UniSC student Billy Schiotz is warning people about drinking and driving after a severe car crash hospitalised him in July.
Schiotz said he got behind the wheel after a university cocktail night and lost control of his car as he was speeding up Hunchy Road in Palmwoods.
Schiotz said he was told the car flipped multiple times and crashed into a pole before he regained consciousness.
He said someone heard the crash and told him to get out of the car, which was difficult due to it being upside down.
“I couldn’t really move most of my body from the hips down,” Schiotz said.
“I sort of tried … to take the pressure of the seatbelt and unclipped it and then dragged myself out of the car.”
His Garmin smartwatch had called 000 during the accident and he was able to get himself out before help arrived.
The paramedics brought him to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital where he spent 12 hours in the emergency department before being discharged.
He was called back in the next day, and stayed in the orthopaedic ward for four days before being sent home in a back brace.
Schiotz said he regrets his decisions that night and resented himself.
“The first thing I remember feeling after I crashed my car was just a lot of anger towards myself and this decision that I made,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else, ever.”
Last year in Queensland there were 64 cases of car crashes involving hospitalisation, drink driving and speeding.
The Government has also cracked down on speed limits in central areas including Maroochydore, Alexandra Headlands and Mooloolaba.
New signs are being installed along roads indicating the change from 60km/h to 50km/h due to safety concerns after studies done by the Department of Transport.
These same changes have been made across other areas of the Sunshine Coast including roads through Golden Beach to Pelican Waters.
