Charge dismissed in high-speed Western Freeway collision case

Speeds of up to 138km/h were reached up on the Western Freeway before two cars collided. Read why the case was dismissed.

A Ballarat magistrate has dismissed a careless driving charge because the accused man was dangerously cut off by his antagonist prior to a high-speed collision on the Western Freeway.

Daniel Schmidt appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The court heard at 4.50pm on September 23, 2020, a man was driving a Toyota Hilux on the Western Freeway near Ballarat with a trailer connected to his vehicle.

He was driving in the right-hand lane approaching the Ballarat exit ramp.

Schmidt drove a red ute in front of him.

The Hilux overtook Schmidt in the left-hand lane, “not happy with the speed that [he was] driving”.

He cut Schmidt off with his trailer, and Schmidt, believing his car had been struck, followed the man in his car, flashing his lights.

The Hilux sped up to 138km/h heading west to the Brown Hill freeway exit with Schmidt alongside him.

Schmidt’s moved his car left as he tried to get the Hilux to pull over.

But the Toyota veered to the right in front of Schmidt and a collision ensued, causing the Hilux to spin 180 degrees and land in the middle of the freeway.

The two men exchanged details, took photographs, and “blamed each other” for the incident.

There were no injuries and “little or no damage” to the cars.

Schmidt was charged with careless driving, and the man in the Hilux was not charged.

The police prosecutor in the matter said that in the lead-up to the collision there was “careless driving practised by probably both parties, I’ll concede that”.

“I don’t attribute any fault of the collision to this accused,” he said.

Schmidt’s lawyer Dylan Morris said that his client’s actions were less significant than those of the other driver.

“He does take full responsibility for the fact that pulling next to him and trying to signal for him to pull over was maybe not the best practice,” he added.

Mr Morris suggested a fine would be suitable for his client, but Magistrate Hugh Radford said he would “go one step further”.

“You’ve accepted the summary,” he told Schmidt.

“You’ve acknowledged the wrongdoing, which I’ve taken into account.

“But given the circumstances of the offending and what led up to it, I’m not going to take any further action on the careless charge.”