A Dunedin woman lost control of her car while it was overloaded with passengers and one man was hidden in the boot, a court has heard.
Gabrielle Barbara Noreen Samson-Witana, 21, appeared before community magistrate Kaye Davies in the Dunedin District Court last week on one charge of careless driving after she spun her over-loaded vehicle into oncoming traffic.
On June 13, Samson-Witana was driving in Allanton-Waihola Rd with two adult passengers and two children safely seated — another passenger was illegally lying in the boot.
When she returned her gaze to the road, she saw the car was veering to the left, so she sharply pulled the steering wheel to the right.
Samson-Witana lost control of the vehicle, spinning ‘‘180 degrees, travelling in a random, unpredictable manner, backward into oncoming traffic’’, court documents said.
An oncoming vehicle attempted to avoid a collision but was unsuccessful and hit the back of the defendant’s car, causing injuries to the legs and torso of the man in the boot.
Another of the passengers received whiplash.
The vehicle Samson-Witana hit was written off and the driver sustained bruising to his right elbow.
Samson-Witana was fined $200, ordered to pay reparation of $530 and disqualified from driving for six months.
