The family of a newborn ejected from her car seat after a drunk driver crashed into five parked vehicles has expressed shock that the driver was spared jail time. Elizabeth Jane Bourgeois, 63, was more than five times the legal limit when her Lexus careened into the cars in a Sydney car park in March.
Bourgeois appeared in Hornsby Local Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to negligent and high-range drink driving. She received a 12-month suspended sentence, meaning she will not serve jail time. A passer-by intervened by taking Bourgeois's keys and calling the police after witnessing her crash into the vehicles while attempting to reverse.
Dashcam footage showed Bourgeois discarding an empty wine bottle before getting into her vehicle. The impact of the collision ejected a five-week-old infant, Florence, from her car seat. Fortunately, the baby was not seriously injured.
"It was very traumatizing to see her like that," Joshua Quaife, Florence's father, told Nine News at the time. "If it was a few seconds earlier, I would have been holding her getting her out of the car, and would have been crushed. It was lucky I was two or three seconds too slow to settle her."
Bourgeois later registered a blood alcohol reading of 0.268. Mr. Quaife told the Daily Mail that he was surprised the driver only lost her license for six months. "It doesn't send a great message to the community that someone can get behind the wheel at high range, cause thousands of dollars in damage but be back on road in six months' time," he said.
The family has yet to receive an apology from Bourgeois. The judge described the incident as a serious example of drink driving, noting that it was fortunate no one was badly injured. In addition to the suspended sentence, Bourgeois was fined $300 and disqualified from driving for six months. She is also responsible for paying for damages and is banned from consuming alcohol during her suspended sentence period. Bourgeois declined to comment to reporters outside the court.