Son sues mum for running him over while drunk

A son who phoned his mum to pick him up from a party is suing her after she ploughed into him in the street while drunk.

Harley Martlew, 17, in hospital after he was struck by his mum’s car in 2017.

A son is suing his mum for drunkenly running him over after the teen asked her to pick him up from a night out.

Danielle Martlew took the call many parents do when her 17-year-old son Harley asked for a lift at 2.30am after a party.

But she got behind the wheel when she was four times over the blood-alcohol limit and stressed about her ex-partner.

She ploughed into Harley as he walked along a Traralgon street that Saturday morning in February 2017, smashing the car’s windscreen and causing “life- changing” injuries to her son.

Harley Martlew, 17, in hospital after he was struck by his mum’s car.

Harley, now 21, is seeking damages over the injuries that have left him unable to work as a builder.

He was hospitalised with head injuries and a leg and arm fracture, with community members donating $1280 to a fundraiser to help him recover.

The one-time aspiring boxer twice needed surgery on his arm after a metal plate that was initially inserted later snapped.

A Supreme Court writ claims Ms Martlew had a blood-alcohol content between .199 and .222 at the time of the crash and was “stressed and upset” over a text message from her former partner.

She had asked pedestrians where Harley, who was wearing dark clothing, was in the moments before the collision.

Danielle Martlew’s damaged car after she hit her son Harley in a crash in Traralgon in 2017.

“Up ahead in the middle of the road … just down the road,” she was told, according to documents, before she sped off in the direction of her son.

Ms Martlew, then 37, was convicted in the County Court in December 2017 of drink-driving, refusing a breath test and negligence causing serious injury.

Harley’s lawyer Don Maffia, of Arnold Thomas & Becker, said Mr Martlew “was a young man when this happened and he will be living with the impacts of the accident for the rest of his life”.

He has problems lifting, bending and squatting, and while he gained work as a mechanic, he remains physically restricted, documents show.

Danielle Martlew with her son, Harley.

“The injuries that Mr Martlew suffered were preventable – the negligence of the driver means that our client has suffered life-changing physical and mental damage which will have a significant impact on his future,” Mr Maffia said.

Mr Maffia added it was hoped the court action would achieve for his client “an outcome which compensates for the restrictions and limitations that this accident has had on Mr Martlew’s life”, including his career.

Ms Martlew was unable to be contacted.