Alyssia Kaitlin Brooks: Gold Coast teen ‘learnt lesson’ after speeding with injured mate

A Gold Coast teenager has learnt a costly lesson after she was caught racing to a hospital with a “seriously injured” friend in the back of the car.

Generic photo of a Queensland Police traffic stop. Photo: Scott Powick

A Gold Coast teenager has learnt a costly lesson after she was caught speeding with a “seriously injured” friend in the back of the car.

Alyssia Kaitlin Brooks, 19, was charged with exceeding the speed limit, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving an uninsured vehicle when she was caught by police on August 14.

The young woman was on a trip away from home when a friend was injured after falling from a bike near Tarone, about 100km southwest of Brisbane.

She appeared in the Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to all charges.

Brooks told the court an ambulance had been called but the injured person had decided against accepting the ride because the ambulance was “going the wrong way”.

“I was stressed … my friend was seriously injured,” she said of the speeding.

“I’ve learnt from my mistake.”

She said she jumped in her friend’s car and began driving back toward her home city because the group “wanted to go to a closer hospital”.

Sgt Dick said the situation was explained to police at the time, but officers decided it wasn’t a valid reason to not follow road rules.

Sentencing Brooks, Magistrate Dennis Kinsella said it was clear the offending was “out-of-character” for the young woman.

“You may think you were helping, but in reality your speeding put other members of the public at risk,” he said.

“I can understand from the circumstances why you didn’t ask if the car was registered and insured.”

Brooks was fined $1000 over the incident and a conviction was recorded.