November 8, 2012
Police patrolling Kingaroy-Cooyar Road at Brooklands on August 30 pulled over a Ford Falcon after they saw it cross double lines to overtake a slower vehicle.
They found the driver was unlicensed, the vehicle wasn’t registered or insured, and it was fitted with false number plates.
The driver also failed a breath test, recording a reading of .073.
Thomas Stephen Larsen, 46, from Brooklands, pleaded guilty to six traffic offences when he appeared in Kingaroy Magistrates Court today.
Police Prosecutor Sgt Wayne Bushell said Larsen had been before the court for two major drink-driving offences in the past two years, recording .187 and .175 on those occasions.
Solicitor Mark Werner, for Larsen, said his client was a mechanic who usually repaired vehicles at his home but had received a phone call from a friend whose car had broken down. He had made a very poor spur-of-the-moment decision to drive, but it was on a country road.
“How many fatalities have to happen on country roads to get the message through that country roads can be more dangerous than highways?” Magistrate Mark Bucknall commented.
Country roads were often not in the best condition with potholes and other hazards and required a degree of alertness even greater than driving on highways.
He said the defendant’s behaviour had placed the public at risk.
Larsen was convicted and placed on a 12 months supervision order and must undertake a “Driving With Care” program. He was also disqualified from driving or obtaining a licence for 16 months.
On the remaining charges, he was fined $1378 which was converted by way of a fine option order to 63 hours community service.
