Grace Griggs sentenced over fatal crash that killed a dad teaching son to drive

“Hadn’t even had his funeral”: A shattered widow is shocked how quickly a P plater was back behind the wheel after a fatal crash.

A map showing how two cars ended up in a fatal collision at 5.55am on June 11, 2021. Picture: supplied

A devastated family still reeling from the horror smash that killed a father of two is questioning how the young P-plater responsible was allowed behind the wheel again just weeks after the fatal smash.

The widow of a 56-year-old man killed in the 2021 accident on the Mornington Peninsula has shared her family’s anguish during a plea hearing for Grace Griggs.

Griggs, 22, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to causing death by dangerous driving over the June 11, 2021 collision with a learner driver being supervised by his father.

The man’s wife expressed her disbelief at how quickly Griggs was legally allowed to drive again after her bail conditions were altered soon after the crash.

“We hadn’t even had his funeral yet before you were legally allowed to drive again,” the wife told the court.

Grace Griggs will serve time over fatal crash. Picture: supplied

Griggs first applied to be allowed to drive again on June 25, just eight days after being charged over the accident.

The request was initially denied, however Griggs returned to Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 28 and Magistrate Ross Maxsted granted her permission to drive, but only to and from her workplace.

“She must not stop. Not to go shopping, or visit friends or go horse riding or to the beach,” Mr Maxsted said at the time.

The grieving widow also questioned why Griggs chose to continue an overtaking manoeuvre after seeing an oncoming car.

“I will never understand why you couldn’t see the situation was a temporary one and you didn’t just back off,” she said.

“When we teach our children to drive, we can’t put them in simulators, we have to put them on real roads with real cars and driver … we told them if you do the right thing and pay attention nothing bad will happen, how wrong we were.

“My husband never came home and my son will forever suffer trauma because of your dangerous choice to disregard road safety.

“You’ve broken our family forever.”

Griggs was driving to work in a Mazda sedan when she attempted to overtake a horse truck about 5.55am.

The court heard she reached a speed of 102km/h on an 80km/h dark and damp stretch of a two-laned road while overtaking.

The manoeuvre was attempted on a bend and trees obscured Griggs’ view of oncoming traffic.

The widow’s son – an 18-year-old learner driver being supervised by his father – was behind the wheel of a ute travelling on the same road in the opposite direction to Griggs.

When the teenager saw the headlights from Griggs’ car in his lane he veered onto the wrong side of the road to avoid the oncoming car.

However, Griggs had also started to move back into the same lane and collided with the front passenger side of the ute.

A 56-year old man died at the scene.

An image showing where the cars involved in the crash were on the road at impact. The ‘red car’ was being driven by Grace Griggs.

A court order protecting the identity of the man and his son is in place.

Publication of further details about the accident, including where it happened, has also been prohibited.

The court was told that prior to the accident Griggs was diagnosed with a dependant personality disorder that caused her to have a “pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of, including clinging behaviours and a fear of separation”.

She had resigned from her job as a factory worker after being bullied about the accident by co-workers and suffering suicide ideation and stress while driving to and from work.

The court heard Griggs now avoided driving.

She was diagnosed with moderate PTSD and depression after the accident and it was feared a custodial environment would “exacerbate her suicidal ideation” and lead to self-harm.

Judge Trevor Wraight acknowledged that the accident was a “devastating experience” for Griggs.

He said her offending, while serious, was at the lower end of the scale and did not involve drugs, alcohol, illegal mobile phone use or a moment of distraction.

Rather, it was a “misjudgment”.

Judge Wraight said Griggs’ situation did not meet the threshold of “rare and exceptional circumstances” required to avoid jail.

He said Griggs’ obvious remorse, her “unblemished record” and the fact that she was not “grappling with drug or alcohol issues” made her an “excellent” prospect for rehabilitation.

Griggs was sentenced to 15 months jail with a non parole period of six months.

Had she not pleaded guilty she would have received a two-year sentence with a 15 month non parole period, he said.

The maximum term for causing death by dangerous driving is ten years.

Griggs’ drivers licence was cancelled and she was banned from driving for 18 months.