Sahar Adatia and Jimmy Singh.
A woman driving a luxury BMW in Sydney’s inner west with a four-year-old toddler in the back seat has been charged with high-range drink-driving.
According to reports from NSW Police, the 45-year-old woman was spotted in Campsie around 11:30pm on Monday 15 February 2021 after they noticed collision damage on the front of the car.
Officers from Campsie Proactive Crime Team stopped the silver BMW on Evaline Street and as they approached, sighted the child sitting in the back of the vehicle with a bleeding nose.
The woman was asked by officers to provide a roadside test, however, refused.
As a result, she was arrested and taken to Campsie Police Station where she allegedly recorded a breath analysis reading of 0.174 –more than three times the legal limit 0.05.
The woman was charged with high-range drink driving and had her licence suspended.
The child was transported to Canterbury Hospital by NSW Ambulance paramedics with the assistance of the police, where he was treated.
It is understood the child is now being looked after by his adult sister.
The driver will appear in Bankstown Local Court on April 6.
“If You Can’t Learn to Put Others Before Yourself… Please Don’t Have Kids”: Driver Condemned for Drink-Driving Episode with Young Child in Car
Since the incident, the driver of the vehicle has been condemned for the high-range drink-driving offence, with members of the public expressing anger over the presence of the child in the car whilst under the influence.
“If you can’t learn to put others before yourself, in situations that require common sense, please don’t have kids,” one woman commented in a post of the drink-driving episode shared by 9 News Sydney.
“F wit [sic] take the child out of her care,” another user asserted.
One person commented on the woman’s punishment, writing, “Give her a lifetime in a cell”, while another highlighted the prevalence of the problem, saying, “People do it every day all over the world”.
Road Safety Plan 2021: Vehicle Sanctions for High-Risk Drink-Drivers in NSW
As part of Transport for NSW’s Road Safety Plan 2021, penalties for drink-drivers were toughened to further deter drink-driving and reduce alcohol related trauma on roads.
In particular, one of these changes was to include vehicle sanctions for high-risk drink-drivers, which came into effect on 3 December 2018.
This vehicle sanction scheme was modified to include repeat, high-risk drink-drivers, with vehicle sanctions applying for three months.
The idea of vehicle sanctions – which include impounding a driver’s vehicle – is to improve road safety by immediately removing high-risk drivers from NSW roads.
This is also in a bid to prevent re-offending.
In NSW, police have the power to confiscate number plates at the roadside or impound the vehicle if they detect a driver committing certain high-risk offences, such as drink-driving.
Such offences also include ”hoon” behaviour, such as street racing, engaging in a police pursuit, or speeding by more than 45km/h over the limit.
Drink-driving is a serious offence – just as it is to refuse to take a breath test.
Penalties can include loss of licence, fines, prison sentences, and a requirement to install an alcohol interlock device to your vehicle.
For specific personalised advice on a drink driving case we recommend speaking to a drink driving lawyer.
NSW Penalties for High-Range Drink-Driving
In NSW, high-range drink-driving offences can see offenders facing penalties of up to 18-months in jail, or fine of $3,300, or both, for first-time offenders.
However, if you are a second or subsequent offenders, you can face a maximum penalty of up to 14-months in jail, a fine of $5,500, or both.
Where first-time offenders are concerned, a compulsory licence disqualification of 6-9 months also applies.
This is in addition to an interlock period for a minimum of two years.
Where the drink-driver is a second-time offender, the compulsory disqualification period increases from nine months to one year, along with a minimum interlock period of four years. Drink driving penalties in nsw can have significant indirect consequences on job, income, family and your independence.