An L-plate driver has copped a hefty fine after crashing her car near Glenrowan while driving carelessly and unaccompanied.

The 23-year-old Box Hill woman didn’t appear at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Monday and had the matter heard in her absence.

The court heard on the morning of 17 July his year the woman crashed into a barrier on the Hume Freeway near Glenrowan.

There was “immense fog” on the road at the time, and she had lost control of the vehicle after driving carelessly.

Instead of hitting the brakes, she put her foot on the accelerator and crashed into the barriers.

Police arrived and found she was an L-plater who was on her way to Canberra.

“I guess I needed another break, I was rubbing my eyes,” she told police.

The court heard the accused seemed confused about being told she had to be driving with a licenced driver as her passenger, saying she drove without passengers on occasion.

Magistrate Peter Dunn fined the woman $1500 without conviction.