Chad David Booker in Bundaberg Magistrates Court over traffic offences

A P-plater tradie was punished over a dangerous day on the road even before he ended up in court. See why.

An inexperienced driver, who had been drinking when he sideswiped a tow-truck and crashed into a ditch, has been sentenced.

Chad David Booker, 18, pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court to one count of drink driving and one of driving without due care and attention.

The court heard the teenage P-plater was over the middle alcohol limit when he ran a truck off Goodwood Road on Friday, September 17, 2021.

Booker was driving his white Hyundai Accent on Goodwood Road at Goodwood about 7am when he crossed onto the wrong side of the road.

The incident forced a tow truck driver to pull over onto the verge as far as he could, but Booker’s vehicle still side swiped the truck before veering 400m down the road and going down a steep embankment, coming to rest in a ditch.

The court heard the 18-year-old had no prior criminal history, but that a blood alcohol reading after the incident showed a result of 0.108.

Booker’s lawyer told the court his client, a concreting subcontractor, had suffered a perforated ear drum in the crash and written off his own car.

He said his client had overcorrected after feeling his wheels locking up, causing the incident with the tow truck.

Magistrate Trinity McGarvie took Booker’s young age and lack of history with the court into consideration, while still expressing the seriousness of road safety.

“People who are on the road ought to expect that the other road users will not put them in inherent danger by driving with alcohol in their system and driving without due care and attention,” she said.

Booker was fined $1050, deferred to SPER and disqualified from driving for four months.

Convictions were recorded.