Young 'bulletproof' driver jailed in Vic

MELBOURNE, April 13 AAP - Joseph Kirpichnikov thought he was bulletproof.

He was high on life and "pissed as f***".

The 23-year-old had a new Holden Monaro and had spent the night clubbing with his friend Michael Berwick when he decided to drive home on April 17 last year.

Kirpichnikov was drunk when he got behind the wheel of his car, and speeding when he lost control on a dark and narrow road in Melbourne's outer east some time before 3am.

The car spun-out, then flipped.

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

Now Mr Berwick, a promising young mechanical engineering student, is dead and Kirpichnikov, 23, is going to jail for six years for culpable driving.

In setting a minimum jail term of three years and six months on Wednesday, Victorian County Court Judge Michael Bourke said culpable driving was a community problem.

"Men, especially young men, must be deterred."

Judge Bourke said the Holden Monaro shouldn't have been anywhere near the nightclub.

"Your decision to drive was a fateful one," he told Kirpichnikov.

Mr Berwick lived a short but vibrant life. His family, in victim impact statements, said his death had left a "despairing emptiness".

"We will never recover from this," Michael's father, John Berwick, told the court.

Experts estimate Kirpichnikov was travelling at 98 kilometres per hour when he lost control of his car in a 60km/h zone.

A blood alcohol test taken two hours after the collision returned a reading of 0.171.

During the plea hearing, the court heard Kirpichnikov posted on Facebook - just hours before the fatal crash - that he was "Pissed as F*** with Michael Berwick".

He was blinded by the "life is good factor", Kirpichnikov's defence barrister said during the plea.

Judge Bourke said it was almost not necessary to state the offending was tragic and serious, but he accepted Kirpichnikov was remorseful and had good prospects for rehabilitation.

He said Kirpichnikov was regarded as reliable, loyal, good natured and hardworking. The young man understood the gravity of his offending.

Judge Bourke said he would have jailed Kirpichnikov for eight years if he had not pleaded guilty.