An Inglewood man has pleaded guilty to careless driving after a feed truck crash five kilometres south of Beaufort.
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Grant Whitey was sentenced in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Clint Prebble told the court Whitey was driving a prime mover at 4pm on April 9, when it lost control and skidded 160 metres across the oncoming lane. The truck damaged trees and fences, before stopping in a paddock near Skipton Road.
The Inglewood man was airlifted to Royal Melbourne Hospital with a broken neck, a punctured lung and severe head trauma.
“One view is that he's pretty lucky to be sitting here today,” Leading Senior Constable Prebble said.
More court news:
Whiley, who represented himself in court, said he did not believe he was driving carelessly at the time, and the crash happened because of a “sneezing fit or something went wrong with the truck”.
Magistrate Letizia Torres said she had taken into consideration that no-one else was hurt in the crash, as well as the “psychological distress” caused.
Whitey was convicted and fined $500.
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