The woman accused of crashing head-on into Canberra man Matthew McLuckie, killing him, may never be fit to enter a plea, a court has heard.
Shakhira Adams, 20, is accused of driving at 177km per hour on the wrong side of the road on Hindmarsh Drive in Canberra's south when she crashed into Mr McLuckie's car in May last year.
Mr McLuckie, also aged 20, had been travelling home from his job at Canberra Airport at the time of the crash.
He was pulled from the wreckage of his car and taken to hospital but died of his injuries.
Ms Adams was also extracted from her vehicle and taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
She faces nine charges, including manslaughter, aggravated reckless driving, unlicensed driving, driving a motor vehicle without consent, and culpable driving causing death.
She continues to require medical care, and the charges were laid in consultation with the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions and her defence lawyers, police said.
The matter appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court today for the first time, but due to her injuries, Ms Adams was not present.
Her lawyer told the court there was likely to be a question about whether her client was fit to plea and said it was likely that will be investigated in the Supreme Court.
The matter was adjourned and will be back in court next month.
Matthew McLuckie's father, Tom McLuckie, was in the public gallery for the hearing and later said his family respected the legal process.
"If she's genuinely incapacitated, she can't plead, that's a fair and just system so we have no expectation," Mr McLuckie said.
"There's no anger, it is what it is."
Mr McCluckie said it meant a lot to his family to be in court for the matter.
"I think it's important for us to be part of the process along the way to represent Matthew, because he can't represent himself now," he said.
Police believe another vehicle may also have been travelling on the wrong side of the road at the time of the crash, and in December said they were following up on "significant leads" in the hunt for that driver.
