Jayden Alexander Petzler pleads guilty to one count of mid-range drink driving

A man who drove home from dinner while affected by alcohol lost control of his vehicle and ploughed into a guard rail, just a few metres from where another man died in 2021.

A Toowoomba entrepreneur was lucky he wasn’t killed after he crashed into a guard rail while affected by alcohol but must now grapple with the long-term financial consequences of his decisions.

Jayden Alexander Petzler, 23, had initially caught an Uber to a friend’s house after drinking up to eight beers at dinner on October 10, but then drove home in his ute shortly after midnight.

On Thursday, police prosecutor Cameron Frances told Toowoomba Magistrates Court that Petzler was driving along the Toowoomba Connection Road when he started to feel drowsy.

He attempted to pull over but lost control of his ute and crashed into a guard rail at the intersection with Table Top Mountain Road.

The crash had enough force behind it to write off Petzler’s ute and tear apart about 2m of the guard rail.

Jayden Alexander Petzler pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving.

“He has seen first-hand what drink driving can do,” Mr Frances said.

It was also just metres from where a 34-year-old South Toowoomba man died when he veered off the road on September 30, 2021 and crashed into several trees.

Police were called to the scene and issued Petzler with a roadside breath test that returned a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.12 per cent.

Petzler’s lawyer Joe McConnell told the court that his client had about $10,000 to pay off on his car loan and though it was insured, the provider wouldn’t authorise a payout because Petzler was drunk at the time of the crash.

The court heard Petzler was employed as a truck driver for an interstate removal business.

“That job is in jeopardy,” Mr McConnell said.

“He is hopeful he can remain as an offsider but there are several offsiders employed at the business.”

The crash occurred about a week after Petzler had purchased a truck and registered his own transport business.

That new venture had been put on hold until his inevitable licence suspension ran its course.

In sentencing, Magistrate Kay Ryan noted Petzler’s youth, his limited traffic history, the debt hanging over his head from writing off the ute and his early guilty plea for mid-range drink driving.

She issued a $650 fine and disqualified Petzler from holding a licence for three months, with no conviction recorded.