Drunk wedding guest Crystell Lane appeals suspension after flipping Merc
A Qld woman who flipped a Mercedes-Benz on an iconic NSW bridge as she drove drunk to get a new dress after a wardrobe malfunction will be back on the road sooner than expected.
Illawarra Star
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A woman who ducked out of a wedding after a wardrobe mishap and then drunkenly flipped her hired Mercedes-Benz on the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge in the Illawarra’s north will be back on the road sooner than expected.
Crystell Jade Lane appeared in Wollongong District Court via video link from the passenger seat of a car on Friday three months after she was sentenced for mid-range drink driving.
The Queenslander, from the Logan suburb of Woodridge, had been convicted and slapped with a $1500 fine, a mandatory interlock period and a 12-month driving disqualification from the August court date.
However, Lane attempted to get the driving suspension backdated to Friday, March 25 of this year, telling the court on Friday police had advised her she was not allowed to drive from the time of the incident.
“I respect His Honour’s sentence, the conviction, the fine and the interlock,” Lane said.
“I was incredibly stupid and selfish. I broke the law.
“What I am appealing is the excess five months.”
The crash that landed Lane in court occurred while Lane was attending a wedding in the Illawarra.
Lane had been drinking when she experienced a wardrobe malfunction.
Despite being under the influence of alcohol and wet conditions on the road, she decided to rush off in the silver Merc to buy another dress.
About 4.30pm, Lane was travelling north on the Sea Cliff Bridge near Coalcliff when she lost control of the vehicle and collided with an embankment.
The car became airborne, clearing an access driveway on the side, colliding with a number of road signs before landing on top of an embankment 5m above the roadway.
The potentially life-threatening crash finished when the Merc slammed into a large pine tree, slid back down the embankment and came to a stop in the wrong direction on the southbound lane.
A witness contacted emergency services who rushed to the scene with Lane required to be cut from the vehicle and conveyed to Wollongong Hospital.
Lane submitted to a blood-alcohol test which returned a mid-range reading of 0.104.
When she appeared in person in Wollongong Local Court in August, Lane said she required surgery for a broken back sustained in the crash which will continue to cause her concern “for the rest of her life”.
She concluded her case by saying she “just wants to be proud of herself again”.
At sentence, Magistrate Darryl Pearce described Lane’s driving as “appalling”, saying “you put your own life and anyone else using that road’s life at risk”.
“How no one was killed I have no idea,” he said.
On Friday, Judge Andrew Haesler agreed the suspension needed to take into consideration the five months Lane had already spent off the road.
Judge Haesler backdated the suspension allowing Lane to get back behind the wheel in March, 2023, but some red tape scuppered the decision once Lane had already been dismissed.
The court heard judicial officers in NSW did not have the authority to backdate driving suspensions for Queensland licence holders.
Judge Haesler managed to find a workaround by cutting Lane‘s suspension in half which will allow her to drive in March, 2023.
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