A 23-YEAR-OLD Wodonga woman will be made to serve a three-year community corrections order as a result of an “inexplicable error” to give way on the Great Alpine Road, costing the life of a beloved husband and father.

Judge Anne Hassan delivered her sentencing at Wangaratta County Court on Friday which will see the Wodonga woman serve 250 hours of unpaid community work.

Judge Hassan said the defendant had shown exceptional circumstances to avoid a stint behind bars through an “extreme” decline in their mental health since the collision and a low moral culpability in the accident.

The court previously heard on October 29, 2021, close to 5pm, a 47-year-old Narre Warren man set out to travel to Myrtleford to see family members while staying in Wangaratta.

The defendant, who was 20 years old at the time, was travelling from Wodonga to visit family based in Waldara and took the Great Alpine Road exit.

Witnesses on the east and west-bound lanes of Great Alpine Road saw the hatch of the defendant put its nose into the lane of the road to turn right, and clipped or “t-bonned” the rear passenger side of the victim’s Volkswagen that was travelling towards Myrtleford.

The victim’s vehicle lost control, rolled across the lane of oncoming traffic and stopped in the grass field adjacent to the westbound resting on its roof, with the driver pinned inside the car.

According to witnesses, the Volkswagen rolled about 10 times, with police analysts estimating the car had come to a rest 88 metres from the impact of the collision.

Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene at 5:24pm as a result of their fatal injuries.

Judge Hassan acknowledged the defendant was “highly distressed” immediately following the collision, expressing remorse and fear of going to jail.

The court heard the 47 year old’s car would have been visible to the defendant for around 250m of road before they turned right.

The widow of the 47-year-old victim recalled the lasting impact of devastation of losing a husband and father of three young foster children.

“It’s the little things you miss the most, his smile gone forever,” she said.

“His life was taken in the most preventable way.

“Concentrate when you’re in control of a vehicle, it’s that simple.”

Defence counsel Abbie Roodenburg submitted her client had experienced significant symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression and suicidal tendencies in the two years and nine months since the accident.

Ms Roodenburg said treatment inside of prison would not have been suitable for her client, who had not committed any prior driving offences leading up to the fatal collision.

Judge Hassan also disqualified the defendant’s licence for 18 months, citing the lack of prior criminal history and the “necessity” of a driver’s licence in a regional area as reasons not to go further than the minimum period.

“You were obligated to pay proper attention to oncoming traffic and you did not,” she said.

“It was an inexplicable failure to give way.

“In the future you must always drive with proper care.

“The message must be sent to drivers that they must take care when behind the wheel.”

Judge Hassan said if the defendant had pleaded not guilty, an imprisonment of two years and six months would have been imposed.