Senior Sergeant Dean Harker said seven people were charged with drink driving over Labour Weekend in the Selwyn district, including one with a breath alcohol level of 1040mcg/l who crashed into a fence on Bray St in Darfield.
The legal limit is 250mcg/l. Another driver had a breath alcohol level of 1485mcg/l, while another was recorded at more than 1000mcg/l.
The driver was uninjured and will appear in court on December 1.
"It [drink driving] is disappointing," Harker said.
"It’s just a trend that we’ve noticed probably over the last couple of months that we’re looking at ways that we can reduce it.
"It’s going into that time of the year where the weather is getting a bit warmer and more people are having barbecues and what not.
"We always do concentrate on it [drink driving] but we will be out and about more at night."
There were several other crashes and instances of dangerous driver behaviour over Labour Weekend, Harker said.
Two people were injured, one seriously, when two cars crashed head-on along Main South Rd/State Highway 1 near Burnham. Harker said both patients are now in a stable condition.
A motorcyclist was seriously injured and taken to Christchurch Hospital’s intensive care unit after crashing on Coleridge Rd.
And a passenger in a vehicle which failed to stop and hit another vehicle at the Bealey and Telegraph Rds intersection in Charing Cross received serious injuries. All four people involved in the crash were taken to hospital.
Another vehicle heading south on Jones Rd, Rolleston, crashed when it turned in front of a vehicle heading north, causing minor injuries.
Meanwhile, a vehicle travelling at 142km/h was stopped by police on Leeston Rd.
