A woman who falsely blamed the autopilot in her car for a pedestrian hit-and-run has been jailed for nine months.
According to ABC News, Sakshi Agrawal was sentenced to nine months behind bars over a crash in 2022, where she hit nurse Nicole Lagos, who had stepped onto the road to board a tram at Armadale in Melbourne’s inner south-east.
Agrawal had spent two years fighting the dangerous driving charges, falsely claiming she was using the autopilot on her Tesla car at the time of the crash, before entering a guilty plea last month.
Crash analysis showed Agrawal did not slow down before hitting Lagos and she was struck at 58 kilometres / hour. After fleeing, Agrawal didn’t return to the scene for two hours, choosing instead to contact her partner, return home, drink a glass of water and change clothes.
In making his decision, Judge Peter Rozen said Agrawal’s actions could not be taken as simply inattention and he was satisfied she knew the risks.
Judge Rozen also referenced the victim impact statement from Ms Lagos, who said she feared her injuries would leave her unable to find a life partner and start a family. She has now been left with permanent disabilities, which includes brain damage.
Source: ABC News.
