A woman found to be driving on worn-out tyres after she lost control on a wet road and crashed into another vehicle, was sentenced for the incident in Mudgee Local Court on Wednesday.
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The 40-year-old was charged with 'Drive without proper control of vehicle' and 'Use light vehicle not comply with tyres standard'.
At about 5.45pm on Saturday, January 5, 2019, she was travelling along the Castlereagh Highway at Ben Bullen, around 5km south of Captertee, after recent rain.
While negotiating a right-hand bend she lost control of the small hatchback, over-corrected and crossed the dividing lines into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Her car has then hit and broken the front driver-side wheel of the other vehicle - a four-wheel-drive - causing it to roll.
Both were towed to Lithgow, where an examination by police revealed that her front passenger-side tyre had 1mm of tread and the front driver-side tyre was down to the tread wear indicator.
The defendant - who represented herself in court - was handed a 12-month Conditional Release Order without a criminal conviction being recorded, due to her lack of prior criminal or traffic offences.
However, Magistrate David Day reminded her that she was responsible for the crash.
"Worn tyres, wet road, speed, loss of control, and a serious accident - which all began with you not checking your tyres," he said. In noting that her small hatchback had caused the large four-wheel-drive to roll, his honour commented "that's the laws of physics for you".
