Kelly T’Hart was walking less than a kilometre from her home in Furnissdale when she was killed by a drunk driver, who left her to die by the roadside on May 19, 2024.
The driver, Maddison Peace Bain, was arrested not long after and charged with the 32-year-old’s manslaughter, failing to stop and driving under the influence of alcohol.
She has since pleaded to guilty dangerous driving causing death under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of alcohol, and is due to be sentenced in April.
However, despite those charges, Bain was back behind the wheel and driving after just two months, including past the T’Hart family home, which triggered nearly two years of advocacy to ban people facing serious driving charges from getting back in their car.
Now, the WA government has drafted “Kelly’s Law” amendments to the Road Traffic Act to ban anyone facing driving charges from getting back behind the wheel until they face court.
The amendment will also see the courts given more power to extend licence disqualifications until sentencing is finalised.
T’Hart’s mother Susan, whose personal car bears the plates “KELLYSLAW”, has pushed for the changes since they saw her daughter’s killer driving on roads near her home and where T’Hart used to live.
At an emotional press conference on Monday morning, Susan said the family saw Bain driving because she lived close by.
“We became aware by seeing her driving, and then we became aware of the Road Traffic Act and why she could still drive after a two-month disqualification period and we were just outraged that that was possible to kill someone and still drive,” she said.
“It has been so traumatic seeing people drive after they killed your loved one, especially in a hit-and-run when your daughter’s left on the side of the road, face down in the dirt to die. This law will save other lives.”
Susan said it was shocking that someone could kill another person on the road and not face immediate consequences.
“I can’t even probably be able to describe what it feels like when you lose a loved one, and you’re going through all that grief and there isn’t a consequence, an immediate consequence, for these people,” she said.
“You at least need to know there is a consequence for them, and I hope this will become a greater deterrent for other people as well.
“Just stop at the scene, you know, just render assistance, be the last person there, they might have heard her last words, and they might have passed that on to me.”
Currently, disqualification notices are only available for some drug and alcohol driving offences.
The new law would allow disqualification notices to be issued for all drink and drug-driving offences, reckless and dangerous driving, high-level speeding and hit-and-run offences.
Police Minister Reece Whitby said the laws would prevent the compounding grief of the T’Hart family experienced, knowing the woman who killed their beloved aunt, daughter and sister and left her to die was still driving.
“They had the situation of still struggling with their grief and watching this driver still behind the wheel of a car, and because of where she lived and where Kelly lived, she was still passing the family’s home,” he said.
“You can imagine the anxiety and distress that caused them to take T’Hart family.
“It’s about keeping drivers who should be off the road off the road, until they’re properly dealt with by court.”
Whitby said the act only allowed for a two-month disqualification period, but it often took longer for a matter to reach court.
“Today, we’re delivering a positive legacy from that awful, awful tragedy. This is a legacy, a positive legacy, tragedy that I think has the capacity to save lives in the future,” he said.
“Let’s be clear, there is no way in the future, if you’ve severely injured someone or killed someone or committed a very serious traffic offence, you won’t be getting back behind the wheel until your case has been dealt with properly by the law.”
Bain’s manslaughter charges were downgraded to dangerous driving causing death under the influence of alcohol and her failing to stop charges were withdrawn.
She pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving causing death under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of alcohol in June last year and was due to be sentenced on February 12, but that has been delayed until early April.
The maximum jail term she could face is 20 years.
Susan described her daughter, a former traffic controller, as “a beautiful young girl”.
“She just bought her own home a few years beforehand, in Furnissdale, she was just family-oriented – everything was about her sisters, nieces, nephews and her family,” she said.
“She loved animals. She was always the one that would pick up animals on the side of the road and bring them to me.
“So for this to happen to her, you know, to be hit and left there, it’s, it’s just incomprehensible that it could have happened to her.”
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.
