An L-plater driving a car full of young passengers, none of whom had a licence, failed to stop at a red light, colliding with a B-double truck on Warrnambool's Raglan Parade.
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Police observed the unregistered white Holden Commodore travelling north on Banyan Street with no L-plates fixed to the window and incorrect registration plates attached.
Upon noticing police, the driver, aged in his 20s, ran a red light and collided with a B-double truck carrying fuel.
The truck hit the front side of the Commodore, causing extensive damage and the airbags to be deployed.
Police stopped, directed the driver to get out of the car and placed him under arrest.
A subsequent search of the car uncovered a bowl containing one gram of cannabis.
The collision occurred on September 6, 2023, with the driver pleading guilty to offences on April 29 the following year.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said he did not accept the offending was spontaneous given the young driver was using registration plates belonging to his girlfriend's vehicle.
"That suggests it was being used to cover the actual identity of those driving," he said.
"When young drivers with their young friends in the car, without a supervising driver, do something as stupid as driving through a red light when there's a semi-trailer coming through the intersection... the best to say about this is you are so lucky nobody was seriously killed or injured."
Mr Lethbridge said had that occurred, the man would be serving a minimum of eight years' jail.
He said fortunately the passengers were not harmed, the offender was young and did not have a relevant criminal history.
The man was fined $1500 without conviction for the driving offences, and his licence was disqualified for 12 months.
On the charge of possessing cannabis he was placed on a good behaviour bond.
Meanwhile a Port Fairy woman blew more than three times the limit after being clocked at 103kmh in a 60kmh zone.
The woman was nabbed speeding on the Princes Highway at Killarney at 6.45am on November 9, 2023.
She was intercepted by police and subsequently returned the high reading.
Mr Lethbridge said she too could have been facing eight years in jail.
"It's a manslaughter sentence now when you kill people when you're drunk on the roads," he said.
The woman was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and her licence was cancelled for 16 months, backdated to the day of the offending.
Jessica Howard
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
