A Mt Warrigal man has been ordered to attend traffic school after he was caught participating in a pseudo-street race before crossing to the wrong side of the road in a bid to avoid police.
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Mustafa Ali Rais Al-Temeemi, 20, admitted he panicked when he clapped his eyes on highway patrol vehicles in the distance as he accelerated along Flinders Street neck and neck with another car at his side on the evening of May 24.
Officers who had been conducting stationary RBTs up the road said they heard two vehicles "accelerating harshly" towards them and looked up to see Al-Temeemi's VW GTI Golf and a dark coloured sedan speeding towards them.
Still decked out in their reflective vests, the officers stepped into the middle of the road and signalled for both cars to stop.
However, the Golf was seen to brake harshly and turn left into Edward Street. The sedan slowed down.
Officers decided to pursue pursue the Golf rather than pull the sedan over.
As they turned onto Edward Street, the policemen saw the Golf accelerate along the street and cross to the wrong side of the road for a short distance.
The officers lost sight of the car for a time but discovered it parked in a carpark on Wiseman Avenue a short time later. The police dog squad was called in to track the occupants, but Al-Temeemi and his passenger gave themselves up before the dog arrived.
Al-Temeemi admitted he'd been driving and said the car belong to his mother.
He was charged with dangerous driving to which he pleaded guilty in court this week.
The case was adjourned for Al-Temeemi to participate in the traffic offenders intervention program ahead of sentencing in August.
Meanwhile, in documents tendered to the court, police were highly critical of Al-Temeemi's manner of driving that night.
"The way in which the accused drove was in the opinion of police to be dangerous," officers wrote.
"There were a lot of pedestrians walking on the footpath - if the accused [had] lost control of his vehicle he could have hit and seriously injured any number of these pedestrians.
"The accused showed a total disregard for other road users in the way that he drove."