It's conference season time, so late nights at the desk are a given at the moment. I decided to take my tea-break last night in time to watch Police Ten 7 (NZ programming) and Highway Patrol (Australian programming), which screen back to back on a Thursday night on TV2.
I'm not a total reality TV nut, but rather both programmes had advertised drink-driving segments - so I thought I would watch to see if there was anything in the episodes that might be useful for our members. I was flawed. Both episodes involved drunk, female drivers - one in her late forties (I'm guessing) and the other was a grandmother, aged 70!Now let's deal with the first offender (she was on the NZ programme) who explained why she was driving intoxicated to the arresting officers - it appears she caught her boyfriend in bed with another woman. Now while I feel very sorry for her and that must have been traumatic, I'm still sitting there wondering why she couldn't call a taxi or a friend? I would struggle to drive as upset as she was, let alone drunk too?! My small thread of empathy for her snaps however, when you later discover that she has been caught SIX times before ... in fact she's on bail for the last time she was caught and is therefore remanded in custody to appear in court the following morning. (The judge passed a sentence that included a year in prison)
The second offender - the granny - did an amazing song and dance routine for the officer who pulled her over ... it was almost comedic and worthy of road-side acting oscars, if such a thing existed. Apparently she knew she was speeding and she was very naughty and sorry ... when questioned if she had been drinking (and we can see she's definitely drunk from our living rooms) she first responds 'no', then later says 'not since lunch'. The granny, her name is Margaret, repeatedly fails to complete the road-side breath alcohol assessment, by pretending to not understand that she has to blow until the officer says 'stop' ... it's painful to watch after about the 7th attempt. So the officer bundles Margaret into the police vehicle and off they go to the station ...
At the station Margaret completes the breath test - hallelujah! She blows TWICE the legal limit and sits there scratching her head about how that could of happened. She's also, we now discover, a disqualified driver for ... drum roll .... drink driving convictions! Margaret talks to camera about having been caught before (four times the officer tells us) and how silly she is ... 'don't do it, you're a fool if you do' she helpfully says to the audience.
I just wanted to jump into the television and shake her ... how incredibly selfish or stupid could a person get? Both repeat offenders are lucky - yes, I said lucky! They are lucky because they were caught by police officers in roadside tests and not by emergency services being called to a crash scene, where they have slammed into a tree, or worse, a car-load of innocent road users!
Now, I know I'm on my soap-box here, but seriously - recidivist drink drivers (repeat offenders) are the most dangerous drivers on our roads. Statistically we know that for every time they are caught, there are numerous other occasions they are out there driving drunk and they almost always, eventually, end up hurting someone.
I feel entitled to be on my soap-box, because in my line of work I have had the immense privilege of meeting and getting to know many families who have lost a loved one to a drink-driving crash - many of which were caused by a recidivist. It's heart-breaking to have the knowledge that these drivers had been caught 4,6,8, sometimes more than 10 or 20 times - these drivers have no respect for the law, or other road users ... they will drive drunk; they will drive disqualified and drunk ... and will even break existing bail terms to do it.
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