Festive cheer pushed to limits

By Bridget Cook
A CRANBOURNE driver has given meaning to the term ‘silly season’ – being caught driving at more than four times the legal limit with three children in the car.
A Christmas party turned into a nightmare for the 55-year-old man when he was intercepted during a routine booze bus operation at the Princes Highway about 9.30pm on Sunday night.
He blew 0.201 during a random breath test, while driving with three young children in the car, and had his licence immediately suspended for a year.
Police said the man told them that he had just returned from a church Christmas party.
He is expected to be summonsed to appear in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court at a later date. The man was not the only dangerous driver nabbed by police during the operation. Officers also caught a 22-year-old Narre Warren man driving at .164 and a 56-year-old Dandenong woman who blew .142. The duo were nabbed during consecutive intercepts.
Police said the woman told them she had also attended a Christmas party and was on her way to visit her mother.
Meanwhile, police apprehended two people allegedly driving while drug affected, including a 42-year-old man and a 32-year-old man, who was also driving while disqualified.
Police have urged drivers to take care on Victoria’s roads during the festive season to ensure the safety of all road users.