A drunk North Albury woman who sideswiped one parked car and almost hit another had a long history of alcohol abuse, a court has heard.
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But strong support from an Albury-based alcohol counselling service meant she was no longer drinking.
Magistrate Richard Funston said Nerissa Brand's actions in North Albury on May 23 weren't trifling.
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"She's lucky she didn't kill herself or someone else on the road," he said in Albury Local Court.
Mr Funston said the "potential consequences" of Brand's driving that day "would have been frightening".
The court was told that Brand was too intoxicated to even speak clearly to police.
But soon after she was taken out of the car, officers were approached by her brother.
He told them that Brand had been drinking all day.
"She's had 18 Teds," he said, referring to 345ml stubbies of Tooheys Extra Dry with an alcohol content of 4.4 per cent.
Brand, 36, of Buckingham Street, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without wearing a seat belt.
Defence lawyer Laura Melhuish told Mr Funston that Brand was originally from Western Australia, where she had an "extensive criminal history" for a "vast array of offences"
She had experienced a deprived childhood plagued by domestic violence at the hands of both her alcoholic mother and her father.
The court was also told that Brand - a mother of three children under four, though not under her direct care - was receiving significant support from her foster family in Albury.
"She understands she has issues with the consumption of alcohol," Ms Melhuish said.
Police were travelling north in Mate Street about 12.30am when they saw a car heading south before turning into Stephen Street.
They began to follow her car. Brand was swerving between lanes and struck a parked car, then turned on to Frauenfelder Street and almost hit another parked car.
She was stopped in Buckingham Street, where police had to bang on a passenger window to get attention as she tried but failed to get the car moving again.
She wasn't wearing a seat belt, her speech was so slurred she could not be understood and she clearly was "heavily intoxicated".
Mr Funston convicted and fined Brand $2400 and disqualified her from driving for two years.
