Sunshine Coast and Noosa’s worst drink driving suburbs revealed
The Sunshine Coast and Noosa’s recent drink drivers have been listed as new Queensland Police data reveals the hot spots for the offence.
Police & Courts
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Maroochydore and Coolum have ranked among the Sunshine Coast’s worst drink driving hot spots according to the latest Queensland Police data.
The new statistics showed a considerable drop in the total number of drink drivers since early 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 and subsequent lockdown restrictions.
Figures showed there were 1872 offenders driving while over the blood alcohol limit last year compared to 1981 offences in 2020.
In 2019 there were 2439 offences for drink driving, 2567 in 2018, and 2401 in 2017.
Drug driving also remains a prominent traffic offence in the region.
Sunshine Coast police caught 93 drivers with drugs in their system from 436 tests between March and April, 2022, as part of Operation Regain which targeted dangerous driving offences.
Highway Patrol Sunshine Coast Senior Sergeant Shane Panoho said the two main factors for the reduction in the offences were Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and other measures brought in throughout the pandemic.
Queensland Police statistics also reveal the number of drink driving offences recorded in the Sunshine Coast’s largest suburbs over the past 12 months.
Noosa Heads had the highest number of recorded drunk drivers with 154 offenders followed by Maroochydore with 151 and Coolum detecting 125.
Sergeant Panoho said areas such as Noosa were prone to more drink and drug driving offences for its high visitor rates and lively night-life scene.
“Here on the Sunshine Coast we are very much a holiday destination and sometimes people decide to make poor decisions,” Sergeant Panoho said.
“We have some wonderful entertainment areas but if you’re planning on going out part of that planning should be how you get home safely.”
Sergeant Panoho said community engagement and education, particularly for young people, were key to curbing drink and drug driving rates.
Below are recent Sunshine Coast and Noosa drink and drug driving offenders and the incidents that followed.
Drink driving offenders
Daniel Malcolm Ritchie, 0.305 BAC
Daniel Malcolm Ritchie pleaded guilty at Maroochydore Magistrates Court in November 2021 to drink driving and driving without due care after he crashed his company car into a bus stop while heavily intoxicated with alcohol.
The court heard Ritchie, 32, was lost trying to find a street when he accidentally accelerated and crashed into a bus stop at Mount Coolum on October 19, 2021.
Witnesses contacted police after they witnessed Ritchie driving dangerously on Toolga St at 1.10pm before the accident which saw him rushed to Nambour Hospital.
He was convicted and fined $1500 and ordered to pay $1246 restitution for damaging the bus stop.
Ritchie was also disqualified from driving for 13 months.
Warren James Yates, 0.252 BAC
Warren James Yates pleaded guilty in Noosa Magistrates Court to driving while intoxicated with alcohol on November 16, 2021.
The court heard Yates pulled his car over to undergo a breath test by roadside police on Banksia Place about 6.10pm.
The former mine worker returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.252 per cent.
Yates was fined $1400, disqualified from driving for 13 months, with convictions recorded.
Gina Leigh James, 0.227 BAC
Gina Leigh James pleaded guilty at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday, March 28, 2022 to driving under the influence after crashing her car in Bli Bli.
The court heard the registered nurse had finished her shift at Sunshine Coast University Hospital and went to a friend’s place where she consumed a bottle of wine.
James then drove home along Bli Bli Rd when she crashed her car into the back of a boat trailer, causing her car to roll onto its roof.
Police said she had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.227 per cent.
James was convicted and ordered to pay $4000 in damages to the trailer, fined $900 and was disqualified from driving for 11 months.
Deborah Oberon, 0.219 BAC
Deborah Oberon pleaded guilty in Noosa Magistrates Court to drink driving after she returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.219.
She was caught driving under the influence by police on November 9, 2021.
Oberon was fined $1000 and had her drivers licence disqualified for 10 months.
A conviction was recorded.
Debra Lee Anstey, 0.216 BAC
Debra Lee Anstey pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on June 8, 2021, to driving under the influence of alcohol and dangerous driving.
The court heard Anstey drove through a red light on Old Maroochydore Rd, Forest Glen, to avoid a head on collision.
She later forced a group of traffic controllers to quickly move away from her oncoming car as she swerved into a closed section of road.
Anstey blew 0.216 per cent when police arrived and tested her after she pulled her car over.
She was convicted and sentenced to 12-months imprisonment which was ordered to be served concurrently and wholly suspended for two years from June, 2021.
Anstey has since campaigned for free road safety and education programs for mature aged drivers following the incident.
Damien O’Connor, 0.202 BAC
Damien O’Connor pleaded guilty at Caloundra Magistrates Court on April 21, 2022, to driving while drunk on the Bruce Hwy.
Police received reports of a ute being driven erratically by swerving between lanes several times on the Bruce Hwy near Eumundi at 11am on March 25, 2022.
An informant followed O’Connor to the final location he stopped his car at and reported it to police who arrived at the address and gave him a breath test, which showed a reading of 0.202 per cent.
The court heard the O’Connor was emotionally distraught after a marriage breakdown and had consumed four glasses of wine shortly before driving.
O’Connor had his licence disqualified for nine months and was fined $1200.
Gavin Reece Cobb, 0.198 BAC
Gavin Reece Cobb, 56, pleaded guilty at Maroochydore Magistrates Court to drink driving after he crashed his car into a parked vehicle.
The Coolum Beach pool builder crashed into the parked car on November 6, 2021 in the evening after drinking alcohol at a bowls club.
Cobb blew a 0.198 per cent blood-alcohol reading after being tested by police.
He received a conviction, was disqualified from driving for 10 months and fined $1200
Talea Margaret Anne Szabo, 0.190 BAC
Talea Margaret Anne Szabo recorded 0.190 after police saw she had parked her car on the median strip at the intersection of Maroochydore Rd and Pike St at Kunda Park about 11.30pm on May 22, 2021.
Szabo said she drank about 20 vodka mixes while drinking with friends at the Big Pineapple Festival.
Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin told Maroochydore Magistrates Court the fashion marketing student would have faced higher consequences had it not been for her remorse for committing the offence and glowing character references.
She was convicted and fined $1000 along with having her licence disqualified for nine months.
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