A birthday celebration ''not so amazing race'' turned out to be not so clever when an 80kmh crash left two passengers injured and a parked car with more than $5000 damage, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
Dunedin mechanic Michael Harris Hastie (21) admitted two charges of causing injury by driving at a dangerous speed on Dunedin's Signal Hill Rd on March 21.
Hastie and his five passengers were marking a birthday and the celebrations included a ''not so amazing race'', the court heard.
The participants had to drive to specific locations around the city and complete certain tasks, filming the event and having a drink while doing so, police prosecutor Tim Hambleton told the court.
Hastie was driving a Nissan car, with five passengers taking turns at travelling in the boot. His task was to reach a speed of 140kmh and he drove up Signal Hill Rd looking for a road where he could hit that speed.
At the top he did a U-turn before accelerating back down.
As he crossed the intersection with Blacks Rd, the Nissan clipped the rear of a parked car, veered across the road, mounted the footpath, spun 180 degrees and continued backwards down the road before hitting a pole and coming to a stop.
Two of the five passengers were injured. Robert Crowther, who was in the boot, suffered facial and heel fractures and spent several days in hospital.
Cameron Bone suffered concussion and a leg wound. Hastie was breath-tested and his alcohol level was under the legal limit at 83mcg.
He said he had drunk four cans of bourbon and cola.
The serious crash unit examined the scene and estimated the Nissan was travelling at between 78kmh and 85kmh when it crashed, Mr Hambleton said.
Damage to the parked vehicle was put at $5264.75.
Hastie was convicted on both charges of dangerous driving causing injury and will be sentenced next month.
