Drunk teen crashes, writes off car while on KFC run
An 18-year-old P-plater’s decision to go on a late-night fast food run with a BAC of 0.13 put him and his friend in Gympie Hospital
Gympie
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A late-night trip to KFC while drunk turned a teenager's life upside down after he crashed his vehicle into an embankment, which left him and his friend injured, and landed him in legal hot water.
Gympie Magistrates Court heard 18-year-old Tyson Craig Woodrow had been drinking throughout the day on November 18 before he tried to drive to Gympie's KFC about 11pm.
The trip ended abruptly when he crashed head-on into an embankment near the intersection of Eel Creek Rd and Rocks Rd.
Police later recorded a 0.13 reading from the P-plater.
The crash put the New Auckland resident in Gympie Hospital with a fractured sternum and lower spinal injuries.
He then developed pneumonia and was transferred south to another hospital, only to be brought back to Gympie when he had a reaction to the treatment there, and ultimately spent more than a week in and out of hospital.
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His friend, a passenger in the car, was also hurt.
Woodrow's lawyer told the court what happened was "out of character" for the teen, and he had "been beating himself up since it happened".
Magistrate Chris Callaghan accepted Woodrow's guilty plea to a charge of driving while over the middle alcohol limit while holding a provisional licence and warned he "shouldn't have been anywhere near the wheel of a car".
"If your friend had been badly injured or killed you'd be facing different charges."
Mr Callaghan noted Woodrow was forced to sell the $8000 car to wreckers for only $750.
Woodrow was fined $70, and was disqualified from driving for three months.
No conviction was recorded.
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