VALENTINE’S Day didn’t end well for motorists in the Oxley Local Area Command who chose to mix alcohol with driving.
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A licence suspension wasn’t enough to keep one woman off the road.
It began at 2.55pm last Friday, when a 46-year-old woman was stopped on the New England Highway at Moonbi travelling north.
When asked to produce her driver’s licence, she produced a current learner’s permit. There were no other people in the vehicle with her and no “L” plates displayed on the car.
The driver returned a breath analysis reading of 0.035, a special-range concentration of alcohol.
The woman was suspended for three months and was released to face court at a later date.
However, at 8.15pm, highway patrol officers were on the New England Highway near Kentucky when they saw a vehicle travelling at 75km/h in a 100km/h zone.
As the vehicle passed, the officer recognised the vehicle as being the same one he had pulled over earlier, with the now-suspended learner driver behind the wheel.
Police pulled the vehicle over and spoke to the driver, who informed them she had hitchhiked back to her vehicle so she could continue her journey.
The driver told police she had drunk more alcohol since being released from custody.
She was taken to the Armidale Police Station where a breath analysis returned a reading of 0.048 – again, a special-range concentration of alcohol.
The driver was charged with this offence, as well as driving while suspended and bailed not to occupy the seat of a motor vehicle.
She wasn’t the only offender, though, with police stopping a 21-year-old man at 10pm on Warwick Rd who was driving a V8 utility.
His roadside breath test was positive and he was unable to show officers his licence.
A breath test at the Tamworth Police Station returned a result of 0.075, or low-range concentration of alcohol, and checks revealed he was the holder of a provisional 2 (green P-plate) licence, which had a condition attached prohibiting the holder from driving a V8 vehicle.
The driver was charged with both offences and will face court at a later date.
Police followed a vehicle down the driveway near No. 1 Oval at 2.40am on Saturday and gave the 22-year-old male driver a roadside breath analysis, which was positive, with a later test showing a reading of 0.133, or mid-range concentration of alcohol.
The driver’s licence was suspended and he will face court at a later date.
At 3.10am, police were in Tingira St, West Tamworth, when they saw a vehicle travelling faster than the speed limit.
They found the offending car, pulled it over in Robert St and gave the 43-year-old female driver a breath test, which was positive.
At the Tamworth Police Station the woman underwent a breath analysis, which showed a result of 0.130, or mid-range concentration of alcohol.
The woman’s licence was suspended and she will face court early next month.
