A Bendigo motorist who killed a woman and left her daughters with life-threatening injuries after crossing onto the wrong side of the road has avoided imprisonment.
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David Greer Mummery, 62, was sentenced to community work and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty in the County Court to dangerous driving causing death and two charges of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
He was also banned from driving for 18 months.
Mummery was driving back from his workplace along the Heathcote-Nagambie Road at Graytown on the afternoon of July 13, 2018.
As he came to the end of a sweeping left-hand bend, his vehicle crossed into the opposite lane and hit an oncoming vehicle.
The driver of that vehicle, a 54-year-old Heathcote woman, was killed.
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Her 32-year-old daughter was seated in the passenger seat and suffered multiple rib fractures, as well as bleeding in her chest.
She spent eight days in intensive care.
The deceased woman's 33-year-old daughter, seated in the rear passenger seat, suffered fractures and a facial laceration, and during her subsequent hospitalisation developed a life-threatening pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis that required three months of therapy.
A person driving behind Mummery that day did not notice anything unusual about his vehicle.
Alcohol and drugs were not found to be a factor.
Airbag data analysis revealed a change in steering 1.9 to 1.4 seconds before the crash.
At the moment of impact, the passenger side of the victims' vehicle was on the gravel shoulder of the road, while the passenger side of Mummery's vehicle was about one metre over the central dividing line.
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Judge Gavan Meredith said Mummery's moral culpability was low.
Judge Meredith said Mummery was not substance-affected, speeding, or driving in a dangerous manner before the crash.
Mummery had no prior convictions and no other alleged driving offences.
But that was not to ignore the "catastrophic" impact of Mummery's offending, Judge Meredith said.
Judge Meredith believed Mummery was remorseful and said he was of good character.
He noted Mummery himself had lost his mother in a crash, and he had suffered serious injuries in the 2018 collision.
Judge Meredith sentenced Mummery to a two-year community corrections order, with 275 hours of unpaid community work, as well as the fine.
In disqualifying Mummery from driving for 18 months, Judge Meredith said he did not think it appropriate to keep him off the road for longer, especially given his job required travel.
If Mummery had not pleaded and been found guilty of the charges, he would have been jailed for a year.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
