Alexis Saaghy was a 16-year-old girl with a bright future. She was kind, generous, loved animals and cared about the environment.
This future was taken away from her when in November 2020, she died in hospital after a preventable single-vehicle crash.
Her boyfriend, Ameen Hamdan, a P-plater, was driving a "powerful and unsuitable" Nissan Navara ute when he crashed into a tree on Longmore Street in Wanniassa.
Coroner Ken Archer has recommended that the ACT government consider reviewing restrictions for P-plate drivers using high-performance cars.
In a decision published on Friday, June 5, he found issues of public safety arose in respect to the type of car being driven by a driver with less than one year's experience.
Alexis, a front-seat passenger, suffered severe head trauma and internal injuries.
She was taken to the Canberra Hospital. Her life support was turned off three days later.
Hamdan was later found guilty of negligent driving causing death and negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm by an ACT Supreme Court jury.
He was found not guilty of culpable driving charges, which carry a higher maximum penalty.
The driver walked out of court after being handed a two-year intensive corrections order, a $2500 fine and a licence disqualification in 2022.
Alexis' father, Joel Saaghy, told the court that her family was "stranded in an unfair conundrum".
"How does the world keep moving when ours has stopped?"
He described seeing his daughter in hospital: "Her body was a damaged shell. Hope was gone."
Her mother, Claire Wood, said Alexis "was slaughtered and died a completely avoidable death".
"No written or spoken words can describe to the fullest extent all the light, kindness, generosity, and aspiring future life potential of Alexis."
At the time of the crash it was raining and the residential street was poorly lit when Hamdan lost control of the vehicle and hit a large tree.
The sentencing judge in 2023, Justice Michael Elkaim, found that Hamdan may have been drifting before the crash but the jury's verdict was inconsistent with this.
In line with the verdict, he was negligent in that he did not drive to the conditions.
In his sentencing reasons, Justice Elkaim raised concerns about the safety of the 2011 Navara being driven by Hamdan.
The judge opined the car was "unstable" and not so much a car, but a "light truck".
"They are vehicles suited to off-road, commercial and farming duties. I have little doubt that only a small percentage of these vehicles are used for those purposes," Justice Elkaim said.
"In my view their sale should be restricted to persons, like farmers, trades persons and genuine off-road enthusiasts, who have a legitimate use for them.
"These vehicles should not be in the hands of inexperienced young drivers."
In the ACT Coroner's Court decision, Mr Archer said with the greater prevalence of SUVs and electric vehicles, cars being used by inexperienced drivers were becoming heavier and more powerful.
He cited data from Monash University that indicated the risk of death and serious injury in a crash was 30 per cent higher in a ute compared to a medium-sized car.
Mr Archer said restrictions existed in NSW, Queensland and Victoria which prevented P-plate drivers from driving high-performance vehicles.
"A relatively inexperienced driver, behind the wheel of a powerful and unsuitable car, failing to drive to the conditions of the road, were factors that likely contributed to the collision that caused [Alexis'] fatal injuries," the coroner found.
Mr Archer said Alexis was described as being "selfless, caring, generous and empathetic".
"[She] has clearly left a huge and unfillable hole in a grieving family.
"If there is anything positive that arises from such a tragic loss, it is that once it became clear that Alexis would not survive her injuries, her family, with remarkable generosity, consented to the donation of her organs.
"The impact that act of kindness has had on other families going through distressing and difficult times is immeasurable."
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