Richmond AFL footballer Ben Cousins has avoided conviction for performing an unsafe U-turn and crashing into an elderly driver's car.

Cousins, 31, was charged with a driving offence in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton on April 30 last year.

The footballer appeared at the Moorabbin Magistrates Court in Melbourne's south on Tuesday when he was ordered to undertake a diversion order.

The program is aimed at deflecting first time offenders from the mainstream criminal justice system.

Cousins' lawyer Tania Wolff told the court her client accepted the diversion order but said the conditions were unusually strict.

The court refused to release the conditions of the order, which can include a donation to charity and community service.

But magistrate Graham Keil said Cousins was no different to any other person. Anyone, he said, was capable of injuring another human being.

Ms Wolff said Cousins had written a letter of apology to the accident victim.

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