A driver who overtook vehicles near a bend on a North East road caused a head-on crash and spent 11 weeks in hospital recovering from a raft of serious injuries.
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Wodonga magistrate Ian Watkins this week expressed shock that Nikola Vukasinovic, 28, was appearing before him.
"Looking at the photos, you're very lucky to be standing where you are today," he said after police tendered images of last year's crash scene.
"I'm surprised you weren't more seriously injured or killed."
Vukasinovic was travelling in his Subaru sedan on the Wodonga-Yackandandah Road at Yackandandah on March 5 last year.
His car was one of three vehicles behind a B-double near Glass Track and Smith Lane about 3.50pm.
A witness saw Vukasinovic pull out on broken lines to overtake on the 100km/h road, before undertaking a second overtaking manoeuvre on an unbroken line near a left-hand bend.
Another driver slowed down to give his car space to get back into the correct lane as Vukasinovic hesitated.
He accelerated to an estimated top speed of up to 140km/h and smashed into an oncoming car.
The 28-year-old was trapped in his vehicle and was flown to hospital with serious injuries, including two broken legs.
The other driver was largely unhurt.
Lawyer Sascha McCorriston said her client spent 11 weeks undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the Alfred and Epworth hospitals in Melbourne.
"It's certainly conceded from the outset this was a very serious accident," she said.
"He's glad there was no one else seriously injured."
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Mr Watkins said the incident showed how errors can have "horrendous consequences".
"How it wasn't a fatal accident is one of life's mysteries," he said.
Vukasinovic had been working in Yackandandah as a barista and now works at an Albury eatery.
Mr Watkins imposed a six-month driving ban after Vukasinovic pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless conduct endangering life.
He ordered the 28-year-old complete a community corrections order over a 12-month period.
He must also undertake a driving program.
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