Trapped drunk driver opens another beer as awaits rescue

[Susita 175]

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – A drunk driver trapped after overturning his car cracked open another can of beer while he waited for emergency crews to rescue him, a New Zealand court was told.

Paul Nigel Sneddon, 47, pleaded guilty to careless driving and drunken driving after being nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit in a district court in the city of Palmerston North, the Dominion Post newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Police found Sneddon, a former baker, trapped in his overturned Ford Laser on June 1, drinking a can of beer after he failed to take a corner properly and crashed through a wooden barrier, flipping his vehicle.

Defense lawyer Peter Young said that when Sneddon found he could not open the doors, "he had nothing else to do at that point, so he had another beer."

When asked by police how much he had consumed, Sneddon replied: "Plenty, I've been drinking for four days straight."

Sneddon, who is estranged from his wife, told the Wellington- based newspaper that he went on a drinking binge after losing his job at a bakery on the same day that he heard his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Judge Gregory Ross fined him NZ$1,100 (US$780) and disqualified him from driving for 10 months. It was his first offence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100623/od_nm/us_drunk

[Nagishkaw 510]

Whatever goes in must come out is all I have to say.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Nagishkaw

[Peikko 1,575]

Well, he wasn't exactly thinking straight. It's great that no one else was involved though, such actions are extremely selfish, however sympathetic one might be to his circumstances. You do not drive when you have been drinking, no ifs' no buts.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Drunk driving isn't funny.... but this is

[Fandango 1,439]

It was actually almost brilliant....had he contested it, there'd be no way to claim whether his BAC was elevated before of after the actual crash.

Good thing he fessed up though.

[SMR 368]

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – A drunk driver trapped after overturning his car cracked open another can of beer while he waited for emergency crews to rescue him, a New Zealand court was told.

Paul Nigel Sneddon, 47, pleaded guilty to careless driving and drunken driving after being nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit in a district court in the city of Palmerston North, the Dominion Post newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Police found Sneddon, a former baker, trapped in his overturned Ford Laser on June 1, drinking a can of beer after he failed to take a corner properly and crashed through a wooden barrier, flipping his vehicle.

Defense lawyer Peter Young said that when Sneddon found he could not open the doors, "he had nothing else to do at that point, so he had another beer."

When asked by police how much he had consumed, Sneddon replied: "Plenty, I've been drinking for four days straight."

Sneddon, who is estranged from his wife, told the Wellington- based newspaper that he went on a drinking binge after losing his job at a bakery on the same day that he heard his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Judge Gregory Ross fined him NZ$1,100 (US$780) and disqualified him from driving for 10 months. It was his first offence.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100623/od_nm/us_drunk

It seems to me that it would be difficult to drink in an upside down car.

[thongd4me 69]

If he "failed to take the corner" they should have given him something lighter to carry.

Like another beer.

[Peikko 1,575]

Why would it be difficult to drink in an upside down car? Because the car was upside down doesn't mean the guy inside it was.

[thongd4me 69]

It seems to me that it would be difficult to drink in an upside down car.

Rumor has it that he was NZ's only astronaut.

[The_Dude 1,142]

It was actually almost brilliant....had he contested it, there'd be no way to claim whether his BAC was elevated before of after the actual crash.

Good thing he fessed up though.

If he was 3 times over the legal limit, it would be hard to say that he wasn't intoxicated before drinking post-collision.

[Fandango 1,439]

If he was 3 times over the legal limit, it would be hard to say that he wasn't intoxicated before drinking post-collision.

Good point, it's not even close

Saying that, DD is no laughing matter....he could have killed someone. I can empathize til the cows come home, but what he did was reckless, stupid, and wrong.

[The_Dude 1,142]

LoL, New Zealand has the same threshold for alcohol as we do (0.08), so blowing over 0.24 it's a miracle the guy was able to even find his car.

[IndigoSkies 168]

He wasn't going anywhere. And if you noticed, it's hot as hell nowadays. Might as well enjoy a cold one.