Coroner notes alcohol, speed in auctioneer’s death
A CORONER has handed down his findings into the tragic death of a young man who was ejected from a ute on a country road in 2019.
Livestock auctioneer Justin Groves, 20, died from blunt trauma to the head at Lemont when his friend Luke John Foster lost control of the vehicle in the early hours of August 19.
The two young men had spent the evening socialising with friends before Foster drove Mr Groves’s Ford Ranger drunk.
In his findings handed down on Monday, Coroner Andrew McKee said Foster lost control as he negotiated a corner on Stonehouse Road, causing the vehicle to rotate and roll over.
Mr Groves, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected through the passenger side window.
Foster attempted to perform CPR on his friend, but Mr Groves died soon after paramedics arrived.
Foster pleaded guilty in the Hobart Magistrates Court to causing death by negligent driving, drink driving and failing to comply with his driver’s licence conditions.
He spent eight months in home detention and was fined $1500.
The coroner noted Foster only had an automatic licence but was driving a manual vehicle and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.072 when he was a provisional driver with a zero-alcohol requirement.
“I wish to comment that this fatal crash is another example of the tragic consequences of persons driving motor vehicles at excessive speed for the prevailing driving conditions whilst affected by alcohol,” Mr McKee said.
“The case also serves as a timely reminder of the tragic consequences that can flow as a result of individuals failing to wear seat belts.”