Crash driver had seizure, court hears
Epileptic fit at the wheel caused carnage on Range
RACE Anthony Griffin had been having seizures for three weeks before he had a fit behind the wheel, ploughing his Commodore sedan into four other vehicles on the Toowoomba Range.
Although his doctor had warned him off his job as a roofer due to the seizures, because he hadn’t received written direction from his GP to stop driving, the 28-year-old continued to drive.
Five people sustained injuries in the carnage at the cnr of James and Cohoe Sts.
Griffin received a jail term after pleading guilty to dangerous driving with cannabis in his system arising from the incident.
THE driver of a car which ploughed into other vehicles leaving a trail of destruction on the Toowoomba Range had suffered an epileptic fit at the wheel, the city’s Magistrates Court has heard.
Race Anthony Griffin, 28, had been seeking medical advice for a series of seizures he had experienced in the three weeks before the incident about 4.30pm, Sunday, May 13, the court heard.
While his GP had advised him to quit his job as a roofer due to the condition, he had not been diagnosed with epilepsy until July, it was conceded by police prosecutor Sergeant Al Windsor who submitted nonetheless Griffin should have known he shouldn’t have been driving.
On the day, he had been driving east on James St when he went into seizure, his body stiffening and his foot pressing down onto the accelerator causing his Commodore sedan to speed out of control and into a car in front.
As his wife seated beside him tried to take control of the wheel, the car went onto the wrong side of the road and struck another vehicle before mounting the median strip after which the air-bags were activated.
The Commodore then careered back onto the road and struck another two vehicles, leaving the driver of one to be cut from the vehicle and transported to hospital with a broken leg and collarbone.
In all, five people sustained injuries in the carnage.
Griffin, of Marsden, told police he had had 19 fits in one day prior to the crash but admitted he hadn’t told the Department of Transport about his condition.
He had also had a fit at the wheel and rolled his car just a week prior to the crash, the court heard.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, unlicensed driving and having cannabis in his system at the time of the crash.
His barrister Anton Maher told the court his client was married with three children but due to his condition was not now working.
Magistrate Viviana Keegan sentenced Griffin to 15 months in jail but wholly suspended the term for three years, fined him $500 and disqualified him from driving for three years and six months.