A Melbourne Uber driver has had his licence suspended after being caught more than four times over the alcohol limit.
The 50-year-old man from Craigieburn was seen driving erratically and crossing an undivided centre road line at around 4am on Sunday in Melbourne‘s outer north.
He was carrying a passenger at the time.
The man was taken to a police station where he returned a breath test of 0.217.
An Uber driver in Victoria has been caught driving while more than four times over the legal limit. Pictured is a police random breath test
The legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for fully licensed drivers in Victoria, and all other states and territories, is 0.05.
The driver’s licence was immediately suspended and his car impounded for 30 days at a cost of $895.
He is expected to be summonsed to appear in court in the new year.
The driver has been barred from getting work through the Uber app and the passenger is getting support from the company.
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A spokeswoman for Uber told news.com.au the company has no tolerance for alcohol or drug-impaired driving.
‘We have a zero tolerance approach to alcohol or drugs on the app, which all driver-partners agree to when they sign up to use the Uber app,’ she said.
‘The safety of all users and members of the community is something we take extremely seriously and evidence of alcohol use will result in a driver-partner losing access to the app permanently.’
Police will be targeting impaired driving, speed, distraction and fatigue in high-risk areas across Australia over the Christmas and new year period.
Uber (phone app pictured) says it has ‘zero tolerance’ for alcohol and drugs
Alcohol is a major factor in road deaths in Victoria. Each year about one quarter of drivers killed in road crashes in Victoria had a BAC over the legal limit.
At a BAC of 0.05, the risk of being involved in a road crash is about double that of a BAC of zero.
Victoria has had many intensive media campaigns and concentrated police efforts to discourage people from drinking alcohol then driving, including advertisements about the consequences of drink driving and an increase in random breath testing.
More than 12,000 Victorians lose their licences every year because of drink-driving offences.
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