A 30-year-old woman celebrating her birthday and Australia Day crashed her car twice, and appeared intoxicated, but refused to be breath tested.
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Stacey Gilbert pleaded guilty on Thursday to three charges, including refusing a breath test, stemming from the January 27 incident.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Steve Kent told the Ballarat Magistrates Court two females flagged down another driver as he saw a Mercedes vehicle in a ditch.
He said Gilbert told the passer-by she had crashed into the ditch while trying to avoid a kangaroo and asked him to help.
Gilbert was holding a UDL can, was unsteady on her feet and had bloodshot eyes, the passer-by observed.
Leading Senior Constable Kent said once the Mercedes was pulled from the ditch, Gilbert got back in. She then crashed into another ditch on the Midland Highway at Clarendon.
He said this time the police were called, and when they arrived they observed her to be unsteady on her feet and with bloodshot eyes.
Gilbert refused to be breath tested despite the consequences being explained to her. Her vehicle was impounded.
Gilbert's Ballarat lawyer said his client's car ran out of petrol the second time she stopped on the highway. But he said what mattered to Gilbert now was the risk other community members were put at.
"Not only is she very sorry for this, but points out the seriousness," the lawyer said.
The court was told Gilbert was six months' pregnant and had not consumed alcohol since the incident.
Magistrate Andrew McKenna described Gilbert's driving as pretty disturbing.
He placed Gilbert on a eight-month community corrections order, with conviction. She will need to complete alcohol abuse treatment.
She was disqualified from driving for four years.
Meanwhile in a separate court matter, a Wendouree man involved in a "serious case of careless driving" has pleaded guilty.
Stephen Collins was driving a Nissan Navara utility along Howitt Street on January 17 about 4.30pm when it crossed over the centre line and collided with a Suzuki Swift.
The court was told Collins' vehicle lost control and went over a footpath before coming to a rest in a driveway. The other car crashed into a fence.
Collins could not explain to police how the accident occurred but conceded he may have lost concentration.
Collins, who represented himself in court, said six witnesses did not see him speeding or doing anything silly as he drove home from work.
"It was just an accident and I am sorry for what happened," Collins said.
Magistrate Andrew McKenna said it was a serious case of careless driving that exposed people to risk.
Collins was fined $700, with conviction, and suspended from driving for two months. He pleaded guilty to careless driving.
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