Careless driver who spun out of control and busted Rosebud light pole escapes $10k repair bill
An uninsured driver who spun out of control on a wet Rosebud road and crashed into two light poles, snapping one in half, has appeared in court on a careless driving charge, managing to spin her way out of a $10k repair bill.
South East
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A careless crasher who snapped a street light clean in half after skidding on a wet Rosebud road has had a lucky break in court.
After a failed overtaking manoeuvre the woman’s car barrelled into another vehicle and spun out several times before smashing into light poles in the “disastrous” accident.
But a magistrate was kind to the uninsured, unemployed single mum and threw out a restitution request for her to stump up more than $10,000 to fix the street lighting.
She does still have to pay the other driver for the damage she inflicted on his car.
Rebecca Flynn pleaded guilty to a careless driving charge at Dromana Magistrates’ Court on November 7.
The court heard the 39-year-old, who now lives in Sunbury, was driving along Boneo Rd about 9.45am on May 11 this year.
As she left the roundabout and drove onto Boneo Rd she accelerated to move into the overtaking lane.
She then lost control, overcorrected and her rear hit the side of the car in front before skidding across the median strip and collecting two light poles, one of which snapped in half.
Her car briefly ended up on the wrong side of the road before finally coming to rest in the median strip.
When police came she told officers she “slipped a little bit in the wet” and tried to avoid other cars, but slid across the road.
Flynn, who represented herself in court, said she was not insured, and on benefits since becoming unemployed in February due to a medical illness.
She said she had been driving back from dropping off her daughter at work in Cape Schanck when she had the crash, which she blamed on oil on the very wet road.
She said she wasn’t speeding and was only doing about 50-55km/h in the 70km/h zone.
She said while she was happy to pay for damage to the other driver’s car, there was “no way” she could afford $10,500 to fix the lights.
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Magistrate Vicky Prapas said it was a serious accident, and Flynn did have traffic priors, although it had been eight years since her last court date.
“The damage to the other car wasn’t significant, but the outcome was disastrous,” Ms Prapas said.
“You could have killed someone.”
She said she would not approve the restitution request, and if the authority involved wanted to pursue Flynn in civil court for the damages, they could.
She was convicted and fined $400 and ordered to pay $260 to the other driver. No licence loss was imposed.