Drunk driver chased after ramming parked car into tree in Chelsea
The morning after hitting the booze, a man was on the phone while driving when his van hit something even harder in Chelsea.
South East
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A phone-using drunk driver three times over the limit the day after a boozy bender smashed into a parked car before being chased by good Samaritans.
Steven Guy Collins was on his mobile phone while driving his van when he crashed into a Ford hatchback in a Chelsea street at around noon on January 9 this year.
But the 53-year-old didn’t stop and he drove off in his damaged vehicle and was then pursued by witnesses who had seen the Thames Promenade accident.
Passing drivers had given chase after they saw the crash which had resulted in the parked car being lifted off the ground and rammed into a nature strip tree.
Police had been called and officers who were patrolling nearby intercepted Collins, stopping his van in Station St.
Collins was breath-tested, returned a reading of .141 and lost his licence on the spot.
He told cops he was on his phone at the time and “did a stupid thing and fled”.
He pleaded guilty to three driving offences at the online Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
His defence lawyer told the court Collins had been drinking with colleagues the night before and gone to get some food when the accident happened.
He said he panicked and drove off because he was concerned what the people who had seen the crash would do.
He said his client, who now lives in Forge Creek near Bairnsdale, had a perfect 35-year driving record.
He pleaded for no conviction for the Monash hospital theatre technician, saying it could impact on his health work which sometimes involved children.
Magistrate Fiona Stewart said he must have had “a hell of a lot to drink” the night before.
“It was a really bad error of judgment,” Ms Stewart said.
“Failing to stop is a serious matter, particularly with a reading like that the next day.”
But she agreed a conviction was not warranted due to his lack of priors and the potential it may adversely impact his job.
Collins was fined $1000 and disqualified for the mandatory minimum of 14 months, backdated to January.
