A MAN arrested after a minor crash in Wodonga yesterday later gave the highest reading police have ever seen in the city and one of the top marks in Victoria.
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The man’s blood-alcohol content was more than seven times the legal limit at 0.363.
“He crashed a car he borrowed from another person into another car in Wodonga,” Sgt Cameron Roberts, of the Wodonga police’s traffic management unit, said.
He had never come across a higher blood alcohol reading in close to 28 years with Victoria Police.
The man, 41, is expected to face several charges, including exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol, driving under the influence, failing to give way and unlicensed driving.
Sgt Roberts said the man was driving north in Vermont Street about 1pm yesterday when he failed to stop at the T-intersection with Brockley Street and crashed into a car heading west along Brockley Street.
“He had a collision with another car and then wanted to argue the case while blowing alcohol fumes over the other driver,” he said.
Sgt Roberts said no one was injured, and there was only minor damage to each car.
“With a reading like he had, the outcome of his driving is really no surprise,” he said.
“Every now and then a case comes along that just blows you away.
“I’ve never seen a reading that high since I have been in the police force.”
Sgt Roberts said it was surprising the man was able to drive the car.
“It was a wonder that he was still conscious,” he said.
“Driving around with that level of alcohol, it’s a wonder that nobody was hurt.”
A police spokeswoman said figures on high readings were not kept, but she was stunned by the Border case.
“I’ve been in the job for 33 years and it’s certainly one of the highest I have ever seen,” she said.
“It’s surprising the man was even standing.
“Nowadays we just don’t get those type of readings.
“Ten years ago you used to still see some readings around 0.26 or 0.28.
“It’s probably the highest reading I have heard of in the past 15 years.”
In August, police at Port Adelaide arrested a motorist after he provided a blood-alcohol reading of 0.368.
The highest reading in Victoria is believed to be a motorcyclist who died in a 1990 accident with a blood-alcohol content of 0.587.
In 1993, a Victorian driver died in a crash with a 0.44 reading.
In September, a court heard an Albury woman gave a blood-alcohol reading of 0.30 after an accident in a lane off Macauley Street in August.
A Tangambalanga woman provided a reading of 0.315 at a roadside breath test in January, 2004, but her later official reading at the Albury police station was 0.255
