Ferrari 599 driver crashes into motorbike riders and keeps licence

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By Brett Davis | November 25th, 2010

A man driving a Ferrari 599 who lost control at 80km/h and then ploughed into two oncoming motorcyclists last October has just walked out of court a ‘free man’, with his licence still in his pocket.

The incident occurred on the Great Ocean Road in southern Victoria, where Andrew Hosemans, and a friend following behind, were riding at the time before being involved in the accident.

The leading motorcyclist (Mr Hosemans) involved in the crash, was hurled over the Ferrari’s windscreen and over the roof. He suffered injuries including a fractured vertebrae, sternum and right femur and also a collapsed lung and ruptured bowel. The rider was also induced into coma for two weeks after the accident. He is still undergoing treatment. The other rider managed to escape more serious injuries.

Mr Hosemans is upset the driver wasn’t punished more sternly at the court hearing. A News Limited report quoted Hosemans as saying,

“I’m a bit gutted, I thought he would’ve at least done his licence for a little while I’m still going to rehab and getting operations. But I’ll make sure I get over that pretty quickly, I’ve got better things to do than worry about him.”

The driver of the Ferrari, Carlo Vaccari, 64, was convicted of careless driving and ordered to pay $3000 to two road trauma funds. Reports say the man has apparently never admitted to being at fault. Mr Hosemans also added,

“He never said sorry. I actually felt a bit disappointed for him, just not being able to own up to the fact you’ve been a fool.”

JML

The Ferrari driver can also afford a “Ferrari” lawyer. If this had been a VT Commodore SS driver he would be in jail.

http://zuboora.com Mohammed

very true my friend

talk then think

Soo frustrating, as a motorcyclist he could of lost his life because of some-ones stupidity. As usual driver at fault and another motorcyclist pays the price.

Jester

Great Ocean Road used to be 100km/h speed zone – now government wrecks it with 80km/h zones, dropped the limit maybe 3 years ago, and then this crap still happens. Clearly speed limit doesn’t matter. It was a great road when it was a 100km/h, now its junk since these losers go there and crash like this, can’t even imagine how bad of a driver you need to be to crash a car like this.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7709953372 North Shore people are shallow snobs

The actions of the driver are inexcusable.

Joker

He lost control at 80 Km/H…
Clearly, he is not a Ferrari Driver… just an Owner.

http://BMW Crownleyian

How do you loose control of a Ferrari at 80km?

I can’t even loose control at 80km driving a Daihatsu Charade!

Dan

Have you actually been on Great Ocean Road?? It’s super twisty. The limit on there is 40 km/h. Doing 80 on that road carries a certain degree of risk.

Nev..

40kph limit? you have rocks in your head. The popular sections of it are 80kph. there might be some 40kph sections through towns but I suspect even they are 50 or 60kph

ab

YES! you are right Nev…
Dan

I’m talking about the super twisty bits, I presume that’s where the crash occured. Obviously long stretches have a faster speed limit.

matty

Dan,

Twisty or not – Great Ocean Road is 80km minus the towns where it is a little more open and straight, this is where you must slow down to 60, 50 and 40.

Have YOU actually been down the Great Ocean Road?

Dan

Yeah I have actually. And the really tight corners right on the cliffs, that were outside of towns, if I remember correctly had 40 kay speed limit. Whether the crash happened there, or in the 80 kays zone we don’t know, I was speculating

http://BMW Crownleyian

Have you been to Madeira Island?

They have some of the most challenging Mountain roads in the World, and is very challenging, even the way you use your gearbox has to be very active.

And I use to drive there like crazy in a Renault Clio doing in some curves 80 even 90km/h.

So don’t give me those stories 80Km/h in a Ferrari and crash, mate if that’s only what a Ferrari can take then I pass.

Hung Low

More proof that the judicial system is based on the size of one wallet!
With a reputable QC, anything is possible!
ABMPSV

We live in a “free” country….free for those who got the cash!
Save It for the track

Another boneheaded court decision. ‘lost it’ at 80? Yeah right……
Adam

As a law student I think it would be a good idea to read the case before deciding whether the ruling was a good or bad one.

