Here is how the Sydney Morning Herald and syndicated papers are reporting a recent drink-driving incident here in Estonia:
Police in the Baltic state of Estonia stopped a man who was driving erratically at the weekend, only to find he was blind.
The 20-year-old was driving in the southern city of Tartu early on Sunday - helped by instructions from his 16-year-old passenger.
"At first they thought he was just drunk, but the man kept missing the tube for the breath test, then they realised he was blind" and arrested him, Tartu Police spokeswoman Marge Kohtla said.
What they fail to mention is that: 1) the blind man was in fact also drunk; 2) his passenger, who could see and had therefore taken on navigating duties, was also soused; and 3) neither of them was licensed to drive (which is reasonable enough in the case of the blind man). However, I do like the optimism of describing Estonia as 'the Baltic state of', as if this will give the average Australian reader any better idea of where the country is.
