Drink driving is a grave mistake on any given day. However, when a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) is involved, the potential consequences multiply exponentially.
Last Friday morning, on October 27, a serious near-miss with a police car underscored this peril (scroll down for the video).
Marius Viorel Amarie, a 38-year-old from Romania, was found driving his lorry at over four times the legal drink-drive limit.
An alarmed member of the public called 999, describing the HGV’s erratic behaviour, which included nearly colliding with multiple traffic islands on its path between Heighington Village and Aycliffe Village.
The incident came to a head when SC Howells, a special constable with Durham Constabulary’s roads policing unit, intercepted Amarie on Heighington Lane.
The lorry, attempting to manoeuvre a roundabout, nearly met with disaster. The trailer teetered dangerously, almost toppling over as it mounted the kerb multiple times.
When taken into custody, Amarie’s breath test astonishingly revealed a reading of 131 – far beyond the legal limit of 35.
He was subsequently charged with drink driving and brought before the Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on October 30.
Accepting his grievous error, Amarie pleaded guilty. The court handed down a driving ban of three years and a 12-week prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months.
This event serves as a stern reminder of the dire risks associated with drink driving. No matter the vehicle – be it a HGV, van, small car, or motorcycle – the implications can be disastrous.
If luck favours, one might escape with a mere penalty. However, the price could be much steeper, endangering countless lives.
Readers can witness the heart-stopping footage of this incident at the bottom of this page.
Remember
Want a front-row seat to the most gripping stories from the heart of the emergency services? Join our exclusive WhatsApp Channel now and be the first to get real-time updates, videos, and tales from the frontline.
And remember to check out our Amazon Shop for recommendations, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on X for breaking news stories!
Join our WhatsApp community!
ESN is now on WhatsApp, and we want you to join our communities.
To join, you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is click the link and press 'Join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up, and no one can send messages except the ESN team.
Joining our WhatsApp channel is a great way to help support our work and best of all, it is free!
If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Before you read or leave a comment...
In an age where mainstream media often overlooks the sacrifices made by our emergency services personnel, Emergency Services News is a critical voice you can trust
While we persist in our mission, we need your help to continue. Your donation directly enables us to produce high-quality content that elevates the stories and challenges faced by the men and women who serve, stories that are often ignored elsewhere.
We deeply appreciate your support. Your contribution empowers us to keep shining a light on the remarkable, yet often overlooked, individuals who serve our communities every day. Thank you for standing with us.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
The sentence should never have been suspended. 4 times over is bad enough but being that drunk in charge of 44 tonnes is out of sight. He should have been locked up for at least a year and then permanently deported. If he had any dependents in the UK who could not get by without benefits, they should have gone too.
We had one of these Romanian truckers turn up to make a delivery where I work in a similar 44 tonne arctic, he drove in bare feet whilst watching three lap-tops, one for maps, one for e-mail and the third running hard porn, unusually he didn’t smell of drink. But with the number of such truckers drunk off the over-night cross channel ferries we’ve had more than enough of them crash on the local Motorway, occasionally they get caught as they come off the ferry in the port, but too many make it onto our roads, time for proper checks at the ports?