A BABINDA boy caught drink-driving on Sunday morning is part of a worrying trend for police.

The boy, 15, allegedly blew .053 after getting behind the wheel following a party at Miriwinni, south of Babinda, early on Sunday morning.

He is believed to have been driving a family member's car.

Police yesterday said drink-driver numbers had risen above last year’s in the Innisfail region, despite a number of deaths on the district’s roads since January.

Police could not give a similar comparison for Cairns, but Insp Bob Waters said drink-driving levels were on a par with last year and were still an issue in the Far North.

Police are yet to decide whether the Babinda boy will be charged with drink-driving and unlicensed driving.

Innisfail police district’s Insp David Tucker said under the Juvenile Justice Act police had to consider alternatives, such as a youth justice conference or an official police caution, as well as charges for young offenders.

"What we can say is that it is totally unacceptable that a child was not only drinking but getting into a car and driving," he said.

"We not only have a situation where adults are drink-driving … now younger people are finding themselves in the same situation."

The Babinda boy was collected from Innisfail police station by his mother after his second breath-test.

The boy had been stopped by police on Greer Rd about 4.30am.

Officers were called to Greer Rd because of a noisy party, reported by neighbours as being "out of control". The revellers had left by the time police arrived.

Insp Tucker said Innisfail district police had caught 60 drink-drivers since January – seven more than in 2008.

"The community is not getting the message – the answer is not more police but more people taking responsibility," he said.

"We’re undertaking traffic operations at all different times of the day, week and night, but we’re also still falling over drink-drivers … we’re out on other jobs and we’re coming across them."

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