Mooroopna woman Poppi Elder pleads guilty to careless driving

A pregnant 21-year-old Mooroopna hoon and her mate “flipped the bird” at a woman after they crashed into her stationary car at an intersection.

A pregnant Mooroopna woman has been fined after she failed to stop at the scene of a car accident.

A pregnant Mooroopna woman and her mate “flipped the finger” at the driver of another car after she collided with them and drove off.

Poppi Elder, 21, was driving south on Jasper Rd, McKinnon on January 22 last year at 7pm at speed when she crashed into a stationary Holden Commodore at the intersection with McKinnon Rd, the court heard.

Elder and her passenger continued to travel on Jasper Rd and “presented both middle fingers to the victim”.

In April, Elder was interviewed and released pending summons.

She told police at the time she was driving her father’s vehicle to see a friend in Oakley and she “didn’t hit them hard”.

She also told police she didn’t know she had to stop and just drove off because “cars were beeping”.

The intersection of McKinnon and Jasper Rd where Poppi Elder rear-ended another vehicle before driving away.

Elder fronted Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to careless driving, failing to stop at an accident and failing to provide her name and address and of the car owner following an accident.

Elder told the court she did not remember sticking her finger up at the other driver as she fled the scene.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said he found it hard to believe Elder did not know she had to stop after an accident.

“I think that was a fairly glib response,” he said.

“There’s a little bit of unpleasantness about this with you driving along, have an accident and the allegation is you drive away flipping the finger.

“It leaves a nasty impression … you thought it was all a bit of a lark.

“It’s a difficult one for me because you are young, you have no priors, a child on the way and probably need a licence but young people sometimes do silly things and make mistakes.”

Mr Zebrowski said given her circumstances he was “prepared to cut some slack”.

“Part of being a driver is being responsible, if you have an accident you have to stop,” he said.

Elder was fined $1000 without conviction.