Mum crashes car, blows six times limit during Berwick school pick up

The scene of a Berwick crash where a mum (driver of grey car) is accused of blowing six times the legal limit while on a school pick up run. Picture: Supplied

THE husband of a woman caught driving more than six times the legal limit with their six-month-old child in the car has pleaded with the community not to judge her.

The man, who didn't want to be named and broke down as he spoke to media, said his wife was suffering from depression but said she was a "good mum".
"She is a lovely woman and a great mother, or I wouldn't be with her," he said outside the school this morning.
"But she has some demons she is battling."
Friends said the woman had been struggling for a number of years and urged people to show compassion.
"There is a bigger picture," her husband said.
"Obviously we know what could have happened."
The mother-of-three crashed outside Berwick Lodge Primary School after she had picked up her two other children from school yesterday.
Shocked parents from the school said they were disgusted by the incident.
"We're just lucky no one was killed," one said.
"Kids were leaving school and if the car had gone up on the kerb it may have killed one," she said.
The accident happened outside one of the main gates to the school.
Parents said it was widely known the woman had a drinking problem.
School principal Henry Gossek said he was appalled by the incident.
Mr Gossek said he phoned police after a parent notified him of the accident.
"It's just horrifying," he said. "The whole thing just makes you throw your hands up in exasperation.
"I'm amazed she got to the school without having an accident."
Another parent said he first noticed the woman "asleep" in the car.
"She was slumped over the wheel and drooling...I'm still lost for words," he said.
Australian Drug Foundation policy director Geoff Munro said most people would be unable to function with an alcohol reading of .3.
Mr Munro said people were affected by alcohol depending on age, gender and weight but said there was a general scale that found people became seriously limited after drinking enough to register a reading over .15.
"At .2 most people would fall asleep,” he said.
"A person who can read .3 and still function is most likely drinking at a high level on a very regular basis.
"These people’s bodies have adapted to drinking high volumes.”
Mr Munro said most people would fall into a coma if they drank enough to get them to a .3 reading.
Leading Sen-Constable Dave Hewatt said he was shocked at the incident.
"It was a recipe for disaster," he said.
"To be honest, she was extremely lucky it was only a minor collision. At that time of day, near a school, with children trying to cross the road, it could have been so much worse.
"Drink-driving, in any situation, is just not acceptable."
Endeavour Hills police breath-tested the woman at the scene. She was then taken to a local police station where she allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.304.
Her licence was immediately suspended and she is expected to be charged on summons with driving under the influence, exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol and careless driving.