Community service for teen driver who crashed car through railings

Sunday 28 January 2024

An 18-year-old man who lost control of his car, crashed through the central reservation of Victoria Avenue and ended up in the opposite lane has been fined £500, sentenced to 70 hours of community service and banned from driving for a year.

The Magistrate’s Court heard that Thomas Dylan Vogt had five passengers in his blue Peugeot at the time of the accident, on 16 October last year.

The car is designed to accommodate only four passengers.

The teen admitted the charges of dangerous driving and overloading a vehicle.

Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, said Vogt had been driving westbound along Victoria Avenue at 23:20 on the night in question when he lost control of the car, mounted the central reservation, crashed through railings, and ended up on the eastbound lane.

The court was shown photos of the extensively damaged car, with its windows smashed and all four tyres deflated, but no one was seriously injured.

“One passenger had a bump to his head and one had a sore neck,” the advocate said. “Another passenger had a stiff neck from having to brake suddenly.”

Vogt at first claimed he had lost control of the car because he had been speeding. But Advocate Alexander English, defending, said he had not been speeding and had only said so because he was embarrassed to admit he had lost control of the car.

He added: “That awkwardness, that anxiety and that worry about fitting in all come across in the social enquiry report.

“There was a boisterous atmosphere in the car and that negatively affected his driving.

“He was trying to fit in and it has come at great cost to him. It was a frightening experience and he has very much learned from it.”

He added that Vogt was studying science A-levels and hoped to gain a pilot’s licence before studying engineering at university.

Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke said the offences “pass the custodial threshold” and told Vogt: “It is a small mercy that you, your passengers, other users of the road or any pedestrians were not seriously injured.”

But he gave him credit for his youth, guilty pleas and previous good character.

Of the community service order, he told him: “If that affects your plans then I am afraid that is a consequence of your action.”

Vogt must also retake the driving test before being allowed to drive in Jersey.