“You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself’: Doonside P-plater avoids jail over high-range crash
A Doonside p-plater has avoided jail over a crash in Blacktown while being more than three times the legal alcohol limit.
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A magistrate has told a Doonside p-plater he was lucky he wasn’t killed after crashing his car while being more than three times the legal alcohol limit.
Brandan Kumar, 18, pleaded guilty to high-range drink driving and negligent driving over the March 17 incident.
Police said Kumar was driving along Richmond Rd, Blacktown, just after 6am when he grabbed his phone to change music, mounted the kerb and drove into a set of traffic lights at the intersection of Breakfast Rd and crashed into another vehicle.
When police arrived at the scene, Kumar placed both hands in front of himself, asking officers to handcuff him.
“I caused this accident. I have been drinking,” Kumar told police.
A breath test revealed Kumar had a blood alcohol reading of 0.153 — more than three times the legal alcohol limit for a fully-licensed driver.
The defence told the Blacktown Court House the incident was a “massive error of judgment” and that Kumar seldom consumed alcohol.
“He’s now learnt his lesson the hard way, losing his licence,” the defence said.
“He understood it was wrong.”
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In sentencing, the magistrate said it was fortunate the crash wasn’t deadly.
“I’m surprised someone without a significant drinking history could even put his seatbelt on,” the magistrate said.
“A reading of 0.153 in a man of your size is an extremely high reading.
“You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself.
“The material in front of me speaks of a high-achiever … that’s not the person who was driving on this occasion.
“You need to understand how serious this offence is and how close you were to tragedy on this morning.”
Kumar was disqualified from driving for nine months, fined $1200 and ordered to have an interlock device fitted to his vehicle for 24 months.
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