Teenage driver gets six months’ supervision for fatal Gisborne crash

Detailed summary

A teenage girl whose careless driving led to a motorcyclist’s death wishes she could go back and make a different decision that day. She was told by Judge Sacha Nepe at sentencing…

A teenage girl was sentenced at the Youth Court in Gisborne for careless use of a motor vehicle causing death while a drug was in her system. Photo / James Pocock

A teenage girl whose careless driving led to a motorcyclist’s death wishes she could go back and make a different decision that day.

She was told by Judge Sacha Nepe at sentencing in the Youth Court in Gisborne last month that the day of the fatal crash would live with her and the victim’s family for the rest of their lives.

The teenage driver, who held her learner’s licence at the time of the incident in the Gisborne district earlier this year, had pleaded guilty to two charges.

The first was careless use of a motor vehicle causing death, carrying a maximum penalty of three months’ imprisonment, six months’ disqualification and a $4500 fine.

The second charge was driver causing death while their blood had a listed qualifying drug over the high-risk level, which carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment, 12 months’ disqualification and a $10,000 fine.

Reading the summary of facts, Judge Nepe apologised to the teenage girl and the motorcyclist’s family, saying it made for difficult reading.

Referring to a victim impact statement from a relative of the motorcyclist, Judge Nepe said the family member felt “overwhelming grief”, was thinking about the victim every day and having difficulty functioning and doing everyday things.

“It mirrors some of the experiences that you, as a young woman having to live through this, are going through.

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