Woman charged with drink driving allegedly blew eight times the limit

A Sunshine Coast woman will face court after she was charged with drink-driving - allegedly caught behind the wheel while under the influence at a level police have called “potentially lethal”.

Sunshine Coast Highway Patrol were called to a two vehicle crash at the intersection of Lamington Tce and Magnolia St in Nambour on December 30.

A woman, 50, who was driving one of the cars was taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries.

She was ordered to take a blood specimen test, with subsequent analysis detecting a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.419 per cent, about eight times the legal limit.

The woman’s license was immediately suspended, and she has been charged with driving under the influence of liquor.

She is expected to appear before Nambour Magistrates Court on February 6.

The Officer in Charge of Highway Patrol Sunshine Coast, Senior Sergeant Shane Panoho, said the woman’s BAC was over the lethal dose.

“Drinking alcohol reduces your ability to drive safely,” Sergeant Panoho said.

“Alcohol affects your judgment, vision, co-ordination and reflexes — increasing your risk of having a crash.

Australia’s upper legal limit for driving is a blood alcohol reading of 0.05 which indicates 0.05g of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

“Once alcohol is in your system, even at around 0.05 per cent BAC, it affects the brain’s ability to make rational decisions, and you are more likely to take risks,” Sergeant Panoho said.

“A lethal dose of alcohol is around 4 grams of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

“The alleged actions of this driver endangered not only her own life, but the lives of every other person on the road that day.”