Brian Kneebone: Mt Eliza man allegedly hits Mornington Peninsula stop sign worker
A former Oakleigh mayor’s husband is alleged to have hit a road worker with his car, leaving the man clinging to the bonnet.
South East
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An 83-year-old retired professional driver accused of running down a road worker has fronted court.
Brian Kneebone has been charged with dangerous driving and failing to stop — offences which related to an alleged Mornington Peninsula roadside construction site incident.
The elderly Mt Eliza man appeared via link at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, with his lawyer initially indicating Mr Kneebone intended to plead guilty.
But when advised there would be a mandatory driver’s licence ban of at least six months for a dangerous driving offence, the lawyer she said her client would be contesting the charges.
The court heard Mr Kneebone was driving his Ford ute along Canadian Bay Rd in Mt Eliza when he came across some roadworks on December 17, 2019.
A traffic controller was holding up a stop sign at the time to allow an excavator to manoeuvre around the site.
Mr Kneebone’s car was the first in line and he stopped around 2m away from the road worker before his ute allegedly slowly started to creep forward.
The court heard the controller told the driver to immediately stop, but Mr Kneebone revved his engine, yelled loudly and drove towards the man at a slow pace.
The road worker stood in front of Mr Kneebone’s ute but the driver allegedly carried on driving, forcing the man onto his bonnet.
Police say he then drove with the stop sign worker clinging onto his car before the controller fell onto the ground.
Mr Kneebone is then accused of driving away from the scene.
A witness saw the alleged incident and reported the ute’s rego to police.
When officers interviewed Mr Kneebone he allegedly told them he “nudged” the traffic controller, who should have let him pass, and the man “sat on the ground”.
His defence lawyer said her client had never been to court before and had not even had any speeding tickets despite being a professional driver for many years.
She said he was a man of faith with great standing in the community and he required his licence as his wife, a former Oakleigh mayor, didn’t drive and they needed to go to medical appointments.
Magistrate Dr Michael King said Mr Kneebone should have just turned around and gone a different way.
“Given what I have heard (the police summary) what he did was dangerous driving,” Dr King said.
“There is a need to protect workers doing their jobs on the side of the road.”
Mr Kneebone will return to court on July 9.
