The Shepparton man pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to dangerous driving and driving while suspended.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Braden Wright told the court the man had been travelling east on the Midland Hwy at Shepparton East when the crash occurred at 11am on October 24, 2022.
A B-double truck further up the road had stopped on the road to turn right into a driveway, with a Holden sedan stopping behind it.
The garbage truck was driving 80m behind the Holden and the driver braked 65m before the crash, but it was not enough to stop the garbage truck hitting the Holden from behind and pushing it into the path of a Toyota HiAce van, Leading Sen Constable Wright said.
The HiAce driver was flown to a Melbourne hospital after the crash with leg, chest and vertebrae injuries.
The driver of the Holden spent three days at Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton.
The court heard the garbage truck driver had been travelling at the speed limit for that section of road — 80km/h — before the crash, and that the road surface was wet from rain at the time.
Leading Sen Constable Wright said the garbage truck driver’s licence had been suspended for a medical issue review.
The man told police at the time he thought his licence was current.
The garbage truck driver also told police he had been driving heavy vehicles for more than four years, and that on this occasion when he hit the brakes, he lost control of the steering.
The man’s defence solicitor Luke Slater said his client had only been charged with dangerous driving and driving on a suspended licence, and not for anything to do with the injuries suffered by others involved in the crash.
“The injuries are relevant to the narrative, but not to the charges,” Mr Slater said.
The solicitor also told the court that two years and four months ago his client had a medical review by VicRoads for sleeping issues, and had been told then he would need to undergo another one in two years.
However, he said the man did not receive a letter from VicRoads advising him of needing to undergo another review, or a letter to say his driver’s licence had been suspended because he had not done it.
Mr Slater said his client had no traffic priors and that the crash was “out of character” and “unlikely to happen again”.
He also said the man was “extremely remorseful” for the impact the crash had on others.
Magistrate Olivia Trumble sentenced the man to a 12-month undertaking to be of good behaviour, and ordered him to donate $500 to Amber Community, which provides support services to people involved in road trauma.
He was also disqualified from driving for six months.
“This is obviously a horrific accident that involved four vehicles,” Ms Trumble said.
“The accident no doubt came about because of your actions behind the (B-double) truck.”
Ms Trumble noted that people were seriously injured in the crash, but said she was not sentencing him on a charge that involved injuries to others.
“You were driving at the (speed limit), you had no drugs or alcohol, and you braked 65m ahead,” she said.
Ms Trumble also said the man’s guilty plea had shown remorse and acceptance of responsibility for what had happened.
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