A P-plate driver was killed and a passenger "lost half her face" after a plan to save petrol backfired.
The 18-year-old Tasmanian driver — "worried" about fuel — turned his car's engine off and removed the keys from the ignition while coming around a bend on a highway, the Mercury newspaper reports.
But he was unable to steer the car out of the path of an oncoming truck after the steering wheel locked.
Three passengers in his car were severely injured, with one female losing half of her face.
The driver, whose name has been suppressed by the Tasmanian Coroners Court, had only been on his P plates for one month before his death.
Coroner Rod Chandler yesterday released his findings into the crash, which occurred in December 2008 during a drive to Hobart on the Channel Highway at Margate in the state's south east.
He described the driver's act as "ignorant", saying the teenager's death could have been avoided if he knew enough about the vehicle he was driving.
"This crash occurred as a consequence of the deceased deliberately removing the key from the ignition while his car was still in motion," Mr Chandler said.
"As a consequence, the engine disengaged and the steering wheel locked as soon as an attempt was made to steer the vehicle.
"I am satisfied that it occurred in this instance not because the deceased was being foolhardy or irresponsible but rather because of his ignorance of its effect upon his capacity to manage the vehicle."
Mr Chandler said the teenager was coming around a left-hand bend with the engine off when the car skidded across the road and into the path of a Volvo truck.
Mr Chandler said speed and the fact the driver of the truck had minor traces of marijuana in his system had nothing to do with the accident.
"Quite clearly it is an extremely dangerous act to remove a key from a vehicle's ignition whilst it is still in motion," he said.
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