GPS navigates drunk driver into barrier

COURTS: A drunk driver drove into a road barrier while following the instructions of his GPS navigation system, Yass Local Court has heard.

Andrew David Chipps, 38, of Epping, has been convicted of high-range drink driving and altering his concentration of alcohol following a road accident at Yass on June 27.

Police told the court an off-duty police officer was travelling on Yass Valley Way approaching the Hume Highway near Yass at 3.15am when he saw a car had collided with a crash barrier.

He asked the car’s driver if he was ok, and the driver said he was but asked to call NRMA for a tow.

Police arrived at the scene 20 minutes later and spoke with the driver, who told them he was waiting for the NRMA to arrive from Batlow so “I’m having a beer while I wait”.

When police asked how much alcohol he’d consumed since the accident, he said “I think I must have been here about an hour now, but I’ve only had a few mouthfuls.”

Police waited 15 minutes before a breath test, which revealed a positive reading.

Chipps told them, “I’m a bit confused, I remember now I had a full bottle of beer while I’ve been waiting.”

He was arrested with glassy and blood shot eyes. Police were of the opinion we was well affected by alcohol.

He told police he had driven from Epping at 10pm after having a couple of beers, and had not drunk anything more until after the accident.

He became agitated and restless and said “I think I made a mistake, I think I had two beers after the accident and not one.”

His breath test revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.195. They suspended his licence.

Police found a full unopened case of beer in his car, an open case with no beers in it and a small esky with ice and 12 bottles of beer. Two empty bottles were found behind passenger seat.

In relation to the accident, he said he had been following his GPS and “my GPS told me to turn there, so I did.” He collided with a road barrier.

He did not know which town he was in but had planned to drive from Epping to Jindabyne.

Magistrate Caroline Huntsman convicted him and issued a suspended eight month prison sentence. She disqualified him from driving for 18 months, and placed him under the supervision of  Community Corrections.

He has previously been convicted of mid-range drink driving in 2003.

*The preceding matter was dealt with in Yass Local Court before Magistrate Caroline Huntsman, on September 8 2015.