A Northland drunk driver is facing court after she breath tested nearly nine times over the legal alcohol limit.
The 36-year-old, who was staying in Whangārei Heads, was found behind the wheel of her vehicle on Corks Rd, Tikipunga - nearly 34 kilometres away - by a member of the public last month.
When police arrived and tested the woman, believed to have left Whangārei following an argument, she recorded a breath alcohol level of 2178 micrograms - nearly nine times the limit for an infringement notice and more than five times the limit for prosecution at court.
"No Northlander wants to be sharing the road with impaired drivers and this amount of alcohol is staggering," Northland's Road Policing Manager Anne-Marie Fitchett said.
The alcohol limit for drivers aged 20 years and over is 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath and the blood alcohol limit is 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. If you are under 20, the alcohol limit for drivers is zero.
The woman was taken to Whangārei Police Station where she had her licence suspended for 28 days.
She is due to appear in court next month charged with driving with excess breath alcohol.
It comes as Fitchett said police been carrying out "a large number of checkpoints" across the region.
"Our EBA (excess breath/blood alcohol) and drugged driver apprehensions are high as a result," she said.
"Good police work, combined with public support will make a difference over time. This is a long game where we are trying to change intergenerational behaviours."
