A routine traffic stop in Sydney’s southwest took a bizarre turn yesterday afternoon when highway patrol officers discovered that both a learner driver and his supervising passenger were allegedly heavily intoxicated behind the wheel.
About 4:00 PM on Saturday, May 30, officers from the Liverpool City Highway Patrol pulled over a sedan on Meadows Road in Mt Pritchard for a random breath test. What seemed like a standard weekend check quickly unravelled into a double arrest.
Police will allege that the driver, a 39-year-old man on a learner’s permit, blew positive at the roadside. When officers tested his supervisor—a 49-year-old man sitting in the front passenger seat—he also returned a positive reading.
Both men were immediately arrested and transported to Cabramatta Police Station for secondary analysis, where the numbers only got worse.
The 39-year-old learner driver allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.208—more than four times the legal limit for a fully licensed driver, and a massive violation of the zero-tolerance threshold required for learners. A secondary oral fluid test also returned a positive indication for cannabis.
He was issued a Court Attendance Notice for high-range drink driving (PCA) and driving with illicit drugs. He was also hit with an infringement notice for failing to display ‘L’ plates.
But it was the supervisor who set the high mark of the afternoon. The 49-year-old passenger allegedly blew 0.245—nearly five times the legal limit for a standard driver, completely defeating the purpose of having a supervising driver in the vehicle.
Under NSW road laws, supervisors must remain under the 0.05 limit as they are legally in control of the vehicle. The older man was charged with being a licensed driver occupying the seat next to a learner while high-range PCA.
Both men have had their driving privileges suspended and are scheduled to face Liverpool Local Court on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
