A woman’s attempt to dodge a breath test by pulling into a bottle shop has backfired after she found police waiting at the entrance.
The 32-year-old Devonport woman was one of more than a dozen drivers caught during a crackdown on dangerous driving across Tasmania’s north-west last week.
She returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.201 – more than four times the legal limit – and will face court at a later date.
In another incident, a 19-year-old was caught performing a burnout directly in front of a marked police car on Mount Street in Upper Burnie.
Police allege the teenager refused a breath test before returning a positive drug test. His vehicle was confiscated for 28 days.
Police detected a string of serious offences between January 6 and 11, including drink driving, drug driving, evading police and driving while disqualified.
A 46-year-old Devonport man was remanded in custody after allegedly fleeing police at Lake Barrington on Friday.
He faces charges including evading police, escape, drug possession and reckless driving.
His vehicle was confiscated indefinitely, with police applying to have it surrendered.
During the operation, police also nabbed 18 drug drivers.
Among the other offenders was a 44-year-old Lauderdale man who blew 0.158 during random breath testing, along with an 18-year-old Burnie motorcyclist accused of evading police on two separate occasions.
A 26-year-old driver was also fined $871 and lost six demerit points after allegedly being clocked at 143km/h in a 100km/h zone on the Murchison Highway.
Acting Inspector Luke Negri said those caught had made a decision to endanger lives.
“If you choose to drive while affected by alcohol or illicit drugs or attempt to evade police, you are making a deliberate and intentional decision to put lives at risk,” he said.
“The message is simple – if you break the law, expect to be caught.”
