Speed and alcohol are two things that Waikato Police say shouldn’t involve schools or children, but all too often they are if incidents over recent days are anything to go by.

District Road Policing Manager, Inspector Freda Grace, said no matter what the time of day, any driver stopped can expect to be breathalysed.

“This is often the case but more so given circumstances yesterday in which three drivers were stopped and found to be well over the limit, with one a school bus driver carrying a load of young passengers.

“In this case the 68-year-old female driver was stopped in the Cambridge area and returned a breath alcohol test result of 468mgs and we are very concerned about this person’s suitability to be driving on the road, especially with young charges.”

Mrs Grace said another woman stopped on SH3 on her way to work in Waitomo returned an alcohol reading of 738mgs while a man stopped on SH1 returned a result of 440mgs.

“That same morning a man was stopped travelling at 137km/h in the 70km/h speed restricted zone outside Whitikahu School. That driver has since had his license suspended.

“Yesterday’s incidents follow a mother being stopped while picking up her seven-year-old child up from a Dinsdale Hamilton primary school last Tuesday afternoon. When breath tested the 33-year-old woman returned a breath alcohol result of 805mgs- at 3.15pm!”

Mrs Grace said last week’s incident followed one on the 6th of August where a 35-year-old woman travelling with her 12-year-old son was stopped on Rostrevor St as she drove to a shop.

“When this mother underwent an evidential breath test back at the station she returned a result of 1097mgs, a shocking result and was charged with excess breath alcohol, endangering a child and had her license suspended for 28 days.

“These high alcohol readings and excessive speeds have no place around schools or around children. Therefore I will be ensuring our staff do their part by breath testing every driver we interact with. You can do your part by making sure the people you travel with don’t endanger themselves or others on our roads.”

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