Police unimpressed with man found sleeping in the middle of road

Police found a man at 4.45am on Saturday, sound asleep in the middle of a road in Napier, New Zealand. He was not injured and had not been run over, but was extremely drunk.

The man, in his mid-20s, lived a short distance from where he was found, and told police he had spent all night drinking in town. Police officers returned him home with a stern warning, Sergeant Andrew Graham from Hawke's Bay police said. "He was so drunk he had no idea what he was doing. He was very lucky that one of our patrol cars just happened to come across him.



"This is a classic example of what can happen when you drink too much and lose control of your faculties. This man could easily have been run over, and luckily there was not a lot of traffic in the area at the time." Drunk people were often victims of crimes such as robberies and assaults, Graham said.

Many drunk people could not defend themselves or recognise a potentially dangerous situation. "We say this time and time again, and we will keep on saying it: if you drink to excess, you will end up putting yourself or others in danger. It's all about personal responsibility and keeping yourself safe."