A Warwick teenager has been taken off the road for more than a year after crashing her car into a Diery St property after driving dangerously while affected by alcohol.
A Warwick teenager has been taken off the road for more than a year after crashing her car into a Diery St property after driving dangerously while affected by alcohol. Daniel Elliott

Teen pays price for dangerous joy ride

A TEENAGER who tore through Warwick streets at speeds of up to 140kmh one night in November, had her Barina airborne for at least 25m before crashing it into a Diery St yard.

Last week the Warwick Magistrates Court heard Caitlin Emma Harrison had been drinking Passion Pop before deciding to take four friends for a drive.

The 19 year old travelled to a steep hill on Bracker Rd, known as Scare Hill because of the limited visibility and steep decline.

Passengers later told police the car was travelling up to 120kmh up the hill and 140kmh down the other side.

The Warwick teenager then accelerated through a stop sign before hitting a dip in the road.

This caused the car to become airborne for at least 25m.

Shortly after, the teen lost control of the vehicle which rolled several times before coming to a stop, resting against a house.

She later told police she sped with the intention of getting airborne.

Harrison had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.058 and as a provisional licence holder is required to have 0.0.

Witnesses called 000 and ambulance officers treated a male passenger at the scene.

Fortunately neither Harrison nor any of her passengers suffered any serious injuries, with one passenger suffering a shoulder injury and others from cuts and bruising.

Mr Settgast told the court his client was a talented football player and presented references from a former teacher and a mother of one of the passengers involved in the crash.

In sentencing, Magistrate Graham Lee said he was surprised to see a young woman with a promising future in football behave so dangerously.

"I am at a loss as to why someone as high an achiever as you would do something like this," he said.

"It is the duty of the courts to keep kids so they can be responsible adults and a deterrent penalty needs to be imposed."

Harrison pleaded guilty to drink driving and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

Mr Lee fined the teen $1500 and disqualified her from driving for 15 months.



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