Judge: Drunk drivers causing mayhem

High numbers of drunk drivers are causing "mayhem" on South Otago roads, a judge says.

In Balclutha District Court yesterday, Judge Paul Kellar convicted 10 people on drink-driving charges and expressed his concern at the number of cases and the high alcohol levels of drivers, the Otago Daily Times reported.

Drunk drivers were "disproportionately responsible for the mayhem that occurs on our roads", he said.

One driver, Queenstown man Lincoln Scott Gardner, 40, received his fourth drink-driving conviction in a decade yesterday.

He was jailed for four months and disqualified from driving for six months after being found with more than double the legal limit of alcohol in his system..

Among the others dealt with were 73-year-old man convicted of his third drink-driving offence. He was sentenced to community detention and disqualified from driving for 15 months.

A 20-year-old student, found to be nearly five times the youth limit, was fined and disqualified for six months.

- NZPA