Probably one of the most stupid things you could with your life is consume loads of alcohol and then get behind the will and potentially kill someone on your way home. Drink Driving, or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is nowhere near as bad as it used to be compared to 30 or 40 years ago, but it still goes on, especially in off the beaten path places where the police are more laid back about having a few beers and hopping into the car.
Just on a side note, when I went to go for my Green Card at the United States Embassy in Sydney, I tried not to laugh when I listened to someone talk about some Driving Under the Influence charge they had racked up way back that was threatening their visa application. You really don’t want something like that on your record.
But that doesn’t stop some people! I received this image in an email ages ago which puts the biggest boozer and driver to shame! It’s in regards to a debaucherous road trip in north western Western Australia and it’s almost unbelievable. It’s a bit hard to read here, so I’ve typed the text below. It’s pretty old, but it’s still funny (and scary!).
Just to give you a bit of background, north west Australia is very isolate and there are very long distances between each small town. Public transport is pretty much non-existent due to the isolation, so the only way to get around is pretty much by car. Add to this that drinking and driving in some of these places is a massive social issue, so when you combine the two, sometimes it’s not worth driving around at all!
But if you’re having a big night on the booze, you really don’t want to be the designated driver when everyone else is getting drunk around you.
Which is why drunk drivers take their chances by drinking themselves silly and driving everyone home!
Anyway, this story originally appeared in the Kimberley Echo newspaper.
Also, for your reference – the blood alcohol limit (or blood alcohol concentration) in Australia is 0.05.
Driving Under the Influence – Drink Driving Record for sure!
The article in whole is shown below:
“There is little doubt that an Australian, if not world record has been set in Kununurra for drink driving offences in the same vehicle.
Between 9.20 pm on July 5 (a Monday) and 12.40 pm on July (last Thursday), a silver Mitsubishi Magna station wagon was stopped 12 times and on each occasion the driver was found to be drunk and then charged.
Not one driver – 10 different drivers, two of whom were caught twice.
The 51 hour saga began on July 5 in Erythrina Street when a 36 year old woman was pulled over at 9.20 pm and produced an alcohol reading of 0.151.
At 10.55 pm a 23 year old was pulled over in Speargrass Road and blew 0.205 – he also had no licence.
Police took the car back to the registered address.
Only minutes later, police stopped the vehicle on Weaber Plain Road.
It turned into a house in Barringtonia Street and a woman jumped out and ran.
Police caught her and she then refused a breath test, before running off again.
During the struggle to arrest her she bit a police officer on the thumb and was eventually subdued with the use of pepper spray.
A 26 year old woman was charged with refusing an alcohol test, driving without a licence, resisting arrest and assaulting a public officer.
She eventually below 0.150.
After that, the car had a fairly quiet day until 8.30 that night when it was pulled over and the 23 year old unlicenced driver from the night before blew 0.177.
Police had only just dropped the man off at the police station when they spotted the vehicle again, this time on Messmate Way with an unlicenced 25 year old man at the wheel. He blew 0.161.
By 10.30 pm, it was back to being pulled over in Barringtonia Street with an unlicenced 36 year old woman driving. She gave police a wrong name and blew 0.186.
By 12.50 am, it was back being pulled over in Barringtonia Street with an unlicenced 28 year old man at the wheel.
He had only been released from Broome Prison 17 hours earlier, but still managed to blow 0.180. Police put him back of the ‘paddy wagon’ (this is a police car with a lockable area at the back for rowdy arrested people!) and headed to a disturbance.
They settled that down, but before they could return to the station they had spotted the now familiar Magna on Konkerberry Drive.
They pulled it over in Ironwood Drive only to find the same unlicenced man, who had been caught earlier in the evening. He blew 0.189.
By 6.30 pm, the Magna was back in action on Casuarina Drive, with a 34 year old unlicenced woman at the wheel, getting ready to blow 0.173.
The car was ‘taken home’ again, but by 7.15 pm it was back on the Victoria Highway with an unlicenced 24 year old only ‘just’ in control with a blood alcohol of 0.221.
At 12.40 am last Thursday a 29 year old man became the last driver in the saga by blowing 0.110 when pulled over on Speargrass Road at the entrance of the Ranch Reserve.
Senior Constable Dean Snashall said the car was then seized and kept at the police station.
He said that on many of the occasions when the car was pulled over, there were children without seatbelts inside, not to mention the dangers to other passengers and other motorists and pedestrians.
“Registered owners have to be responsible for their vehicles or they will lose them” he said.
Out of the 16 drink driving offences in Kununurra last week, the Magna’s drivers account for 12 of them.”
Wow, that’s pretty impressive and scary at the same time!
It’s not the animals you have to look out for at night on the roads in outback and remote Australia! The humans can be a lot worse sometimes!
Seriously, it’s not worth driving around on small isolated roads at night. It’s not worth it because you never know what you might (almost) hit!