Drug driver crashed car while on camping toilet run

By Monique Preston

Mar 16, 2023

No conviction recorded: A man was fined $650 after crashing his ute while drug driving. Photo by Megan Fisher

A man who spent four months in hospital after crashing his ute while drug driving to the toilet while camping, has been fined $650 for his actions on that night.

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Stefan Elvis Vukelic, 30, of Shepparton, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to drug driving.

Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Chris Cole told the court Vukelic had been camping at Dead River Camp at Cobram on January 10, 2021 when he needed to go to the toilet at 2am.

He was driving his Great Wall ute to the toilet, which was 2km away, but crashed into a tree about 1km into the trip.

Vukelic was trapped in the vehicle for 90 minutes after the crash, before being freed and flown to hospital.

His injuries included two broken ankles, torn ligaments in his right leg, and a broken tibia in his left leg.

Methamphetamine was found in his blood during a blood test at hospital at 6.15am that day, Leading Sen Constable Cole said.

Vukelic’s solicitor told the court his client had already suffered a significant penalty with his injuries, and his ute, worth $10,000, had been written off.

Vukelic was fined $650, but no conviction was recorded.

His licence was also cancelled and he was disqualified from driving for 12 months.