Three Mums Charged with Drink Driving During School Run

Police have warned mothers against drink driving after three different mums were caught driving under the influence with children in the car or during school run.

Three mums were charged with driving under the influence last week when tested in the mid-afternoon in different incidents within 24 hours all with children in the car or on the way to pick up their children from school/day care.

Last Wednesday, NSW Police stopped a 34-year-old mother driving on the Old Hume Highway at 3.20pm with two and a half times more than the legal blood alcohol limit with three children, aged 13, 11 and nine, in the car. After allegedly blowing 0.132, the mother was arrested and Family and Community Services were informed in regards to the three children. She has since been granted bail to appear in court on January 10.

That same day, police in Queensland stopped a woman during a random breath test operation in Howard. The 40-year-old mother, who told police she was on her way to pick up her “small children from day care”, allegedly recorded a 0.246 BAC. She will now appear in court on December 13.

On Thursday, NSW Police also stopped a 29-year-old woman in Frenchs Forest after officers detected her Holden Commodore speeding fast at 82km/h in a 50km/h zone. She told police she was on her way to pick up her child from school. The woman underwent a breath test where she allegedly blew 0.158. She was arrested and later granted bail to appear in court on December 14.

The three incidents happened just weeks after a 34-year-old mother, from Sydney was stopped in Roseville, allegedly drink driving with her nine-month-old baby girl strapped into the back seat. She allegedly blew 0.216 and will appear in court on December 1.

In June, NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol Command boss John Hartley told news.com.au that high blood alcohol readings can be attributed to mothers having over two wines at lunch.

The Chief Inspector of the NSW Police Traffic and Highway Control Command, Phil Brooks, told Daily Mail Australia in a statement that drink driving women threatened the lives of innocent children. “The constant cases of drink driving detected on NSW roads is concerning, let alone driving with a child in a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol,” he said.

“The dangers those road users pose to innocent children and other road users should not be tolerated by police and the community. There is absolutely no excuse for drink-driving,” he added.

Meanwhile, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive Michael Thorn said women approaching middle age had an attitude problem. “The lunching mums have this defiance of ‘you can’t tell me what to do. I’m going to lunch and I’m going to have a few wines. It’s other people who are the problem, it’s not me’,” he told News Corp Australia.

Dr Alex Wodak, an emeritus consultant at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, told Daily Mail Australia on Monday that women were often unaware alcohol was more likely to affect them. “Their blood alcohol concentration rises faster and reaches higher peak levels than in men. Women are more sensitive to alcohol because their body weight is smaller,” he said.

University of Western Sydney research has found that 16 per cent of women entering middle age are alcohol dependent, and researchers believe one third of them are abusing alcohol.

Sources: Au.news.yahoo.com and Dailymail.co.uk