Drunken moon blamed for car rollover

A drunken "moon" has almost cost two lives in Australia's Northern Territory. Watch Commander Garry Smith said he hoped the 24-year-old man had learned his lesson - "don't do bum flashes". "It was a complete act of stupidity," he said.

He said an 18-year-old woman was overtaking a semi-trailer traveling at 100km/h on the Stuart Highway, in Virginia, when her passenger suddenly un-clipped his belt and dropped his pants. "The passenger decided it would be a great idea to 'moon' the driver of the semi-trailer," he said. But Senior Sergeant Smith said the bare-arsed man distracted the driver when he lost his balance as he was trying to get himself into the right position.

He said the man then fell on the driver which caused her view to be blocked and she lost control of the car, at about 2.20am. "She veered off the road and traveled for about 100m through the scrub, hitting a large rock which caused it (the car) to roll over on to its roof," he said. He said the pair narrowly missed crashing into a large gum tree that could have had "dramatic results".

Palmerston Police and St John Ambulance attended the scene before the pair was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for minor injuries. Sen-Sgt Smith said: "If it wasn't so dangerous, it could have been quite funny. But under the circumstances, we were lucky we weren't telling a family of a death." The man will be summonsed to appear in court for not wearing a seatbelt, interfering with the driver's control of the vehicle and obstructing their view.