Police lash ‘stupidity’ on wheels

By Jade Lawton
PAKENHAM’S top traffic cop has slammed the behaviour of ‘stupid’ motorists after police checks on Saturday revealed that one in every 15 drivers was over the legal blood alcohol limit.
Police also found a two-year-old boy, wearing a too-big adult helmet, being ‘dinked’ on an unregistered motorbike.
“I’m just gobsmacked, and amazed at the stupidity of people,” Sergeant Nigel Atkins said.
The Traffic Management Unit randomly checked 61 cars and processed four motorists for drink-driving. The offenders, from Beaconsfield, Pakenham and Narre Warren, ranged in age from 27 to 46.
That night police also confiscated a car from a 19-year-old Cora Lynn man caught doing 107km/h in Henty Street – a 50km/h zone.
His car was impounded and his licence confiscated for 12 months.
Other notable offences include a five-seater car stuffed with six people and numerous suitcases.
The vehicle was pulled over on Beaconsfield-Emerald Road on Friday morning. The 52-year-old driver was given penalty notices for each underage passenger not wearing a seatbelt.
And last week, on 16 February, police charged a mid-thirties Pakenham man after he was found riding an unregistered 50cc trail bike with a two-year-old child wedged between him and the handlebars.
Sgt Atkins said the child was wearing an adult helmet, which would have done little to protect his skull if he fell off the bike.
The man, caught on Balmoral Way just before 8.30pm, has been charged with several driving infringements.
“This is stupidity at its lowest. We’re out there on a daily basis dealing with this stupidity,” Sgt Atkins said.