Racing driver Keely Bown narrowly avoids jail after leaving a 16-year-old passenger with a brain injury

A woman who crashed while speeding, leaving her teenage passenger with a traumatic brain injury, said: ‘I’m a race car driver, I think I know what I’m doing’ moments before the terrifying crash.

Keely Bown, 22, narrowly escaped jail when she faced Adelaide District Court for sentencing after rolling her 2008 SS Holden V8 sedan multiple times on December 23, 2020.

He was taking his friends, a 16-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman, at the time, to help the boy buy a new audio system for his car near Nelshaby, north of Adelaide.

Neither Bown nor the 17-year-old suffered serious injuries, however the 16-year-old suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury, a collapsed lung, and his spleen and intestine were ruptured.

He now has cognitive problems, slurred speech and hand tremor, with his family traumatized by the long recovery process.

Bown (right) said ‘I’m a racing driver, I think I know what I’m doing’ moments before the success.

The car became airborne after hitting a pothole on a narrow bitumen road, the court heard.

Bown told police that he was traveling below the 100 km/h speed limit and that he tried to brake before reaching the depression, however there was no evidence that his brakes had locked up.

Both passengers said Bown was traveling over the speed limit, with Assistant Judge Gordon Barrett saying ‘he was told to slow down’.

“A neighbor along the road he was traveling on heard his car accelerate aggressively through gears,” Judge Gordon told the court.

He noted that Bown “had been involved in motorsport for some time.”

In the July 2019 issue of Street Machine, a motoring magazine, Bown said: “I’ve wanted to drive since I could touch the pedals.”

Bown told police that he was traveling below the 100 km/h speed limit and that he tried to brake before reaching the depression, however there was no evidence that his brakes had locked up.

I was riding a motorcycle at three. I have been involved in motorsports, dirt track racing, since I was 10 years old,” she said.

Bown had recently boosted his turbocharged Subaru to 175 mph (281 km/h) during the 29th annual Gairdner Lake Speed ​​Week.

Both her father and older sister had also competed in previous events.

Bown pleaded guilty to causing serious damage by dangerous driving and to causing damage by dangerous driving.

During sentencing, Judge Gordon described the offenses as “serious”, which caused harm to two people.

‘[The boy] will be left with the life-long consequences of the offense. He and his family have been through considerable trauma after the incident,” he said.

He was driving at a dangerous speed that injured his two passengers.

Both passengers said Bown was traveling over the speed limit, with Assistant Judge Gordon Barrett saying “they told you to slow down.”

‘I must formulate a sentence that recognizes the seriousness of the offense; in particular, the seriousness of the consequences for the victims of that crime”.

Judge Gordon noted that Bown had not committed crimes prior to the incident, had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and was deeply remorseful for her actions.

She was sentenced to two years, 10 months, and seven days in prison with an 18-month non-parole period to be served at her father’s home.

She was also banned from driving for 11 years and ordered to pay compensation of $818.95 to the teen.