Courageous pair praised for stopping drunk driver

Tania Tito-Edge, left and friend Nicole Coupe got an award for stopping a drink driver. Photo / John Stone

Two women who risked their lives to stop a drunk Northland driver have been recognised with bravery awards.

When Whangarei nurse Tania Tito-Edge and friend Nicole Coupe saw a badly drunk driver trying to get back on to the road after crashing they acted in a bid to stop him "killing innocent people".

The man was four times over the legal alcohol limit. The incident happened on State Highway 1 during the afternoon of April 17.

Ms Coupe used Ms Tito Edge's car to stop the man from driving away, while Tania put herself in front of his vehicle and used "distraction therapy" to remove his keys from the ignition.

The pair have been recognised for their bravery with a Northland police district commander's commendation award.

They had been driving back from Auckland. "Nicole saw in the rear view mirror this guy weaving over the road and crossing the centre line and cars having to swerve to avoid it," Ms Tito-Edge said.

She looked behind and called *555 on her cellphone to alert police who said to let the car pass, but to follow and keep them informed as to its movements.

Just before Kaiwaka the car swerved into a pull-in area and hit a bank at speed. The women pulled in beside and Ms Tito-Edge got out. As a nurse she wanted to make sure the driver was alright, but when she got to him she could smell alcohol.

"Nicole placed the car in front to stop him getting away. I asked him how he was and he said fine, but wouldn't get out of the car or turn it off and tried to drive off," Ms Tito-Edge said.

"I said 'what's that on your seat' then when he turned to have a look on the passenger seat I reached in, turned the car off and pulled the keys out."

In hindsight the situation could have turned nasty quickly, but at the time they just wanted to stop him.

While the two women didn't expect any recognition for their bravery, they said it was nice for the police to give them the commendation.

Northland police district commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou praised the pair's actions in presenting them with the commendation.