Ten drivers were pinged for drink driving in Beachlands last weekend, and police are concerned.
Counties Manukau Police ran a Road Policing Operation which targeted drink drivers and found nearly one in 26 cars driving through the Beachlands roundabout had an alleged drink driver behind the wheel.
Beachlands was one of the main target areas for the two day operation that was carried out over Friday 5 and Saturday, August 6.
Four of the drivers processed at this roundabout on Friday night were three to four times over the legal limit of 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.
The next day, another six drink drivers were processed for drink driving at the same roundabout with two of these drivers blowing three times over the legal limit.
“One person processed said the word had got around that police were in the area on Friday night so they wouldn’t be back on Saturday night,” says Counties Manukau Road Policing manager Rod Honan.
“Our road policing mantra is anywhere anytime. Police are the guardians of our roads. Locals need to be guardians of their friends and families.”
Honan says the Beachlands area has seen massive growth in recent years and the speed at which cars travel along the Beachlands roads has also grown exponentially.
Honan says some of the drivers processed were caught returning to Beachlands after travelling along the high risk Whitford Road.
“The roads get wet and slippery over winter and adding an intoxicated driver is a recipe for disaster. They not only are a risk to themselves but to other innocent members of the public using the same roads in a law abiding manner,” Honan says.
The Ministry of transport estimate the average cost of crashes involving over 20 year old drivers with known alcohol limits to be $446 million per year, as reported on their website.
Other areas targeted by the operations were Whitford Road in Somerville and Pakuranga where a further ten people were processed for blowing over the legal limit.
Police will continue to monitor the situation in this area.
