A MOTORCYCLIST has told a magistrate he will never ride again after he crashed his motorcycle while lane splitting on the Mitchell Freeway and caused serious spinal injuries to his “extremely close friend” riding pillion.
Nathan Tysoe (28) faced Joondalup Magistrates Court on Monday, pleading guilty to a charge of careless driving causing grievous bodily harm over the incident near Craigie.
Magistrate Gregory Benn fined him $5000 and suspended his driver’s licence for a year.
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READ NOWThe police prosecutor said Tysoe was riding on the freeway near Whitfords Avenue where traffic had slowed in April last year.
He was manoeuvring through the traffic by lane splitting when a car tried to change from the right lane into the left in front of him.
Tysoe could not stop in time and crashed into the back of the car.
He and his friend were both thrown from the motorcycle.
The prosecutor said Tysoe’s friend suffered serious injuries to his spine and laceration of his liver.
Tysoe’s lawyer said the victim was an “extremely close friend” and Tysoe had experienced depression since the incident.
“He’s extremely sorry and remorseful,” he said.
“He caused his friend to go through significant pain and suffering.”
Tysoe was originally charged with the more serious offence of dangerous driving causing injury, but his lawyer negotiated to have it reduced to careless driving with a guilty plea.
The accused told the magistrate he had quit riding after Mr Benn asked him if he had ridden since the incident.
Mr Benn said it was fortunate the crash did not result in the death of his friend.
He asserted that Tysoe had a “duty” to transport his passenger safely.
“If you hadn’t been riding down between the two lanes, (there would be) much less chance of an accident like this happening,” he said.
Tysoe told Mr Benn his friend was doing well more than a year since the crash.
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