Two days before Christmas a negligent driver crashed head-on with a retiree, causing injuries and lasting pain that rendered the victim "unable to dance" at his daughter's wedding.
"Had you not driven that day this would not have happened, for this I cannot forgive you. Your reckless behaviour has impacted both our lives forever," the victim said in a statement read to the ACT Magistrates Court.
In December 2022, Ryan Martin was driving a Ford Falcon with bald rear tyres on the Monaro Highway near the intersection with Isabella Drive.
Martin suddenly swerved right, crossing a slip lane, continuing over a grass median strip, and into the northbound lanes.
He then collided head-on with a ute, crashing into the driver's side of the vehicle.
Both men were taken to hospital with the driver of the other vehicle suffering shoulder injuries including torn muscles, resulting in ongoing pain.
Martin, 32, of Theodore, was sentenced on Wednesday, when he pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and driving while suspended.
Magistrate Jane Campbell disqualified him from driving for six months, and handed the man a $500 fine and an 18-month good behaviour order.
In a statement read to the court the victim said he had bought a boat, and a holiday house on the coast to enjoy during his retirement but was unable to enjoy these things due to ongoing pain.
The retiree stated he was "unable to dance because of the pain or able to sit for any length of time" during his daughter's recent wedding.
He described a similar situation during his son's wedding a month ago.
The victim said the injuries also impacted his relationship with his grandchildren, who "are too young to understand why poppy isn't able to pick them up".
Describing the crash, the victim said "the noise of the impact was horrendous" and the other car "hit like a bomb going off".
"Time seemed to stand still [and] my thoughts went immediately to 'will I survive this?'," he said in the statement.
Martin's lawyer, Ana Qvist, stated her client "truly regrets" the crash and had been "racking his brains" trying to figure out why he turned right but couldn't come up with an answer.
The 32-year-old "did not walk away unscathed" and undergone five surgeries, as well as a broken femur which is "the strongest bone in the body," Ms Qvist said.
She told the court that on the day of the crash Martin made a "foolish decision to hop in the other car when his main car was being serviced, without thinking".
"This is clearly out of character ... he is someone who is spoken highly of and is someone who works hard to support his family," Ms Qvist said.
Prosecutor Taden Kelliher said Martin, who works as a manager at a smash repair business, "should have known better".
"Bald tyres, it's a recipe for disaster," Mr Kelliher told the court.
"The unroadworthiness of this vehicle contributed to this crash."
The magistrate found that the court needed to send a strong message to the public in sentencing Martin.
"There needs to be a very strong message sent to the community and that is 'if you are going to be driving you need to be driving in cars that are roadworthy'," Ms Campbell said.
"Negligence is something more than just a momentary lapse of judgement when people drive.
"[The victim] would consider what he has suffered as life destroying.
"The act of driving is a very dangerous and risky business."
