Poppi Elder, 21, of Mooroopna, pleaded guilty in the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to careless driving, failing to stop at an accident and failing to exchange details after an accident.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Kerrie Thomson said Elder hit the back of a car that was turning right at the intersection of McKinnon and Jasper Rds in the Melbourne suburb of McKinnon on January 22, 2024.
She didn’t stop to help and “presented both middle fingers to the victim” while driving away, Sen Constable Thomson told the court.
The court heard Elder told police she wasn’t looking when she hit the car, and she “didn’t hit them hard”.
She also told police she didn’t know she had to stop, and drove off because cars were beeping.
Representing herself in court, Elder said she panicked and didn’t remember sticking her middle fingers up.
She said the person in the car with her took photos of the car she hit before driving away.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said there was an “unpleasantness” about the incident, and it was “hard to believe” Elder didn’t know she had to stop after hitting the car.
“Part of being a driver is being responsible,” he said.
Mr Zebrowski said he was prepared to cut Elder some slack because she was young, had no priors, and was now pregnant, with a child on the way in five weeks.
Elder was fined $1000 and no conviction was recorded.
34°C