On the top 20 list are a driver who crashed into multiple cars outside a pub after supposedly drinking "three" glasses of wine while inside; a teenage tertiary student who crashed into another motorist after St Patrick’s Day celebrations; and a man who narrowly avoided running over a dog and its walker after he mounted the footpath.
However, the top spot for drink-drivers last year went to a 52-year-old Alexandra man who recorded a breath alcohol level of 1800mcg at 9am on February 4, last year.
At the time, Senior Constable Graham Perkins, of Alexandra, said the man was at Burton Creek, in Fruitgrowers Rd near Clyde, when he suddenly turned in front of another motorist while parking.
That forced the other motorist to take evasive action and they hit a nearby bank to avoid a collision.
Police were called and the man was soon found lying in a bed inside a house bus, and officers had him undergo breath testing procedures.
It was his seventh charge of driving with excess breath alcohol, Snr Const Perkins said at the time.
It was also the fifth-highest reading nationwide last year.
The second drink-driver on the list offended about two weeks later, on February 21.
The 50-year-old man told police he had drunk "two or three" glasses of wine five hours before he caused a three-car nose-to-tail crash at 3.30pm.
The incident happened in Anzac Ave in Dunedin just down the road from Emerson’s — where he admitted to having spent the afternoon.
Despite his claims of having had just a few glasses, he then recorded a breath alcohol level of 1660mcg — the second-highest level in the region last year.
Otago coastal area road policing manager Senior Sergeant Karl Hemmingsen said the risks and illegality were so well publicised that it defied belief why people continued to drink-drive.
"You shouldn’t be doing it — everyone knows you’re not allowed to do it — so why are people doing it?"
Many of the motorists who made the list had been caught drink-driving after crashing.
"Obviously, driving under the influence puts your risk up of crashing because your reaction times are way down and your judgement is impaired."
It could be glaringly obvious when someone was drink-driving — driving excessively fast, or excessively slowly, was a classic sign, and such driving also often resulted in calls from worried members of the public.
On October 4, 2025, police pulled over a 30-year-old man in Gowland St, Dunedin, at 9.10pm as he was driving at 30kmh while shakily weaving within his lane.
He underwent breath testing procedures and recorded a breath alcohol level of 1492mcg — the fourth highest in Otago for 2025.
Snr Sgt Hemmingsen said police would be breath-testing people at random, and officers would not be predictable as to where they went for roadside testing.
"We’re being unpredictable these days — we’ll be anywhere at any given time."
Of the 281,315 motorists in Otago who were breath tested in 2025, 986 either received an infringement notice or were charged and given a court date for recording results over 250mcg.
Snr Sgt Hemmingsen said one drunk motorist was one too many.
"Just don’t drink and drive."
Drunk in charge
Top 20 highest recorded breath alcohol readings Otago (Jan 1-Nov 25, 2025)
| EBA result | scene station | date |
| 1800mcg | Alexandra | Feb 4 |
| 1660mcg | Dunedin Central | Feb 21 |
| 1538mcg | Kaikorai Valley | Aug 24 |
| 1492mcg | Dunedin Central | Oct 4 |
| 1483mcg | Queenstown | Apr 21 |
| 1474mcg | Wānaka | Mar 2 |
| 1436mcg | Cromwell | Jan 7 |
| 1426mcg | Cromwell | Jun 24 |
| 1422mcg | Dunedin South | Nov 20 |
| 1391mcg | Wānaka | Jul 4 |
| 1375mcg | Queenstown | Aug 20 |
| 1344mcg | Kaikorai Valley | Aug 6 |
| 1332mcg | Dunedin North | Mar 17 |
| 1324mcg | Cromwell | Apr 17 |
| 1317mcg | Oamaru | Aug 24 |
| 1315mcg | Oamaru | May 30 |
| 1300mcg | Queenstown | May 17 |
| 1300mcg | Queenstown | Jun 1 |
| 1290mcg | Milton | Jan 18 |
| 1289mcg | Queenstown | Apr 12 |
