Woman charged with blood alcohol level eight times over the limit

It has been a horror four days on NSW roads since police launched a statewide holiday crackdown on driving offences, including one woman’s significant DUI charge.

A woman who crashed her car before allegedly blowing eight times over the legal limit was among 177 drink-driving offences recorded in the first four days of a statewide road safety operation.

Since police began an operation on Christmas Eve targeting driving offences, NSW roads have recorded two deaths, 177 prescribed concentration of alcohol (PCA) charges and 228 major crashes.

Among the incidents was a woman who allegedly returned a breath analysis reading of 0.416 at Yass police station on Sunday.

A woman was charged with a blood-alcohol level eight times the legal limit near Yass. Picture: News Corp Australia

At about 2.10pm, officers from The Hume Police Area Command were called following reports of a white Volkswagen Polo hatch driving erratically on the Barton Highway at Jeir, near Murrumbateman.

Police arrived to find the vehicle in a ditch, and the 36-year-old sole occupant of the car returned a positive result to a subsequent breath test.

She was charged with drive with high-range PCA and will appear at Yass Local Court on January 15.

On the same day, a 25-year-old P-plater was allegedly caught driving a Nissan X-Trail at 148km/h on the Castlereagh Highway at Walgett.

She was given a traffic infringement notice for driving at 45km/h over the speed limit, and her licence was suspended for six months.

In Sydney, police observed a Volkswagen Golf allegedly trying to avoid a roadside testing site at Flinders Street in Surry Hills at about 11.30pm on Sunday.

Police stopped the vehicle in nearby Short Street, where the 31-year-old male driver returned a negative breath test, but his drug test returned a positive detection to cannabis.

The man then allegedly assaulted police, broke free and fled. About 2.15am, the man attended Glebe police station and was charged with a string of offences. He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court today.

The two fatalities over the weekend included a woman, aged in her 50s, who died on Sunday following a single-vehicle crash on the Newell Highway near Narrandera.

The other death occurred when a vehicle, which was being pursued by police, struck a power pole on Eastwood Road, Leppington on Thursday.

Both occupants were thrown from the vehicle, and an 18-year-old man, the passenger, died at the scene.

The driver, also 18, was charged with nine offences, including aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death.

In the four days since NSW Police launched the statewide operation, which enforces double-demerits, more than 3217 speeding fines and more than 2223 infringement notices have been issued for other driving offences.

Double-demerits apply to speeding, seatbelt, mobile phone and motorcycle helmet offences.

Originally published as Woman charged with blood alcohol level eight times over the limit