A WODONGA woman will avoid jail following a fatal collision on the Great Alpine Road overpass of the Hume Freeway in 2021.
The 23-year-old appeared at Wangaratta County Court on Tuesday, formally pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of a 47-year-old Narre Warren man.
The court heard of the “enormity” of the loss of a devoted husband and father of three through a victim impact statement from the man’s wife of 21-years, read by her friend.
“You will eternally be 47 and forever handsome,” she said.
“It’s the little things you miss the most, his smile gone forever.
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“I am now a widow, a sole parent and the role I loved the most just ended, I was no longer a wife.
“Concentrate when you’re in control of a vehicle, it’s that simple.”
The court heard the victim’s children were aged 10, seven and three at the time of the incident and struggled to come to terms with the loss of their father.
“It breaks my heart they will never have their dad to cheer them on at their games to support them,” the victim’s wife said.
On October 29, 2021, the 47-year-old was visiting family in Wangaratta and set out to travel to Myrtleford to visit other family members.
Before he took off, he texted his wife at their Melbourne home that he had stopped at McDonalds in Glenrowan and told her he would let her know when he arrived in Myrtleford.
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.
The court heard the P-plater would traditionally take the exit at Bowser Road, but because she didn’t want to overtake a truck near the exit, she waited until she arrived at the next turnoff.
Witnesses on the east and west-bound lanes of Great Alpine Road saw the hatch either come to a complete or come close to a complete stop at the edge of the give way line at the exit.
The hatch put its nose into the lane of the Great Alpine 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 88m from the impact of the collision.
Police estimate the car was travelling at around 95 to 107kph at the point of impact with the hatch.
One vehicle travelling towards Wangaratta was forced to brake and take evasive action to avoid collision with the rolling vehicle.
Around five witnesses of the collision stopped and tried to assist the victim along with a former army medic who arrived shortly after.
The witnesses saw the victim was unresponsive and the former army medic could not locate a pulse.
Witnesses saw the defendant race to the victim’s car, kneeling by the driver’s side and repeatedly saying “I’m sorry”.
The former army medic then attempted to assist the defendant who appeared to be in shock.
“It’s my fault, I’m going to jail,” she told the former army medic at the scene.
Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene at 5:24pm.
The defendant asked police if she was going to jail, saying she “didn’t see him” and “he didn’t stop”.
Crown prosecutor David O’Doherty said there were no faults assessed with either vehicle and the conditions and visibility on the road was good at the time.
“There was no way the Volkswagen could have avoided the hatch when it pulled out in front of it,” he said.
“Her failure to look properly with sufficient attention before she entered the Great Alpine Road constituted driving that was dangerous to the public in all circumstances.
“The risk posed by her driving tragically manifested in this fatality.”
Defence counsel Abbie Roodenburg said her client had experienced significant mental impairment since the incident, experiencing suicidal tendencies.
The court heard the defendant suffered from a high level of anxiety when driving since the incident and had no prior records of speeding or erratic driving prior to or just before the collision.
Ms Roodenburg said her client accepted that she didn’t look properly when deciding to enter the intersection, but submitted her offending was of the lowest level and would risk a further decline in her mental health if imprisoned.
Judge Anne Hassan acknowledged the enormity of the tragic circumstances surrounding the accident and adjourned her sentencing remarks for Friday, August 2, when she would place the 23-year-old on a community corrections order and a mandatory loss of licence.
