A Wangaratta man who almost died in a crash while drug-driving last year has been told he might need to pack his toothbrush and pyjamas if he continued his “woeful” performance on a community corrections order.

The 23-year-old appeared at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Monday for judicial monitoring of the 18-month community corrections order, with 180 hours of unpaid work, he was sentenced to on 18 August after two near-fatal driving incidents last year.

On 26 October, he crashed a utility into a large gumtree on Glenrowan-Moyhu Road near Moyhu which left him unconscious and in a critical condition.

Several bystanders in the area assisted him prior to being airlifted to a Melbourne hospital.

He was placed under an induced coma for 13 days and sustained a fractured jaw and vertebrae which required rods, bolts, screws and plates to be inserted into his body.

Blood samples detected methylamphetamine in his system, with a small zip lock bag of the drug found in his wallet by police with his disqualified driver’s licence.

Nearly a month prior to that incident, he almost collided with oncoming traffic as he attempted to speed away from police in a 32-year-old Holden near Mason Street.

Police detected him driving 15km/h over the speed limit and overtaking vehicles dangerously on the wet roads.

He abandoned the vehicle and was tracked to a nearby pub, in changed clothes.

The court heard on Monday the Wangaratta man hadn’t started any of his community work hours, had been missing appointments and skipping drug tests.

Magistrate Ian Watkins asked the defendant if he knew what would happen if he continued his “woeful” performance on the order and he said he had a “rough idea”.

“Pack your toothbrush and pyjamas,” Magistrate Watkins said, in reference to prison time.

“You better lift your game, it’s not good enough.”

Magistrate Watkins urged the man to take drug tests, even if he had drugs in his system, in order to track progress.

The defendant's driver’s licence remained disqualified for another 21 months, after receiving double the mandatory minimum penalty for his prior offending.

He had been charged with new offending and will return to court on 8 December for mention, prior to his next judicial monitoring mention on 5 February.