Willie

As a caradvice reader I suggest that you look at the photograph and see the blood on the road caused by a car crossing onto the wrong side of the road. The motorcyclist spending months is rehab would like you to look at the pins and plates holding his bones together before reading the case too!

AW

As a person with common sense, I’d suggest the motor cyclist buy a car…….

brumby

I got hit by a Porsche owner (not driver!) doing a u-turn and I noticed as I lay on the road that he checked out the damage to his car before coming over to me. At least he was a surgeon!
Save It for the track

So, a person in a Ferrari, allegedly ‘loses it’ at 80km/h, takes out two motorcyclists, gets ordered to pay money to charities (so was found guilty), yet doesn’t get disqualified? What else is there to read in the case? Were the motorcyclists held partially at fault? It’s not suggested in the report.

Peter

Of cause the motorcyclists were at fault you bonehead!

They were riding motorcycles and were sticking to their side of the road – stupid people! We motorcyclists need to smarten up; we need to be a bit more clairvoyant, we need to anticipate that car drivers (especially drivers of “driver’s cars”) are coming and will need ALL the road. How inconsiderate of us to think that we can use our side of the road.

What a stupid comment you make.

Peter

Cranky Franky

Ahh sarcasm, especially from a motorcyclist. Love it. Usually they can barely read.

Save It for the track

Sorry, ‘road trauma funds’….
F1MotoGP

The law saying:

If the car is worth more than $200,000 the accident is the other driver fault.
wayne

Seems the more money you have the less justice is served!!!. My cousin was kiled on a bike four years ago near Cooma by an a… hole who did a u turn over doulbe centre lines. All he got was a $1500 fine, then had the hide to appeal. Don\’t know what happened at the appeal I was too discusted to bother. just hope he has nightmares seeing my cousin slamming onto his drivers door.

Save It for the track

Similar perhaps to a u-turn in a certain recent video review.

Jarod

I’d like to correct a lot of you here saying that pretty much the more money one has the less justice there is as this is not true. Having recently spoken to a police prosicuter at a court case i was attending due to work ( just to clear the air here, work as a paramedic), and from what he was saying it would seem that the magistrates are pretty much useless at the concept of justice and you need not to be loaded with cash.

Zandit

A Judge is really just a law student that gets to mark his own papers, what else do you expect!!!

Al Juraj

It’s shocking drivers who kill others with their stupidity and irresponsibility are on the same line as those who exceed the speed limit by a hairline.

Do the road authorities need to see their loved ones being involved in an accident before they finally start thinking about safety for real and not just their paychecks?

There also needs to be a revision on the high-powered cars law such that fast Ferraris and similar models can only be driven by professionally trained people.

Nath746

High powered cars do not need to be driven by professionals only. If this happens, the driver should lose their license forever. The car should also be given back to them and put in their front yard (or wherever they can see it from inside their house) with a note on or in it that says to any repairers: “DO NOT FIX ME”.

Al Juraj

When I said professionally trained, what I meant was for exotic owners to undergo a course to teach them how to control the cars given any circumstance. Or better yet, it should be for everyone who wants a driving licence. That accident would have just been as shocking with a cheap hatchback.

YY

The bike appears to be a Royal Enfield, so it could not have been going at any high speed. Just as well.
filippo

What a shameful piece of Today Tonight style “journalism”. No-one here knows all the facts, and you can be sure that had it been someone driving a Toyota or Mazda that had caused the accident (and got off – yes it happens if no-one dies and you have a clean record) this never would have made the news.

While I feel sorry for the motorcyclists involved, throwing the culprit into gaol just because he drives a Ferrari is hardly logical.
Valet Dabess

Why is the ferrari in the pic on the left side of the road? I though it lost control and ploughed the oncoming motercyclists

john

In my layman opinion I would say the driver of the ferrari lost control, swerved over onto the wrong side of the road, then over corrected back too the left, hit the motorcyclists in the process, dragged them along with him and ended up in the left hand crash barrier.

