60 drunk drivers in one night

Sixty boozed-up motorists were nabbed in just one night on the Gold Coast, with police warning there was a disturbing upward trend in the number of people drinking and driving.

The inebriated drivers were caught in a recent Saturday night police operation in the Burleigh and Palm Beach area.

Senior Sergeant Bradyn Murphy, Officer in Charge of the Gold Coast Highway Patrol, said police were determined to crack down on the disturbing behaviour.

“We have anywhere from 20 to 25 people on a weekly basis for drink driving,” he said.

“We had an operation recently down the southern end where there was 60 drink drivers in one night. That’s disgraceful.”

Speaking at the site of a police roadside breath test (RBT) operation in Southport on Thursday, Snr Sgt Murphy said it was part of a worrying trend.

“Things are unfortunately trending back to where people will take those risks,” he said.

“Over the Covid period, I think we had a bit of a lax period, where people didn’t see police doing RBTs. So they were out taking that chance and running the gauntlet so to speak in terms of drink driving and other behaviours.

“So we want to try and really curb that back and say, there’s no place on the road for people who behave that way.”

The Bulletin watched on as an elderly man was taken away by police after allegedly blowing a reading consistent with mid-range drink driving during Thursday’s operation, which took place at noon.

Snr Sgt Murphy said such cases were not uncommon.

“Day in day out we have people that will still flout the law,” he said.

“… People think that drink driving is a night time thing, from Thursday night through to the weekend.

“But it’s not. We have people out there that like to consume alcohol and then jump into a motor vehicle and drive. And they’re the ones we want off the road.

“… We want people to be aware that it doesn’t matter what time of the day, what day of the week, you can expect to be stopped and breath tested, have your licence checked.”