A phone call from a concerned motorist led police to a driver with more than triple the legal limit of alcohol in his system, a Bracebridge court heard recently.
Appearing in court last month, Zachary Lenssen, 33, pled guilty to driving with more than 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood in his system.
Court heard that on Sept. 25, 2022, in the early morning hours, police received a complaint about a motorist on Hwy 60 in Huntsville. The caller said the vehicle was swerving in the road and they were concerned.
The police arrived and the driver, Lenssen, was pulled over. The police noticed visible signs of intoxication, the court heard, and Lenssen was arrested. He ultimately blew alcohol readings of 259 mg per 100 ml of blood, more than triple the legal limit.
He was fined $2,500 and banned from driving for one year.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
That penalty is pretty much just a slap on the wrist. He has already proven he doesn’t care about breaking the law when driving, so driving without a license will be no problem for him. Even if his car was confiscated he would probably get another car somewhere, but it appears that was not done anyway.
A $2,500 fine would sting for most people, but they would just pay it anyway. It almost becomes a fee to break the law. If it is truly a significant amount for Lenssen, maybe it will be effective. We don’t know his situation, and if the judge considered that, great. But more likely it is just the standard fine for the offence.
Until there are significant consequences people will not change their actions.