Busselton driver's car wreck a lesson in fatigue

A young Busselton driver who wrote his car off while driving when tired is warning others not to make the same mistake.

Apprentice baker Blake Holloway, 20, is lucky to be alive after he collided with a tree in Wonnerup at the end of May.

The Geographe man had only been driving for two months before the crash which caused bleeding on his brain, short term memory loss, a broken ankle and a broken foot.

Now the twisted remains of his prized Nissan 200SX will be used by police as a roadside deterrent to encourage motorists to drive safely.

Mr Holloway said he hoped some good could come from his ordeal.

“I don’t remember anything. I just woke up in hospital in Perth,” he said.

“When the police showed me pictures of my car I was pretty shocked about it. Don’t drive when you’re tried as this is what can happen.”

Mr Holloway had just finished an early morning shift before attempting to drive to Perth. He said he was fatigued and hadn’t slept much for two weeks before the crash.

A phone call from police saying her son had been in an accident is a haunting moment mum Carol Holloway will never forget.

“I went to the hospital in Bunbury before they took him to Perth and they wouldn’t even let me see him because they had to run tests and stabilise him,” she said.

“I kept thinking ‘no way and I going to lose him’. I don’t want any other parent to go through what I went through. It was a nightmare.

“There are some cases where parents don’t get to say goodbye. He’s lucky he had someone looking after him.”

Mr Holloway’s wrecked car will be put onto a trailer and taken by police to strategic locations to act as a graphic example of the consequences of dangerous driving.

South West traffic police first class constable Nick Cockinos said speed and fatigue still caused too many accidents.

“Fatigue is one of our biggest killers on the roads,” he said.