Zala Dong was hurtling along the Hume Freeway near Woomargama at 167km/h, but not because he had a plane or a train to catch.
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It was much more of a life and death situation; that is, his life - clearly put at risk, a magistrate suggested - but someone else's passing.
Dong's decision to throw the dice and plant his foot on the accelerator was because the teenager had a funeral to catch, more than 600 kilometres away in Sydney.
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"It's pretty serious driving at that speed," magistrate Rodney Brender said in Albury Local Court this week.
That day Dong was following another motorist headed to the same funeral, but with possibly an ever greater personal death wish; the other car was clocked by police at 182km/h in what was a 110km/h zone.
The court wasn't told whether Dong eventually made it to the funeral on time, but he certainly didn't make it to court on time and nor did he reckon he should.
Instead, the 19-year-old, who lives in the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook, sent a letter.
Mum and Dad, he explained, were away, so his siblings were home alone.
This meant, he said, he had to stay put, take charge and keep them fed and in line.
He couldn't get to court, he said, but was happy to plead guilty.
The excuse fell flat for Mr Brender, who convicted Dong on the charge of drive recklessly, furiously or at a speed or manner dangerous.
He issued a warrant for the P-plater's arrest.
The court was told how members of the Albury police highway patrol were carrying out speed checks on October 2 about 12.30am when they saw a silver sedan travelling north at "high speed".
Soon after, Dong sped by. It took at least 10 kilometres to catch-up to the cars, just south of the Holbrook exit.
