17-year-old in Coffs Harbour court for dangerous beach driving

Magistrate slams “complete abandonment of responsibility” from P-plate driver fishtailing near beachgoers and parked cars. See what happened in court.

A teenage P-plate driver wound up in Coffs Harbour Local Court on Tuesday in relation to an incident at a local beach.

Magistrate Michael Dakin described the 17-year-old’s behaviour on March 12 as a “complete abandonment of responsibility from an inexperienced driver”, and that “police just happened to be nearby in an unmarked vehicle” when they saw the incident unfold.

Mr Dakin also told the court it was lucky the 17-year-old did not flip his car as he fishtailed near beachgoers and parked vehicles.

The young driver who lives at home with his parents and cannot be identified also had passengers in his car at the time, Mr Dakin told the court.

“The bravado of youth sees youth over represented in these matters,” he said.

Coffs Harbour courthouse.

Mr Dakin told the court the situation was particularly treacherous given the unpredictable conditions.

“To my mind it’s worse than driving on the road because you don’t know what the beach and sand conditions are going to be,” he said.

The court heard the offender left school in Year 10 and is now completing a traineeship with a local concrete firm. He had only been on his Ps for approximately four months prior to the incident.

He was convicted of driving recklessly/furiously or speed/manner dangerous – first offence.

He was sentenced to an 18-month conditional release order beginning on July 5 and disqualified from holding a driver’s/rider’s licence for 12 months.