Woman was drink-driving with unsecured toddler in car

By Grace Carter

Feb 12, 2025

A woman who was drink-driving without headlights on has faced court.

A toddler was unsecured in a car where the driver was drink driving and did not have the vehicle’s headlights on despite it being dark.

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Rosanna Abel, 26, of Toolamba, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to driving with an unrestrained passenger, driving without headlights, drink-driving and unlicensed driving.

A police prosecutor told the court a toddler, now two years old, was unsecured and unrestrained in the back seat of a Hyundai Tucson Abel was driving while unlicensed on Wyndham St, Shepparton at 4.06am on August 3, 2024.

She recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.081 and was driving without headlights on, the court heard.

Abel’s defence counsel said her client had been pressured to drive by three other adults in the car who were “extremely intoxicated”.

Abel didn’t know her headlights weren’t on because the street lights were “very bright”, her defence counsel told the court.

She’s in Australia on a working visa from Vanuatu, but was unemployed because she was caring for her baby full-time.

Abel was fined $200 and no conviction was recorded.

She was also disqualified from applying for a licence for eight months, backdated to start on August 7, 2024.