Christmas work party drunk crashed car head-on, blew .174
A real estate agent who got behind the wheel after a few too many drinks at a work Christmas party in Box Hill before driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing into another car has blamed the bender on her girlfriend breaking up with her.
South East
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A real estate reveller who got smashed at a work Christmas party, got behind the wheel while three times over the limit and hit another car head-on has blamed her former girlfriend for the crash.
Qiushuang Wei knocked back free glasses of red wine at a Box Hill Chinese restaurant before trying to drive home to Carnegie.
But due to her heavily-intoxicated state the 31-year-old property manager took a wrong turn, drove on the wrong side of the road and crashed into an innocent motorist.
Luckily no-one was injured in the alcohol-fuelled accident, which left both cars badly damaged.
Wei pleaded guilty to drink-driving at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The court heard about 11pm on December 12 last year Wei was driving along Station St in Burwood on the wrong side of the road.
She collided with another car, causing severe damage to both vehicles, and police were called.
Wei was taken to Box Hill police station where she blew .174, and she lost her licence on the spot.
She admitted she had been drinking, saying she was “upset because my girlfriend had broken up with me”.
In court her defence lawyer said Wei had been hit hard financially as she now has to pay to take taxis and Ubers to her open-for-inspections for her part-time property job.
This was the first time she had ever been in court and she was extremely remorseful, he said.
Magistrate Stephen Lee said Wei had made “a terrible decision” to drive that night, and had posed a significant danger to herself and other road users.
“The fact she was on the wrong side of the road was an aggravating factor; the other driver was not doing anything wrong at all,” Mr Lee said.
“It could have been so much worse.
“But you were compliant with police, made admissions, I accept it was really a bit of a one-off and the chances of it being repeated are very small.”
Wei was convicted and fined $1300 and disqualified from driving for 17 months, backdated to December.
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