Drunk driver caused head-on collision
Ashley Goodspeed, 24, of Royal Road, was fined and banned from driving for a year last week after admitting to impaired driving
A Royal Road woman who drove head-on into another vehicle with the right of way in 2021 was slurring her words and having trouble standing on her own two feet at the time of the incident, a court heard last week.
Ashley Goodspeed, 24, of Route 620 just north of Fredericton, was scheduled to stand trial May 10 on a charge of impaired driving, but she opted instead to admit to the crime.
Crown prosecutor Patricia Gillett said police were dispatched to Barker Street in Fredericton just after midnight July 30, 2021, after receiving a report of a motor-vehicle accident.
“It appeared to be a head-on collision,” she said, noting one of the drivers was out of her car and reporting she was OK, but the other driver - Goodspeed - was still in the driver’s seat of her vehicle.
Goodspeed told police she was all right as well, court heard, but the officer smelled alcohol and noted she was slurring her words.
When she got out of the car, Gillett said, Goodspeed was unsteady on her feet.
A witness who saw the accident told police Goodspeed was taking a left turn and failed to stop for another car proceeding straight through the intersection, the prosecutor said.
Goodspeed was arrested and taken back to the city police station, court heard, where her breathalyzer reading showed she had 140 milligrams of alcohol in her system per 100 millilitres of blood, almost double the legal limit of 80 mg.
“I apologize,” the defendant told the court.
Gillett recommended the mandatory minimum fine of $1,500 and a one-year driving prohibition.
Defence lawyer Luc Roy said that was acceptable to the defence, and noted his client is a single mother who’s employed. As such, he asked the court to waive the customary victim-fine surcharge, which would have tacked another $450 onto Goodspeed’s fine.
“Thankfully, no injuries or loss of life or anything else like that occurred,” said Judge Scott Brittain, who dropped the surcharge, as per the defence’s request.
You can contact Don MacPherson at ftonindependent@gmail.com.