Driver thought he was bulletproof: lawyer

A young Melbourne man was "high on life" when he got into a car for the last time after a night out at a club, a court has heard.

Michael Berwick, 23, was killed when his friend Joseph Kirpichnikov lost control of his car, which spun out, then flipped on a narrow street in Melbourne's outer east some time after 2am on April 17 last year.

Kirpichnikov, 23, thought he was "bulletproof", his defence barrister said.

Hours before the crash, he had posted on Facebook: "Pissed as f*** with Michael Berwick", the Victorian County Court heard on Monday.

He's now facing time in prison.

Kirpichnikov, of Officer, has pleaded guilty to one count of culpable driving over the crash that killed his friend.

He had a blood alcohol reading of 0.171 two hours after the smash and road experts estimate he was travelling at 98km/h on a 60km/h road when he lost control of his car, prosecutor Stephen Devlin told the court.

One witness told police he thought he saw the car come completely off the ground before it landed on its roof.

Kirpichnikov's defence barrister said his client did not resile from the fact he had too much to drink, and he accepted he would have to go to prison.

"He wants to suffer his punishment."

He said Kirpichnikov was not a wicked person, but he felt like he was bulletproof.

"One sad thing that he does recall is he does remember the two of them saying to each other, wasn't life good.

"He was blinded by the 'life is good factor'."

Michael's father John Berwick said his life was filled with a despairing emptiness and huge anxiety following the loss of his precious boy.

"My son is now a statistic," Mr Berwick said.

"We will never recover from this.

"In searching for a positive, the only thing that comes to mind is 23 years and two months of massive pride and joy our son gave us."