A waiter who narrowly avoided a head-on collision with an ambulance has been banned from the road for impaired driving.

Alexandru Carastoian, 38, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to driving while impaired by alcohol early on Monday morning.

The court heard that at around 4.10am, officers in a marked police vehicle were exiting Paget Plaza when they saw the defendant riding a black motorcycle travelling west along South Road in the wrong lane.

The officers followed the rider, who briefly entered the correct lane near the nearby Paget stoplights before veering back into the eastbound lane and into the path of an ambulance, which was in the process of responding to an emergency.

The ambulance steered away to avoid a collision with the motorcycle. Carastoian, who was riding the bike, was subsequently stopped by police.

Officers noticed that Carastoian’s breath smelled strongly of alcohol, he appeared unsteady on his feet and seemed to have a difficulty putting the vehicle on its stand.

Asked if he had been drinking, the defendant replied: “Please take me home. I live in Paget.”

He was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired and taken to Hamilton Police Station, where he agreed to give officers a breath sample. That test revealed he had 204 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — just over two-and-a-half times the legal limit of 80mg.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner fined Carastoian $1,500 and banned him from driving all vehicles for one year.