The 49-year-old man made the extraordinary claim in Warwick Magistrates Court that the reason he was driving at 144km/hr was to save the lives of others.

The man asked police to take into consideration he had one eye and was “trying to save lives” by overtaking at 144km/hr on a busy highway. DETAILS:

Wayne Hawkey testified that it was dire circumstances that forced him to make the dangerous manoeuvre. Picture: Marc McCormack

A 49-year-old man made the extraordinary claim in Warwick Magistrates Court that the reason he was driving at 144km/hr was to save the life of others.

On Thursday, May 6 the court heard Wayne Arthur Hawkey was travelling along Cunningham Highway when he overtook a truck at speed.

Senior Constable Trent Aaron Parker was on a marked police motorcycle and flagged down Hawkey at 2.16pm on June 17 after his speed radar gave a high reading for the sedan.

“The speed on the radar showed 144km/hr, but the default speed limit is 100km for that zone,” constable Parker explained.

“You can’t exceed the speed limit of 100, even when overtaking.”

The Camp Mountain resident was driving with his daughter and was issued an on-the-spot fine of $1245.

However Hawkey pleaded not guilty to disobeying the speed limit in a type 2 related vehicle.

On the stand, Hawkey testified that it was dire circumstances that forced him to make the dangerous manoeuvre.

“I took evasive action, it was an emergency situation where I had to overtake to save the lives of those around me,” he said.

“I had no other option, I couldn’t brake to slow down as the car behind me was right at the back of me.

‘The car behind me is what caused the incident to occur.”

Representing himself, Mr Hawkey said he took immediate action after the truck in front began slowing down.

“I backed off all the way once the mud flaps began flicking stones up and cracking the windscreen,” he said.

Throughout the trial Hawkey never contested that he was exceeding the speed limit but rather his actions were necessary to prevent an accident and “save lives”.

The helmet mounted recording system captured the entire incident with that footage used as evidence during the trial.

Police prosecutor sergeant Ken Wiggan said Hawkey’s decision to overtake was unnecessary.

“The speedometer showed that the car behind Mr Hawkey was going at a speed of 120km,” sergeant Wiggan said. 

“If the vehicle behind was going at less speed, it would not have forced Mr Hawkey to speed.”

After being pulled over by police, Hawkey claimed his sight difficulties needed to be considered.

In the helmet camera vision Hawkey asked the police officer “can you take into account that I only have one eye?”.

The father of three argued that while he has limited sight in one of his eyes his sight impairment doesn’t affect his judgment.

“I have 20/20 vision,” he claimed.

Magistrate Julian Noud said he had doubts about the reliability of Hawkey’s evidence.

“Prosecution evidence shows something of a different picture compared to Mr Hawkey’s evidence, it shows that the second car was some considerable distance behind Mr Hawkey’s vehicle,” he said.

“I don’t consider that the defendant’s actions can be considered an extraordinary emergency.

“I don’t consider that the second car was in any way responsible or contributed to Mr Hawkey speeding.”

The Magistrate affirmed the importance of obeying the speed limit during his deliberation.

“It’s very important that when people drive they obey the speed limit, because we too often see tragedy that occurs on our roads,” he said.

Hawkey was found guilty of disobeying the speed limit and fined the speeding ticket amount of $1245.

A conviction was recorded.