A 31-year-old Crestwood man recorded a blood alcohol reading (BAC) of 0.142 in Latham on Monday morning, 6 December.

About 10.26am, road police patrolling Southern Cross Drive, Latham observed a black Toyota Corolla travelling about 35km/h in the 60km/h zone.

When the driver stopped for police, he stated he was travelling slowly as his manual car struggled to go up hills, and he was looking for an address.

Police subjected the man to a roadside test, and he returned a positive reading to alcohol. The man was then taken into custody for breath analysis, and at Belconnen Police Station returned the 0.142 BAC reading.

The man’s right to drive in the ACT was immediately suspended for 90 days, and he will receive a summons to face court for level three drink-driving on a date to be fixed.

ACT Policing Officer in Charge of Traffic Operations, Detective Acting Inspector Paul Hutcheson said this incident was one example why police conduct random breath testing day and night.

“When we launched this latest drink driving campaign last week, I said drivers should remember we can test them anywhere, anytime,” Detective Acting Inspector Hutcheson said.

“Some people may be surprised that we detected someone at almost three times the 0.05 limit on a Monday morning, but that’s why we conduct these operations.”

“This driver was stopped before injuring someone or taking a life, the next drink-driver may not be as lucky. Once again I remind everyone, drinking then driving is an unnecessary risk. Don’t do it.”

ACT Policing has already conducted targeted RBT operations in 16 locations across the ACT in December 2021. They are reminding drivers they could be subjected to a random breath test (RBT) anytime, anywhere as part of the December Traffic Focus on drink driving. 

Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.