An inquest is investigating whether a learner driver who killed three people in a shocking head-on crash near Mount Gambier should ever have been allowed behind the wheel.
Day one of proceedings today focused on the role the 16-year-old’s mother played in failing to disclose his medical conditions when he applied for his licence.
Ned and Nan Walker and their daughter, Suzanne Skeer, were killed when a Landcruiser veered onto the wrong side of the Princes Highway.
The 2020 crash was caused as the 16-year-old learner driver, who had been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and Tourette’s syndrome, lost concentration at the wheel.
The inquest has heard the teenager failed to disclose any of his diagnoses on his license application, marking “no” when asked if he had any medical conditions or existing health issues.
“We both agreed it should be a no,” his mother told the Coroner today.
“None of his conditions are severe enough to impair his competency to drive.”
The teenager had also stopped taking medication for his ADHD six months earlier without consulting his doctor.
A GP who assessed the boy before the crash had determined he required significant daily care but was unaware that he held a learner’s permit and was driving.
The inquest will examine licence approval and what obligations his mother and doctors had to disclose his conditions.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
