Drunk driver Robert Hansen blew .19 after crashing as he left Coles Express servo in Frankston South
A man blew .19 — at 9.30am after going on a boozy bender and getting in the car to go to a Frankston South petrol station. But it’s what happened to his own father which means he should have known better.
South East
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Good Samaritans had to call the police after an early morning boozer “out on a bender” crashed his car as he tried to drive out of a servo.
Robert Hansen was nearly four times the legal limit when he hit a road sign as he left the Frankston South Coles Express petrol station in March this year.
He really should have known better than to drive while drunk as a few years ago his dad was seriously injured by a motorist who was plastered behind the wheel.
The 36-year-old father of one pleaded guilty at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to drink driving.
The court heard other drivers were startled to see and hear a car crash into a road sign at the Robinsons Rd servo at 9.30am on March 7 this year.
They called police who found Hansen slumped in the driver’s seat, with damage to the front and left side of his vehicle.
Back at Frankston police station he blew .19, but couldn’t tell officers why he had drunk so much so early in the day or why he had driven while he was so intoxicated.
His lawyer said the unemployed bookkeeper didn’t have a drinking problem, and hadn’t consumed alcohol for months before he knocked back a few too many that morning.
He said he was stressed and had turned to drink, and was remorseful for getting behind the wheel.
He said he was now getting treatment for his anxiety and depression and realised alcohol was not an appropriate form of self-medication.
He said he did know the consequences of what could happen as his own father was hurt by a drink driver and he saw the suffering that caused.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said to record a reading of .19 at 9.30am in the morning meant there was something seriously wrong.
But he said his lack of priors, remorse and acceptance to get treatment were factors in his favour.
“It was very poor driving, police were called, you were out on a binge or a bender,” Mr Lethbridge said.
“But I accept this was completely out of character, and as your doctors say, this was something that was embroiled with your mental health.”
Hansen was convicted and fined $750, and disqualified from driving for the mandatory minimum of 19 months, backdated to March.
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