Drink-drive crash caused petrol chaos
A teenage drink-driver has avoided a $50,000 bill for the damage he caused when he crashed into two petrol pumps at the Kirwee Challenge petrol station.
Christchurch District Court Judge Raoul Neave described the reparation claim as “an absurd amount” and refused to make the reparation order sought by the police. He said the teenage driver had no hope of paying it.
“If the insurance company persists in its desire, it can seek to recover the money in the usual way, through a civil claim,” he told 18-year-old Kaylib Dallas Kauri Moana, an 18-year-old labourer from Hornby, who holds a learner driver’s licence.
He had originally denied charges of drink-driving and careless driving at Kirwee on June 6, but changed his pleas to guilty at a case review session ahead of trial.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Glenn Pascoe said Moana had been drinking at the Kirwee Rugby Club rooms after playing rugby at the domain, and left about 9pm to drive to the service station to buy cigarettes.
As he turned into the closed service station, he lost control of the car and crashed into two petrol bowsers, knocking them over.
“Petrol from the damaged fuel pumps flowed across the forecourt of the petrol station, posing an extreme fire risk to the buildings on and near the site and a corresponding risk to responding emergency services personnel,” said Sergeant Pascoe.
Moana drove off, but his car had lost its front bumper and number plate at the crash scene.
He then tried to buy cigarettes at the nearby hotel but was turned away because it had closed.
A youth who was a passenger in the car then took over driving and drove them back to the domain, while a member of the public followed.
The pair parked the car and left on foot, but Moana was found by police an hour later, hiding in bushes not far from the abandoned car. A breath-test showed 930mcg of alcohol to a litre of breath. The legal limit for prosecution of an adult at court is 400mcg.
He claimed he could not remember crashing into the petrol pumps.
The petrol station owner said it would take about six weeks before new bowsers could be installed and functioning.
Judge Neave noted that Moana had no previous convictions. He fined him a total of $1550 and disqualified him from driving for six months.
Category: Focus
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