Mildura Magistrates’ Court: Arghya Chakraborty pleads guilty to careless

A man driving his family to the Barossa Valley for a day sipping fine wines has caused a three-car pileup after not stopping at a stop sign.

A man causes a massive three-car smash after he drove through a stop sign

A man who failed to follow a stop sign has sent one car into grapevines and smashed into another while on the way to wine-country.

Arghya Chakraborty, 42, pleaded guilty in the Mildura Magistrates’ Court on November 21 to one charge of careless driving after failing to stop at a stop sign.

The IT consultant was driving along the Calder Highway on December last year when he failed to stop at the Morpung Avenue intersection.

The court heard Chakraborty collided with the first car, which was flung into grapevines at the Marciano Table Grapes winery.

After the first collision, Chakraborty’s car spun and hit another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

Both paramedics and the SES were called to the accident.

In court on Tuesday, Chakraborty’s lawyer Mostafa Rahmani said his client “didn’t see the first car”.

“On the day of the incident Mr Chakraborty was on route to the Barossa Valley for a family vacation,” he said.

“He slowed down to look both ways and didn’t see the first car. By the time he was in the intersection, avoiding a collision wasn’t possible.”

The court heard Chakraborty had attended to the other drivers after the accident to “ensure they were OK”.

“Mr Chakraborty was deeply shaken by the incident,” Mr Rahmani said.

“Not only because his family was in the car, but because his mistake put other drivers at risk.”

Magistrate Michael McNamara said a fine would have to reflect the gravity of the offending, but that he would also consider Chakraborty’s good history.

“His lapse of concentration shows how dangerous a lapse can be when people are driving motor vehicles,” he said.

“It’s a serious matter that goes to road safety.”

Chakraborty was given a $1000 fine without conviction and Mr McNamara didn’t make any orders on his licence.