Bad mums: Three women with kids in car charged with DUI
Police have slammed a group of mothers allegedly caught drunk behind the wheel with children in the car, as experts warn women are now drinking as much, if not more than, men.
In just 48 hours, three different women were charged with driving under the influence when tested in the mid-afternoon – all with children in the car or on the way to pick up their children from school/day care.
In the most recent case, a 29-year-old woman was stopped by NSW Police in Frenchs Forest after officers detected the woman’s Holden Commodore travelling at 82km/h in a 50km/h zone.
The woman was subsequently stopped and told police she was on her way to pick up her child from school.
The woman underwent a breath test where she allegedly blew 0.158. She was arrested and later granted bail to appear in court on December 14.
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The bad behaviour came just one day after a mother was stopped while driving more than two and a half times over the legal blood alcohol limit with three children in the car.
The 34-year-old was stopped by NSW Police on Wednesday on the Old Hume Highway at 3.20pm.
After allegedly blowing 0.132, the woman was arrested and Family and Community Services were notified in regards to the three children –aged 13, 11 and nine – in the car at the time.
The 34-year-old has since been granted bail to appear in court on January 10.
At the same time police in NSW dealt with the 34-year-old alleged drink driver, police in Queensland stopped a woman during a random breath test operation in Howard.
The 40-year-old, who told police she was on her way to pick up her “small children from day care”, allegedly recorded a 0.246 BAC.
The woman will now appear in court on December 13.
The three incidents come just weeks after a Sydney woman was stopped in Roseville, allegedly drink driving with her nine-month-old baby girl strapped into the back seat.
The 34-year-old mother allegedly blew 0.216 and will appear in court on December 1.
And it’s not just young mothers getting caught driving under the influence – a 75-year-old woman was stopped by police on Melbourne Cup day after she was spotted driving the wrong way through a roundabout after a function at her local bowls club.
Alarmingly, all the charges come just weeks after a young Sydney girl was pinned between two cars, allegedly by a drink driver who then walked away from the scene.
Barbara Meryl Farlow, 30, pleaded guilty to high range drink driving and using a mobile while driving last month, over the Eastwood crash that pinned a six-year-old girl between cars.
According to police, Farlow drove forward and struck the car in front, pushing it into another car and trapping the child.
Farlow has pleaded guilty to two charges but denies causing bodily harm by misconduct. She was granted bail and is due to appear at Burwood Local Court on December 7.
Professor Tanya Chikritzhs, who now leads the Alcohol Policy Research team at the National Drug Research Institute, said the surge in alcohol consumption directly correlates to the amount of women being harmed.
"People who drink at the high end, the risky end, are actually drinking more than ever, and so putting themselves at greater risk of harm, because there is a relationship between how drunk you are and how likely you are to get into trouble," she told Seven's Sunday Night.
“Being intoxicated not only can increase your likelihood of injuring yourself but it also increases your likelihood of injuring someone else.”
