They've smashed their cars into light poles, mounted kerbs in the city's centre, swerved across lanes of traffic, uprooted trees and been spotted staggering from behind the wheel.
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Here is a snapshot of the havoc wreaked on local roads in the past year by some of Canberra's drunkest drivers, who police say were nabbed driving with blood-alcohol readings up to 16 times the legal limit of 0.05.
Motorists in the capital have driven alongside a slew of repeat drink driving offenders and, disturbingly, drivers police said they caught driving intoxicated with children in the car.
Most of these apprehended drivers fall into the worst category for the offence, with a blood-alcohol level above 0.15.
Among the highest readings was a level of 0.282, which was recorded by a 40-year-old Rivett woman while she was driving with her three children in the back of the car, police said.
She was a repeat drunk driver who had faced similar charges in NSW.
One of the most destructive incidents involved a Kambah man, 34, who police said was seen driving erratically in Kambah before he staggered from his car and into a shop.
Witnesses saw him get back into his car and hit another vehicle as he left the car park. He then jumped the kerb, and narrowly missed several nearby pedestrians before crashing into a bollard.
He continued on, allegedly running a red light and almost hitting two men when he mounted a gutter and careened into a wall.
Also among the intoxicated drivers were a 20-year-old learner driver and her supervisor.
Some of the most destructive incidents recorded in the past year involved repeat drink driving offenders.
One of them, a 42-year-old Lyons man, was charged after he nearly collided with a parked car in Tuggeranong and blew 0.162. Police said it was his seventh drink driving offence.
Police figures show 285 ACT drivers have been caught under the influence of alcohol five times or more in the past 15 years. Sixty motorists have been nabbed driving drunk six times, while 28 were caught under the influence seven times.
Police are targeting ACT drivers affected by alcohol or drugs until the end of January, on top of annual cross-border efforts to nab speeding drivers on territory and NSW roads throughout the holidays.
Traffic Operations station sergeant Rod Anderson has described some of this year's worst drink driving instances as "absolutely stupid" and "appalling" and said drunks who got behind the wheel showed scant regard for other motorists.
Sergeant Anderson said drunk and drugged drivers pose the highest road safety risk and face hefty fines, a loss of licence and a prison term if convicted.
"Our message could not be clearer – if you breach the road rules and and place your own life or the lives of others in danger, we will catch you."
His warnings were echoed by ACT police chief Rudi Lammers, who said repeat offenders faced tougher punishment.
"If you've been caught drink driving twice or more, not only do the fines increase, but so does the potential to be committed to a term of imprisonment as a result of drink driving.
"What people need to remember is when they're impaired and they have an accident and they injure someone, then we will deal with that much more harshly than we what we would normally if it was a traffic incident where no alcohol was involved.
"And the courts take a much harder approach to people that have been drinking and driving and have had accidents."
More than 1000 motorists have been apprehended for drink driving offences in Canberra so far this year .
Police carried out 42,231 random breath tests and got rid of 301 drunk drivers from ACT roads last summer.
Double demerit points are in place until midnight on January 3.
- November 16: Harrison man, 47. 0.157. He left a 300-metre trail of scattered car parts and destruction, which included a damaged light pole and uprooted trees on the nature strip on a Franklin street.
- October 27: Rivett woman, 40, 0.282. Breath-tested in Duffy while driving her three children home. Repeat offender.
- September 24: Kambah man, 26. 0.163. He was left with a bloodied nose after he crashed his car into a light pole in Oxley.
- September 22: Woman, 48, caught in Curtin. 0.214. Her car swerved across two lanes of traffic and almost collided with a police car.
- September 13: Lyons man, 42. 0.162. He narrowly avoided colliding with a parked car in Tuggeranong. Police said it was his seventh drink driving offence.
- August 24: Man, 74, caught in Weston. 0.082. He collided with two cars, damaged several others and crashed into an electrical substation.
- August 20: Queanbeyan man, 28. 0.206. Police said the man lost control of his car and mounted a gutter on London Circuit in Civic. Repeat drink driver who had just resumed driving on probationary licence.
- August 18: Palmerston man, 60. 0.197. Was seen driving erratically before he collided with road sign, mounted a kerb and crashed into two parked cars in a school car park. Had just dropped his granddaughter at school.
- August 8: Kambah man, 37. 0.078. Police said he ran from his car and hid in a bush after they saw him driving strangely in Kambah. Repeat drink driving offender.
- July 22: Giralang woman, 41. 0.172. Collided with a car stopped at a red light. A disqualified driver and a repeat drink driving offender.
- June 9: Theodore man, 53. 0.112, 0.087. Motorbike rider nabbed by police on the Monaro Highway twice in one night.
- June 4: Kambah man, 34. Unfit to provide a breath sample. Was seen driving erratically and staggering into a shop. He got back in his car and narrowly missed several pedestrians as he jumped a kerb and collided with a log bollard. Police said he went on to run a red light, mount another kerb and crash into a wall.
- May 22: Duffy woman, 40. 0.151. Rivett woman, 20. 0.051. The 20-year-old L-plate driver and supervising driving were nabbed during a random breath test. The 40-year-old woman was a repeat drink driving offender.
- March 31: Man, caught in Civic and Turner. 0.186, 0.197, 0.150. Nabbed driving over the limit three times as many hours.
- December 28, 2013: Greenway man, 59. 0.099. Police said he'd been convicted eight times previously for drink driving offences, most recently in 2011.
