A TOP cop has slammed Territory drivers after a weekend blitz caught 36 drinking drivers.
Road Safety Superintendent Bob Rennie said the behaviour of drivers was "disgusting and selfish''.
Police stopped 760 vehicles across Darwin and Palmerston on Friday night.
Random breath testing stations were set up along major roads including Tiger Brennan Drive, the Stuart Highway and East Point Rd, and in the Howard River and Humpty Doo areas.
Among the key targets were drivers heading home following after-work drinks.
"We tested those drivers, drivers after a dinner out and those leaving night clubs and pubs,'' Supt Rennie said.
"Clearly, people simply aren't identifying a Sober Bob for the evening and jump in their cars while over the limit.
"Last night's results are, quite frankly, disgusting and selfish.''
Supt Rennie said the highest level recorded in the blitz was 0.202 per cent.
"One in every 21 cars on the road last night had a driver unfit to be behind the wheel of that car, placing everybody else in danger,'' he said.
"Every drink driver is a potential killer.
"Other states average around one drink-driver in every several hundred drivers checked, so this is just out of control.
"What will it take to get the message `Don't Drink and Drive' through to these drivers?
Supt Rennie said police would continue to target drivers until they learned.
"Police will continue to target drink drivers until the numbers reduce and the message gets through,'' he said.
"We need the assistance of the community to help us to detect these people and get them off the roads.''
Offences detected during the blitz included 36 drink-drivers with three arrests and 15 summonses for exceeding .08 and three for arrests for exceeding .15.
The highest reading was .202, the next .152. Police found 13 unregistered vehicles. |
