Northern Territory, including people who think they are safely in the middle of nowhere.
“Anyone can see that a driver under the influence in a 50-plus-metre truck pulling three trailers is a catastrophic crash waiting to happen.
“Imagine being on the road and finding yourself in the path of this disaster.
“As a community we should not accept drink or drug driving; it has already cost us too much.”
