(QMI Agency photo illustration)

BRANTFORD, ONT. - A 46-year-old woman caught driving on Highway 403 with a blood-alcohol level that would render most people comatose was fined $1,500 and ordered to donate $250 to Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving.

Susan Galt of Ingersoll, Ont., had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.376 — nearly five times the legal limit — when the vehicle she was driving was stopped by police at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 4. The legal limit is .08 milligrams.

The vehicle had been seen weaving between lanes on the highway.

Galt, who had no prior criminal record, pleaded guilty Wednesday to impaired driving.

“Your readings were extraordinarily high,” Justice Robert Gee said. “Most people would be passed out and in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. That's almost a lethal amount.

“And then, to get behind the wheel on (Highway) 403, you're lucky you're not going to the penitentiary,” he said. “It's pure chance you didn't hurt or kill someone.”

Galt, an alcoholic, told the court that her arrest has proven to be a “turning point” in her life and she realized she has to quit drinking. She said she now has been sober for two months, is attending weekly counselling and goes to three or four AA meetings each week.

Galt is prohibited from driving for one year.