Simonsez

Just so you know a little more I’ve cut and pasted something from The Geelong Advertiser:
Melbourne engineer and philanthropist Carlo Vaccari 64, of Merton St, Albert Park, pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of careless driving.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Clare Murphy said Vaccari had been driving his 2005 red Ferrari towards Lorne at an area known as Big Hill about 1.30pm on October 11 last year.
Sen-Constable Murphy said Vaccari was travelling about 80km/h when he approached a 90-degree left-hand bend where two 40km/h advisory signs were clearly displayed.
She said Vaccari failed to take the bend, crossed on to the wrong side of the road and into the path of three motorcyclists travelling in single file in the opposite direction.
“The first motorcyclist braked and swerved to avoid a collision and the Ferrari continued, colliding head-on into the other two motorcyclists,” she said.
The prosecutor said a Nissan travelling behind the motorcycles was clipped by the Ferrari and the bikes were pushed into the path of a BMW four-wheel drive, which braked hard resulting in a third vehicle colliding into its rear.
The Ferrari careered back onto the correct side of the road and slammed into a steel barrier. Sen-Constable Murphy said Vaccari later told police he imagined the crash was caused by his inattention, that he may have been talking to a passenger and “it all happened in a flash”.
Amanda Fox, for Vaccari, said her client, who had no prior appearances, was genuinely concerned for the injured motorcyclists.
“He was also unfamiliar with driving the Great Ocean Road,” she said.
Ms Fox told the court that while insurance had covered some associated costs, her client had paid out almost $50,000 in terms of property damage.
Will my wife like the green

Mr Vaccari was double the speed limit, he should be charged with attempted murder.
A car is as dangerous as a loaded gun. If you choose to go faster than the posted limit – then you are a criminal and should pay a penalty more than a few dollars. It is a wonder the motorcyclist did not get killed. Mr Hosemans will be suffering for years, yet the Ferrari driver has not been punished for his attempt to kill him.
Also how can the court take into account the cost of damages to the guilty guys car? If you can not drive a car safely then take the licence of them etc.

Cranky Franky

Get off your soap box and read the article – fool
Brett

No he wasn’t double the speed limit at all. He wasn’t paying attention! A Ferrari would easily take 40km corner @ 80. But yes he still should have lost his license.
matty

“40km/h advisory signs”

I’m not 100% across road rules etc BUT if you’re on a road signed at 80km and there is a advisory road sign saying 40km … the speed limit is still 80 KM, no?

Save It for the track

Advisory signs on corners are just that, ‘advisory’. The sign posted speed-limit for the road is still the speed-limit. I’ve often said that having animated conversations in vehicles with passengers or even on handsfree mobiles can be a dangerous distraction.
.
I don’t think anyone was advocating throwing the fool in gaol, but to not be disqualified for what in NSW would be ‘negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm’ is a bit of a slap in the face of the victims isn’t it? Sadly rather typical of many court decisions, whether it be traffic or otherwise.
delux

Justice has not been served.

Al Juraj

For it to be served, like food, you need to buy it first.

Bob

Money talks! More proof that the Judicial system in Australia is crap!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7709953372 North Shore people are shallow snobs

This behaviour is typical of that you would see in the North Shore of Sydney. The lowly residents of this elitist geographic clan are such shallow snobs; no other region compares.

Only yesterday I witnessed the owner of a Maserati on the Warringah Freeway at North Sydney change lanes without indicating. This is typical behaviour of the supercilious North Shore; the residents of this region act as though they are of a higher rank to other Sydney regions. Fortunately, the residents of the Eastern Suburbs do not participate in such condescending undertakings.

http://BMW Crownleyian

The Rich are always snobs not only here in Australia but everywhere in the world.

Don’t worry they will Die like all of us, they are not special.
Tom

That is a ridiculous generalisation. There are terrible drivers everywhere – and there are certainly plenty on New South Head Road…