Drunk mothers driving with children in the back were among a shocking number of motorists caught in a police blitz.
The three-night campaign netted 21 drink-drivers after a horrific week on Bay of Plenty roads in which nine people were killed.
Between last Thursday and Saturday nights, police
caught mothers with children, a repeat offender drinking beer in his car and a teenager cruising the streets looking for a bottle store.
The blitz came days after four people were killed near Okere Falls in a crash caused by a repeat drunk driver, travelling with three children in his car.
Over the three nights, the Rotorua- based Traffic Alcohol Group police also impounded five cars being driven by disqualified or unlicensed drivers.
Bay of Plenty road policing manager Ed Van Den Broek said that among the worst cases were two mothers who had young children with them in their cars. They blew more than 600 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The legal limit for someone aged 20 and over is 400mcg.
The women were stopped between 9pm and 10pm. One had two children aged 1 and 2 and the other had two children aged 2 and 4. All the children were correctly restrained.
A perfect example of an "idiot" who had failed to get the message was a 26-year-old who had just got his licence back and was driving with a bottle of beer in his hands when he was stopped.
The man, who said he had had 14 bottles of beer, blew 763mcg.
Another man, aged 18, was nearly six times over the legal limit of 150mcg for someone aged under 20, blowing 853mcg.
When asked where he was going, he replied he was going to the bottle store - at 2am.
- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)
