Teen speedster with ‘appalling’ traffic history narrowly avoids jail

A teenager whose licence was suspended multiple times before he attempted to ‘split between’ two cars while driving at high speed, causing one to roll, has narrowly avoided jail.

A teenager whose licence was suspended multiple times before he smashed into two other cars earlier this year causing one to roll, has narrowly avoided jail.

The now-20-year-old had strips torn off him by Magistrate Tina Previtera who described his traffic history as “appalling” and said he “learned nothing” from past licence suspensions.

Tyson Elias Huezo was 19 when he was speeding along Hale Street in Paddington around 9.30pm on May 24 when he tried to “split” between two cars.

Huezo’s car smashed into the back of a Mitsubishi Pajero which spun off the road and flipped several times, before coming to a rest on its side. The female driver had to be pulled from the wreckage by another motorist who stopped to help.

Tyson Elias Huezo, 20, leaves Brisbane Magistrates Court. Photo: Scott Powick

Huezo’s car then ricocheted off the Mitsubishi Pajero and hit another vehicle, a Mitsubishi ASX, to its right. The Mitsubishi ASX and Mitsubishi Pajero were both written off.

His car then went airborne with all four wheels off the road before coming to a stop hundreds of metres further up Hale Street.

Huezo pleaded guilty last month to a single count of dangerous driving and was sentenced in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday.

The court heard Huezo’s traffic history included an 8 demerit points for exceeding the speed limit by more than 40km/h, and a licence suspension due to speeding offences and accumulated demerit points.

The court heard he is currently suspended from driving until March 2025.

Police prosecutor Bimal Raut read a statement from the Mitsubishi Pajero driver involved, who said she feared her car would explode as she lay trapped in the wreckage.

She suffered multiple cuts and gashes, as well as shards of glass all over her body including inside her mouth. She has since been diagnosed with PTSD and still has a fear of driving.

Mr Raut said Huezo remained at the scene until police arrived. He was taken to hospital for drug and alcohol testing, which came back negative.

Mr Raut asked for Huezo to receive a 12-15 month prison sentence and be required to actually serve one-third of this behind bars.

Tyson Elias Huezo, 20 pleaded guilty to dangerous driving over a three-car crash on Hale Street in Paddington on May 24, 2024

Defence lawyer Jim Coburn, from A W Bale & Son Solicitors, said the seriousness of the crash “is not lost” on Huezo, but said “a significant degree of inattention” was a factor in the crash, his client did not deliberately hit those cars.

But Mr Coburn did concede the lack of serious injuries sustained by those in the two other cars was “more luck” than anything else.

Mr Coburn said his client has “an atrocious and shocking” traffic history, but no criminal history and described this incident as “an awakening” for the 20-year-old.

“To throw him into jail now would be to just give up on him,” Mr Coburn said.

In sentencing, Magistrate Tina Previtera said while Huezo had pleaded guilty at an early stage and noted his young age, but described his traffic history as “persistently appalling”.

“You have learned nothing from previous entries on your traffic history,” she said.

Huezo was sentenced to 18 months’ prison, but Ms Previtera said due to his youth and lack of criminal history, she had decided to order him to be immediately released on parole.

Huezo was also disqualified from driving for 18 months – he was already suspended until March 2025 – and he must pay $4000 in compensation to the Mitsubishi ASX driver.

Ms Previtera deliberately did not make a compensation order regarding the Mitsubishi Pajero driver, to allow her to take civil action against Huezo if she wanted to.

Originally published as Teen speedster with ‘appalling’ traffic history narrowly avoids jail