Seven times the limit, 150km/hr over bridge: drunk drivers worry police

Officers caught almost a dozen drink drivers in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in three days.

That includes at least four involved in crashes, P-platers, a man with an allegedly suspended licence, and others that were speeding.

It wasn't even a targeted blitz that snared the alleged behaviour which culminated in offenders losing their licences, copping fines, or staring down court dates, and left innocent road users with cars damaged by collisions.

"This is extremely concerning," Newcastle highway patrol Acting Inspector Glenn Swift told the Newcastle Herald.

"It acts as a reminder to everyone that it's only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed."

He said police were always working hard to keep people safe on the roads.

One shocking alleged drink driving incident was recorded just before 10pm on Saturday.

A 50-year-old Stockton man behind the wheel of a Holden Commodore station wagon which caught the attention of police at Kooragang as he allegedly travelled at 137 kilometres per hour in an 80-kilometre zone.

Police followed him and allegedly clocked him speeding at up to 150km/h as he went over the Stockton bridge.

He allegedly blew a high-range blood alcohol reading of 0.183 - almost four times the legal limit - back at the police station after he was pulled over and arrested. He was further charged with drinking alcohol while behind the wheel, and speeding.

He will front Newcastle Local Court in May and had his licence taken from him on the spot.

General duties police, who are all able to carry out random breath and drug testing, were called to a crash at Maryland at about 10.15pm the night before, where a 31-year-old man was arrested.

He allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.295, almost six times the legal limit, and will face court next month.

Police were called to another crash at Waratah just before 3am on Sunday, March 17, where they found an 18-year-old woman on her P-plates had crashed a Kia Rio.

She was meant to have zero alcohol in her blood while driving, but instead allegedly recorded a high-range reading of 0.162. She lost her licence and will have to front Newcastle Local Court next week.

Low-range and special-range drink drivers will have to cough up cash, with penalty infringement notices worth $644 handed to at least three people between 4pm on March 15 and 6am on March 18, including one woman who had a crash at Rankin Park on Saturday night then told police a spider had fallen on her.

Two caught allegedly mid-range drink driving at Wallsend and on the M1 at Freemans Waterhole were handed court dates.

A 23-year-old overseas licence holder was issued a court date for drink driving and hit with a $1036 speeding fine after he was stopped on the Newcastle Inner City Bypass on Saturday night.

A total of 11 alleged drink driving detections were made by highway patrol and general duties police in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie across those three days.

Then on Tuesday, police were patrolling the Pacific Highway at Gateshead at about 11.15am when a sedan caught their eye "due to the manner of driving".

The 46-year-old woman allegedly behind the wheel was arrested and charged with high-range drink driving after recording a blood alcohol reading of 0.356. The legal blood alcohol limit for fully-licensed drivers is 0.05.

Inspector Swift told the Herald anyone drinking alcohol needed to have a Plan B - driving was simply not an option.

He said the number of motorists not obeying the road rules had placed themselves and others at risk due to their "selfish behaviour".

"It's something we will continue to target through rostering of additional staff to target, or combat the issue," he said.

"Certainly while we're looking into a period which is one of the busiest on the roads, we're calling upon all motorists to do the right thing."