Might As Well Have Another

Trapped drunk driver drinks beer as he awaits rescue
By BELINDA GOLDSMITH/REUTERS

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.

I'll tell you, this guy is a man after my own heart. I love his rationale. He's already flipped his car over in a ditch and he has no way of getting out. So why sit there and be miserable sobering up? You might as well crack another brew. Sure, beer got you into the situation but maybe it can get you out too, or at least make the rest of the night go a little better. Buddy, you're certainly a nominee for drunk man of the year.