Booze bus on day shift in Christchurch. | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

If you are thinking of having a bit of a lunchtime tipple leave the car at home ? because police in Christchurch have been out in force during the day with the booze bus.

Last Thursday the police set up on Avonside Drive by Avon Park and stopped 1056 vehicles. There were no drinking drivers but two motorists were arrested for driving while disqualified and with a suspended licence.

The booze bus was strategically placed around a blind bend, so anyone with a few drinks on board taking a secondary route from the city to the eastern suburbs would have got a big surprise.

Sergeant John Grant said police had caught a number of drinking drivers on the stretch of Avonside Drive by the park in the past.

One motorist who was two and a half times over the limit with a breath-alcohol reading of 1000mcg, was on his way to pick up his children from school.

Grant said that while law-abiding motorists might be surprised to see the booze bus operating during the day it was necessary because drink-drivers were out 24 hours a day.

"Drink-drivers don't work to time," he said.

Also having the bus visible during the day served as a warning to those considering having a few drinks that they could be caught anytime, anywhere.

When the Christchurch Star spent time with the booze bus at Avonside Drive before it headed to Linwood Ave, drivers stopped were understanding.

Queenspark woman Kim Fairweather, 44, who did not mind being stopped, said having the booze bus out during the day was a good thing. "Absolutely, a lot of people drink in their lunch hour," she said.

Grant believes the anti-drink-driving message is not getting through, from what he sees on the road.

From December 2003 through to the end of November last year 2345 motorists were caught over the limit in Canterbury. The national figure was 24,532.

He had seen an increase in drink-driving among young people since the lowering of the drinking age to 18 and the amount these young motorists were consuming had also increased.

"Since the age went down we're getting a lot of young people with very high readings," he said.

Last year a 17-year-old blew 1345mcg. The legal limit for someone under the age of 20 is 150cmg.

The fact that bars and nightclubs were now open longer had contributed to the drink-driving factor.

"Ten years ago the booze bus wouldn't have worked after one or two in the morning," Grant said.

However, Fairweather disagreed. Her teenage children did not drink and drive and she felt that the message was getting through to younger people.

Another motorist who was stopped, Richmond woman Amy Lagerstedt, 24, told the Star she thought it was a good idea for the booze bus to be out during the day.

She said drink-driving was a social problem and questioned whether the message was getting through to the public. Police on the checkpoint told the Star that drivers caught over the limit rarely came up with original reasons for drink-driving.

"They usually just say they have had two drinks when it is obvious that they have had more," Grant said.

While no one was caught drinking and driving while the Star was at Avonside Drive, two vehicles stopped short of the booze bus. The occupants got out and milled around the riverbank.

It was obvious to the police that they were trying to avoid the checkpoint and a few minutes later one of the drivers was found to be disqualified. He was arrested.

Trying to avoid a checkpoint is common practice for drinking drivers so police position unmarked vehicles in side streets and ahead and behind the booze bus.

When a motorist turns away from the checkpoint those unmarked police vehicles are then dispatched to pick them up.

# On Wednesday at 2pm the booze bus was back at Avonside Drive and among 1500 cars stopped one driver recorded a breath-alcohol reading of 966mcg.

Police also impounded five vehicles because they were unroadworthy.

# Booze bus facts

# The Christchurch booze bus covers an area ranging south to the Waitaki River in North Otago up to the Clarence River, near Kaikoura, and south-west to Twizel and the Mackenzie Country.

# It is tasked to operate every day, 40 hours a week, at varying times.

# The bus is staffed by a sergeant and six police including graduates from the police college who have to do a three-month stint out with the booze bus.

# In the 2004/05 financial year Canterbury was allocated 18,000 hours for the booze bus operation. Nationally police allocate 195,500 hours.