Drunk drivers among morning commuters

Police are concerned at the number of drivers caught over the alcohol breath limit in Auckland on Thursday and Friday morning as commuters were driving to work.

The inner-city checkpoints detected 100 out of the 16,000 drivers tested to be over the limit of 400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath.

Auckland road policing manager Inspector Gavin Macdonald said 41 drivers were caught driving intoxicated on the Thursday and Friday mornings as other road users were on their way to work.

Mr Macdonald also said several offenders had driven from other parts of the Auckland region and were already intoxicated before they arrived in the CBD.

"These people had been caught out and were surprised by the number of checkpoints operating at that time of the morning," he said.

Mr Macdonald said offending drivers needed to realise they would kill themselves or other innocent road users if they continued to drive while intoxicated.

He said such drivers could expect to be stopped anytime, anywhere.

- NZPA