Mobile Version
A DEVOUT Buddist who raced another driver at high speed "in a brief rush of impulsive immaturity" caused a horrific crash that left a woman with brain damage.
Vichat Thach today told the District Court he was ashamed he had decided to teach a tailgating driver "a lesson" by racing him along Port Wakefield Rd at Burton in February 2008.
The race ended when the other man's car lost control, became airborne, barrel-rolled into a bus and slammed into a vehicle on the other side of the road.
Thach's lawyer, Andrew English, said his client had chosen to confess after many months of denying responsibility.
"He seriously reflected on his position and concluded it would be morally wrong, and unfair to the victim, to proceed to trial," Mr English said.
"He knew perfectly well it was stupid and dangerous to race along Port Wakefield Rd.
"He has made no plea bargain - he's doing this because he wants to, because it's the right and proper thing to do."
Thach, 19, of Parafield Gardens, has pleaded guilty to causing serious harm by dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
His co-accused, Quang Minh Chau, will stand trial in November.
Today, Mr English said his client was driving his Nissan when Chau, in a Subaru, began tailgating him at high speed.
He said Thach - who has no history of driving offences - made a "rather spur-of-the-moment, stupid, instinctive decision" to race against Chau.
"He wanted to teach the Subaru's driver a lesson for tailgating," he said.
"It was a brief rush of impulsive, youthful immaturity... with tragic consequences."
While the occupants of the bus escaped injury, a woman in the vehicle hit by the Subaru suffered severe brain injury requiring months of hospitalisation.
Mr English said his client - who attends a Buddist temple every week with his family - was "deeply sorry and sorrowful" about the woman's injuries.
Judge David Smith will sentence Thach next month.ที่มา-http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26053503-2682,00.html
http://goo.gl/ZRIiX
พิมพ์บทความนี้
