A Dunedin woman who drove around the Octagon on the rims of her car was so drunk she was oblivious to the wreckage she caused.
Zoe Clare Hislop’s journey came to an end only when members of the public forced her to pull over and then confiscated her keys, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to drink-driving and careless driving and was fined $500.
Late on March 4, she had been drinking at a friend’s house before she got into her Toyota Vitz to head home.
Within metres she smashed into a kerb in St Andrew St, extensively damaging the vehicle, but continued into Great King St.
A police summary described how debris flew off the car, narrowly missing a bystander.
By the time Hislop made it to the Octagon she had lost a tyre and was travelling on the left front rim.
When she was persuaded to pull over, her keys were removed from the ignition.
Hislop gave a breath-alcohol reading of 942mcg — nearly four times the legal limit.
The defendant later told police she had seven vodka drinks with her friends but did not recall any collision or the loss of her tyre.
"Things could’ve gone really, really badly," Judge David Robinson said.
Hislop, who had attended The Right Track programme, acknowledged how lucky she was to walk away from the incident without injury to herself or others.
The judge asked why she had driven that night.
"There’s never ever a good reason ... I don’t have one. I wish I did or something, but I just don’t," Hislop said.
"We drive all the time and something we forget how powerful it is and how much care needs to be taken behind the wheel."
Since she attended the course her priorities had changed and she had used her experience to warn her friends of the dangers of driving drunk, she said.
Counsel Steve Turner said Hislop was "horrified" by her actions, her car had been written off and now the young woman was saddled with convictions against her name.
"The consequences will be with her for the rest of her life," he said.
Hislop was banned from driving for six months.
