Warwick drunk driver veers onto wrong side of road before crashing into ditch, roadworks zone

It took more than one crash to stop the Warwick father, who was more than three times the alcohol limit when he then hurtled towards another potential collision with an oncoming truck.

A Warwick man has been told he is lucky to be alive after driving through a roundabout on the wrong side of the road before hurtling into a roadworks site, all while more than three times the legal alcohol limit.

Police were called to a crash at the roundabout between McEvoy Street and Bracker Road at about 7.30pm on June 21, where they found a drunk Jordan Isacc Pritchard sitting on the ground.

The Warwick Magistrates Court was told the 22-year-old’s speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet when he stood up, with his car “extensively damaged” near the roadworks site.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said witnesses reported Pritchard drove through a red light at the roadworks zone and swerved onto the wrong side of the roundabout before crashing into a ditch.

“He’s reversed out and continued forward to the left, ignoring the traffic cones, (and) entered the dead lane of the roadworks,” Sergeant de Lissa said.

“He narrowly avoided a truck before losing control and colliding with the kerb.”

Sergeant de Lissa said Pritchard underwent a breath test and returned a blood alcohol concentration of 0.176.

Pritchard appeared in court with a clean criminal and traffic history.

The self-represented father-of-two told the Warwick court he’d been fired from his job only a few days before the incident and was also struggling with family issues at the time.

“I’m really sorry for everyone who was on the roads while I was doing that. It was really irresponsible and stupid of me,” Pritchard said.

Magistrate Julian Noud stressed to the Warwick man the potentially devastating consequences of his actions.

“You’re fortunate no one was seriously injured or killed. To think I could have been sharing the roads with you on that particular day in question really is concerning,” Mr Noud said.

Pritchard pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence of liquor.

He was fined $1000 and disqualified from driving for 10 months.